eLearning Objectives: How You Can Actually Know If They Are Met
eLearning is a very effective technique of delivering an educational program to students. However, because it does not involve the traditional face-to-face or classroom teaching methodologies, it does not mean that realizing objectives is not important.
In an eLearning program, outlining realistic and measurable objectives is critical for keeping learners along the correct path in the course and ensuring they are committed to the expected outcomes.
So, how do you know whether the eLearning objectives are met?
Here are 4 useful tricks:
1. Use Live Streaming
Live streaming is effective in knowing if learning outcomes are met because it increases interactivity and boosts learners’ engagement.
When live streaming an online learning course, the learners can watch the teacher tackle the problems in real time—even as they do the same. This way, the teacher can quickly get feedback in case a student experiences a difficulty.
During a live-streaming session, a teacher can notice that students are asking a lot of questions on a certain area, which implies that more focus is needed to assist them to understand the concepts better—something which is difficult to achieve using pre-recorded learning materials.
For example, the LiveEdu project-based learning platform utilizes this live-streaming concept to assist people to learn new skills and escalate their careers.
2. Give Assessments
You will not know whether learners are meeting the stipulated objectives unless they are assessed or tested. Although testing is taken from the traditional teaching practices, it is still a beneficial way of gauging the success of your eLearning program.
A recent study emphasized that teachers who provide beneficial tests, give helpful instructions, and allow learners to correct their mistakes can enhance their teaching capabilities and assist learners in gaining new skills.
Furthermore, the assessments will motivate you to ask these questions: "Is the eLearning course meeting the needs of the students?", "Are there some improvements to be made in the learning material?".
Ensure that the assessment criteria align with your learning goals. Testing the online students is also a way of impacting seriousness and proving your competence at delivering the eLearning course.
Giving an assessment is an opportunity to reinforce the information learners grasped and to assist them in correcting any wrong ideas gathered. It’s golden!
3. Get Feedback
In an online learning environment, meaningful feedback is critical for ascertaining whether the learning goals are realized. In fact, without feedback, it can be difficult to tell whether the eLearning education program has met the intended objectives.
You should ensure that your electronic learning materials contain useful methods for getting feedback from students. For example, you can provide a question or activity after completing each step of the course.
Feedback allows eLearners to track their performance and ensures they do not drift from the set learning outcomes. Feedback will also assist you to evaluate the effectiveness of your eLearning materials and make any necessary adjustments.
4. Use Collaboration
If you allow your online students to form small groups and learn concepts together, you can increase the chances of achieving learning objectives.
Currently, with the proliferation of social media platforms and other tools for collaboration, it is easier for eLearners to capitalize each other’s resources and skills and grasp concepts faster—something which was difficult to achieve a few years ago. If online learners can ask each other information, assess each other’s ideas, and get feedback on their progress, it can result in deeper learning and understanding outcomes.
As an eCourse instructor, you need to encourage your students to form groups so that they can engage with one another and share knowledge. Occasionally, you can also engage with them on the online collaboration forums and get to know their pain points and things that need improvement. Consequently, you’ll know whether learning objectives are met based on the progress of those groups for collaboration.
Wrapping Up
Knowing if eLearning objectives are met is essential to the success of your online course. In fact, before starting to deliver a course, you should clearly outline how you’ll evaluate its success. Otherwise, your education program may not offer value to the intended students.
Which techniques do you use to determine whether your online course has realized its learning objectives?
Please let me know in the comment section below.
