5 E’s To Make Your Students Fall In Love With e-Learning

Things are changing fast. Technology is rapidly transforming the way we live and perceive the world.

What was thought to be impossible in the past is now a reality; we have cars driving at 435 km/h, we have touched Mars, we have computers that can be worn like glasses! The education sector is also not deprived of these changes. The classroom has gone online, digital whiteboard tools have replaced pens and pencils and learning has become more interactive.

Online education has completely revolutionized the way education is delivered. By providing learners with greater flexibility in terms of what, when, where, and by whom they want to learn, it allows learners to immerse themselves in the huge ocean of knowledge of learning at their own will. Students no longer have to sit through the traditionally exhaustive school hours. They have more choices now.

But why is the student dropout rate of online courses still high? What is the missing ingredient in e-learning? Experts have different views on this and the crux of all the discussions around it points toward only one direction, that is, lack of motivation.

Teachers shifting from traditional to online education often struggle with understanding the dynamics of teaching online. However, it only takes a little creative thinking to sort this out. Here are the five E’s of making students fall in love with learning in e-learning environment:

Encouragement: With the incorporation of technology in education, students no longer need spoon-feeding of information. They take up online courses to experience autonomous learning.

Therefore, while designing an online course teachers should keep in mind that it allows students control over their learning, and make them feel responsible, excited and cheerful all the time. This kind of self-paced learning gives them space to use their competencies and be more open about their needs and struggles. Apart from this, constant feedback and regular assessments make students feel supported.

Experiment: While you can rarely go wrong with tried and tested methods of teaching in the classroom, it has been observed that students learn better if a teacher brings timely changes in his/her teaching styles and methodologies. Going through the same practices and tasks makes students feel demotivated. As change is a good motivator for students to feel charged up, a teacher needs to constantly monitor the learning outcomes and think of unique ideas to challenge students’ brains in new ways.

A teacher who shuns experimentation not only keeps himself away from new learning but also stunts the growth of his students. The success of Jason R. Levine, Mark Marzio, Mark Barnes, Shelly Sanchez Terrell, Dr. Nellie Deutsch and many more such revolutionary online teachers, who challenged the norms and gave a new definition to teaching for the betterment of their students, speaks volumes about the idea of experimenting in e-learning environment.

Emotions: Emotions play an important role in directing human actions, and the concept of learning too is not bereft of emotions. It is an emotional journey where the quality of learning goes directly in proportion to the quality of emotional connection with the teacher and the course content. In an online learning environment, a student needs to feel acknowledged and connected with the process of learning.

For this, teachers can incorporate the concept of synchronous learning by using live-interaction tools like WizIQ virtual classroom, keeping in touch with students through discussion boards and providing regular support by addressing their doubts. Apart from this, including relational concepts and inspirational stories in the course content also makes students develop an emotional connection with learning.

Engagement: Engagement is an extremely important and highly misinterpreted concept of fostering motivation among students. Usually, teachers interpret engagement as superficial involvement in the learning process and take up old approach of asking questions on the subject matter. However, this concept has more layers to it and needs a deeper level of thinking. Teaching online is a balancing act where a teacher needs to get the right mix of interest and difficulty in the learning materials. It not only keeps students hooked to learning but also makes them think critically and creatively.

Entertainment: Walt Disney was quite thoughtful when he said,

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

We cannot expect a student to follow a rigorous cycle of consuming and understanding information. Students need a break and the right dose of entertainment to feel motivated. Using videos, games, storytelling techniques, and music in the e-learning environment, gives a fresh learning experience to students where they learn and grow. Teachers can make use of smart online teaching features like media and content sharing to make learning fun and engaging for students.

Online education is a powerful concept, which if leveraged in a right manner, can empower both the learners and teachers. And if we want it to flourish in the right direction, we have to constantly rethink, explore and innovate ways of bringing students closer to teachers so that learners do not feel isolated in the e-learning environment.

Originally published on Hubpages.