What made the difference for Yale? Its online program was built so that instructors could meet with their entire class face-to-face to discuss weekly readings, review recorded lectures and share presentations, regardless of location. During online learning programs, Yale instructors prompted more social interaction from students by asking questions via chat, providing instant feedback through real-time quizzes and asking students to demonstrate competency with an interactive whiteboard.
By incorporating social elements into the online learning program, 97 percent of Yale’s online learning students indicated that they preferred this collaborative online learning method as opposed to independent learning.
Much like zombies can’t live without humans, students can’t live without social interaction. It should come as no surprise that social components are critical to the success of any online learning program.
Promote self-management
Making learning more human and social also requires educators to give students more flexibility in the way they learn. Students rise and thrive at different times and in different ways. They need the flexibility to learn when they want, how they want and where they want. Flexible learning, whether it’s allowing them to tune into class via live videoconferencing tools or encouraging them to host after-lecture study groups, gives students the opportunity to self-manage and direct their own learning experience.
To design an effective and engaging flexible learning environment, start by giving students mobile access to courses. Today’s college students possesses an average of seven tech devices, allowing educators to finally give students untethered access to the classroom. Making online course content accessible through mobile devices is not only important for keeping learning accessible for students, it also allows students to collaborate with peers in a native format. Whether through text chatting, virtual study groups and more, giving students the flexibility to use mobile devices to discuss the latest math problem similar to how they discuss the latest trending hashtag on Twitter.
Another way to make learning more flexible is to incorporate video components, such as live videoconferencing, that connect students and allow them to interact and collaborate face-to-face. With 93 percent of Gen Z visiting YouTube at least once a week and 14 percent using video at least once a day, video has become the king of content. Students will naturally and effectively utilize the different ways they already use video to further their education.
A flexible, mobile learning program allows students to personalize learning schedules by deciding how, when and why they attend and participate in class. Promoting this kind of self-management in education fosters greater social and emotional development among students.
Use data to drive self-awareness and responsibility
Before a student can personalize his or her learning schedule and tools, they must be aware of what makes them tick and what drives them to fully thrive.
To be self-aware, one must be able to accurately assess their own feelings, interests and strengths. But it also involves making accurate self-judgments, internally motivating and achieving satisfaction when personal goals are met. In “zombie-like” online courses, students are often left to figure out what they need to do to succeed or determine ways to master concepts on their own. Their lack of self-awareness stems from the absence of feedback. Whether it’s face-to-face discussions among peers or the ability to track and understand goals, providing them with data about how they’re doing is pertinent to learning success.
One way online learning educators can help students become more self-aware is by harnessing analytics to benchmark and assess a student’s learning behavior, style and current mastery of concepts. By tracking, understanding and using this data to develop learning goals and metrics, educators can help students become more aware of their own learning needs and determine a course of action that will allow them to meet the learning goals that are set. Not only will this help students be more successful in their online courses, but also will prepare them to design projects and set smarter professional goals as they join the workforce.
Educators don’t need to look far for ways to re-engage and breathe life back into online learning. Most have the tools and resources needed to make eLearning more human. By incorporating some of these simple strategies and tapping into students’ needs for social and emotional development, educators can begin to help their students evolve as scholars who feel actively engaged and responsible for driving their educational success.
Dan Merritts is executive vice president of marketing for newrow_
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