Best practices and tips
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Here you'll find examples of the best of the best in proven strategies for online learning.
Teaching someone something new is hard enough when you're doing it face-to-face. At least then you have a captive audience... they can stop you and ask questions, or you might just notice that they look distracted, or bored, or that they're just not getting it. But when you teach online you seldom get any of this feedback. You create your lesson, maybe you test it on a small group of people, then you post it for others to take at a time and place of their choosing. They're alone and online and they have the entire internet to distract them... streaming movies, TV shows, videos, and music, online gaming, real-time news feeds, chats, messages, and video calls from friends. Your online students are not a captive audience. You're in competition with the best that the internet has to offer. If you get any questions or feedback it is long after they tried to make it through your lesson. How are you going to make this work?
Teaching someone something new is hard enough when you're doing it face-to-face. At least then you have a captive audience... they can stop you and ask questions, or you might just notice that they look distracted, or bored, or that they're just not getting it. But when you teach online you seldom get any of this feedback. You create your lesson, maybe you test it on a small group of people, then you post it for others to take at a time and place of their choosing. They're alone and online and they have the entire internet to distract them... streaming movies, TV shows, videos, and music, online gaming, real-time news feeds, chats, messages, and video calls from friends. Your online students are not a captive audience. You're in competition with the best that the internet has to offer. If you get any questions or feedback it is long after they tried to make it through your lesson. How are you going to make this work?
DESIGN DECISION WIZARD
Here we ask you a few questions about how and to whom you want to deliver your lessons, then we offer a set of tailored recommendations on how to use the most effective design principles to meet your needs. |
THE BASICS
Here we provide a quick glossary of the most effective design principles for online lessons. These are practical methods for making your online education and training experiences better. |
ED SITES DOING IT RIGHT
Here we blog about existing sites and mobile apps that are great examples of how to make online learning work. |