How to Design Online Courses to Enhance Student Engagement

When designed and implemented effectively, online learning holds huge potential for education, but many online courses that we see nowadays are not designed based on sound instructional design and adult learning principles. Simply providing students with online content and expecting them to learn on their own is not an effective approach to online learning. Such online courses don't provide students with the high-quality learning experience they deserve.

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When designed and implemented effectively, online learning holds huge potential for education, but many online courses that we see nowadays are not designed based on sound instructional design and adult learning principles. Simply providing students with online content and expecting them to learn on their own is not an effective approach to online learning. Such online courses don't provide students with the high-quality learning experience they deserve. Informed by research and drawn from my years of experience teaching and designing online courses, I will share some online learning design strategies and tips that you can implement to enhance students' online engagement and learning. Below are a few questions to ask yourself before implementing online or blended learning:       Sometimes we might assume that our students have grown up with technology, so they can easily navigate the online learning environment.Nevertheless, being tech dependent is different from being tech savvy. Additionally, being tech savvy in daily life is different from being tech savvy in the learning context. Therefore, it helps to give clear instructions on how to get started. You can do this by creating a two-minute course overview video trailer, providing a virtual walkthrough of the course, or giving students a syllabus quiz to make sure they read the syllabus carefully. For those who haven't had any prior online learning experience, share with them some online learning strategies, including how to manage their time.    Finally, remember that no matter what assessment approaches you use, it is extremely important to provide timely, personalized, and actionable feedback to students. Join Dr. Zheng's seminar “How to Design and Facilitate Online Discussions That Improve Student Learning and Engagement” on May 17 to learn more about this topic (http://www.magnapubs.com/online-seminars/online-discussions-that-improve-student-learning-14152-1.html).  Meixun Sinky Zheng is an assistant professor at the University of the Pacific.