Ever so often, online course tutorials start off with a boring introduction like the following: "Since the dawn of the digital age, electronic communication has...." The sad truth is, most online courses and instruction manuals start out this way very so often, making it almost impossible to create an interest in the learner who is watching. This can be a very boring way to learn, as I have experienced the online video lessons, where I feel as if I'm watching a "Clear-eyes" commercial.
An online instructor may question if there is a more effective alternative that will engage the learners and keep their attention. Five easy ways to draw a high interest in learners for an online course are:
- Using meaningful course names. Skip the explanation.
For example, you wont need to explain the OSI 7-layer model in a networking class, because the learner should already expect that the course will go into detail about each layer, and what each layer contributes to the model.
In this day and age, adult learners can read and understand material for themselves, so it's best to not present material that is self explanatory-that can be insulting to a reader, giving them the notion they are shallow learners. A better example would be if I explained what a shallow learner is.
- Immediately show concise, appealing objectives.
Briefly tell the learner the goals they'll have accomplished at the end of the course, and focus on what they care about. Don't drag it out and beat around the bush-you may lose your audience completely.
- Motivate by actions, don't simply tell them.
Although your guidelines and expectations should be enough, you may need to tell them a story that will motivate them to want to learn the material.
- Put information into activities, not a presentation, and let people prove that they already know it.
If you want to make sure everyone is up to speed before you continue teaching, it may be a good idea to design learning activities in which people can apply what they have learned up to a certain point. For example, in my previous job at Lowe's, we took yearly re-certification courses online. At a certain point in the course, the online instructor would start a quiz to assess our learning thus far. If we passed the quiz, we would continue on with the rest of the course. If we failed, we'd have to go back and identify areas that we may not have answered correctly. The entire process was helpful because the course was well prepared, concise, and provide many activities that in turn maximized our learning about certain subjects that were vital to the company's success.
Do you think these five techniques, if implemented, can get learners immediately, and actively involved in an online course?
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