There are a plethora of online training courses in the digital world, but not all of them are made equal. While others are made for the purpose of imparting new knowledge and skills, others are a cash grab. This puts the burden on the learners themselves to rule out the wheat from the chaff and find courses that are engaging, educational and creative.
As trainers, it is vital to make sure that your course has all the right qualities that give learners value for their money. So what makes a good online course? Take a look at the traits below to make sure you providing you’re learners with what they need to succeed.
Self-paced study
With the ways adult learners are busy with family and work, they can easily get overwhelmed. An online course should be designed to give them plenty of time to study the material and complete large assignments and projects. There should also be short and meaningful assignments to keep them engaged without overburdening them in the short-term.
Learners have greater control
Lack of control can easily give room to frustration. When the course structure is too rigid, learners are robbed of the opportunity to explore and truly interact with the content. This means they will not become the self-directed learners they wish to be. By giving them the freedom to discover meaningful ways to interact with the content on their own, you are guaranteed to minimize frustration and keep them engaged.
Quality content
To spark curiosity and grab hold of their attention, courses need to have high-quality content. Courses that provide the same mundane textbooks and fill-in-the-blanks questions don’t inspire self-directed learners to engage with the content. This means you should include content that fosters natural learning. Moreover, the content you provide should be on the level that experts would recommend.
Use of multimedia content delivery
The days when people could sift through hundreds of pages to learn new knowledge and skills are long gone. These days, technology allows instructors to deliver online content using a multimedia approach. This includes infographics, images, videos, podcasts and games. That way, the course can adapt to different learning styles and needs.
Easy to navigate
If the learner is finding the course structure hard to navigate, they can quit due to frustration and confusion. By making sure that the course structure is arranged in an intuitive manner, students can find what they need and go through the material with ease. Have another organization review your course structure to make sure it is easy to navigate.
Takes advantage of social learning
Some students learn better when they are part of a group where they can ask for help when needed. This makes it important for courses to instill a sense of community into their learners, where they can take advantage of social learning. For example, through a discussion board, graphic design students can display their latest projects and get feedback and tips from their peers and instructors.
If your online training course has the above traits, then congratulations; you are offering a good course. You can engage your students in ways that can enhance their learning experience compared to other low-quality offerings.
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