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Creating Engagement in Virtual learning
In my research to promote student engagement in e-learning I have realised that trainers need to develop certain special skill set to be able to engage their audience virtually
Trainers who train online need to anser these questions
What works and what does not work online?
How to make virtual learning fun and enjoyable?What special training tools have to be used while teaching online? How to keep your audience engaged online? (For teachers, team leaders, CEO’s and social influencers)
How to know if the students are following along and interested?
How to build Trust, Credibility and Rapport among the students?
How to conduct practical activities online?
How to deliver online training in the best possible way?
How to know if your students are learning enough?
How to assess audience attention and know their reactions?
How to ensure that students repeatedly come back to your trainings?
How to plan, create and deliver the most effective online training?
How to elicit the best responses from the trainees?
How to handle Q & A sessions? What do you do if you are asked a question of which you do not know the answer?
When and Where to use updated and latest online tools?
How to tackle technical issues and ensure technically flawless sessions?
How to build your reputation as an online trainer?
Trying th answer these questions would mean a shift or trnasition from the traditional teach methodologies to a more virtual oriented enviroment and undertanding the psychology of e-learning. How people behave while online is very different to how they behave when the are in a physical calssroom
The whole dynamincs of groups differe when people are online. Hence a trainer needs to first identify the parameters of online haviour and then try to address them with creative tools of learning
I conduct a pupular workshop title 'Create Your Extra' whereby trainers learn how to engage their studetns by Creating Energy, Xcitement, Trust, Rapport and Activity oin their online sessions. All trainers who are conducting training online needs to transtiion to these new skills
While modern technology has helped to make this possible, it is important to take steps to ensure students are actually engaged with virtual lessons and taking an active interest in their own learning.Most school members - both students and staff members do not have a clue when it comes to teaching, learning, and assessing online.Majority of the cases are due to the fact that students are not used to learning an online mode, lecturers are not in tune with designing instructional materials to be used in an online mode and those who are in tuned were not afforded quality time as needed to designing quality instructional materials, as well as institutions IT infrastructure not built to handle the heavy load at the same time.
A virtual classroom can be the ideal way to recreate many of the advantages of traditional classroom education, without requiring people to be physically present in the same place. However, in order to actually engage students in such an environment, it is important to adopt active learning strategies, capitalize on gamification, and focus on creating the sort of online space where collaborative exercises can be carried out.
Those are very pertinent questions and you are totally correct, when we train faculty, etc, for working in an online environment they do need to be considered but I wonder how easy it is to answer them all, or even to prepare people for them. I do believe some of these can only be resolved through doing and some of the time failing to achieve the high goals we all set ourselves.
Also some of these questions are pertinent not just for online learning but even for how we can measure and develop traditional classroom learning - I especially like your example of 'how to know if your students are learning enough', which I think is a bit of the holy grail of education.