Elements of an Online Learning Program

Thanks to the low production costs of creating an online program (in comparison to what it costs to create and deliver a traditional training program) just about every organization is turning to online learning as a major part of their training plan.

Of course, just using an organization's training budget on the creation of an online learning program doesn't automatically make it successful. The trouble with online learning programs is that companies rarely invest in details that create learning environments that are conducive to learning. Companies go into the creation of an online learning program with the idea that it's going to help them keep up with the competition, satisfy state or federal compliance requirements, or make use of available technology, more thought must go into what will make the program successful.

In order to make the investment worthwhile, and ensure a successful online learning program, the design of the program must consider what will motivate the students to complete the training, what kind of interaction is possible through the system, different ways to deliver the information, and how students will be able to access the instructor or trainer of the program. Ideally, training should be available to satisfy all of these needs.

Student Motivation

In any type of learning program, the success of the student is mostly related to the amount of their personal motivation to succeed. Online environments are slightly different than traditional training programs, and for some learners it is difficult to get themselves to complete the online training as there is no instructor taking attendance, no face-to-face contact to motivate them. So what elements of an online program can encourage student motivation and increase the overall success of the program?

The online learning program should have a variety of assessment techniques. If a learner of the program realizes that they are going to be assessed on their activities, it will motivate the majority of them to learn and participate. The fear of “looking dumb” is a strong motivator to many people, and will be enough to keep them working towards the completion of the course.

Interaction

Many online programs don't make use of the ability to provide synchronous interaction, and rarely encourage interaction between the learners of the program. Real-time chat can encourage discussions on the subject matter, but many online learning programs only make use of email and message boards to communicate with one another.

Technology

If the online program used to deliver your training has every single feature possible, but the students have no idea how to access any of it- the program will fail. The user interface of an online learning program must be intuitive so that students will not have to spend large amounts of time attempting to learn where to access lessons and class notes, how to contact other students and the instructor, and how to submit his or her assignments for assessment. The program should be designed so that it will operate on the majority of computer systems, and on low-bandwidth connections. If the learners of the program aren't able to connect to the system, or fully access the features due to their computer limitations, the program may fail so use caution, cover your bases, and do your research to ensure your program’s success.