Enrollment in online courses is growing and growing. In 2018, almost seven million students enrolled in online courses. In 2020, 82% of K-12 students attended schools that offered some form of remote instruction. However, what makes a good and quality online course? We know there are standards for evaluating good teaching practices, but online it’s different. It requires the integration of technology, communication and learning that is not the same as traditional classrooms. The evaluation of what makes an effective online course should be based on different criteria.
How do you then decide what the efficacy model is? How many high marks are there or how many students pass? Is it the course that has the best post-course evaluations? Is it the most attractive course or the one with the most enrollment per semester? How about the more technical ones with fancy software or links? We must take into account best practices and then design accordingly based on the needs of the students and the institution. What makes a good online course fits with the school’s overall assessment goals and school strategies.
Opinions on what makes a good and effective course vary. According to some, student-faculty contact, application of technology, collaborative learning, diversified learning, active learning, expectations, time spent on task, and immediate feedback should be included and reviewed in a course quality online. Others list what is the right pace for students to learn and work properly. Good courses provide a sense of community where students interact with others, ask questions, and form peer groups. They also include multimedia such as videos, interactive activities, podcasts, and have built-in opportunities for self-directed learning. Courses should be easy to navigate, have alternative exploration paths for students who want to learn more, and appeal to all learning styles and needs.
Is it technology that makes a good course? It’s often tempting to pack a lot of high-tech elements into a course. However, good courses avoid having too much technology because it can be overwhelming and actually detract from learning. Some say that including videos in your course makes it good. Videos in courses allow an instructor to create a sense of presence in an online course and deliver information in smaller, usable chunks that can be retained. They also encourage design courses with accessibility in mind and collect data to measure and analyze opportunities for improvement.
Course design is a very important component that influences student performance and engagement online. Some studies show that accessibility, evaluation and interaction are very important. The way the instructor divided or organized the material in the course, interacted with students, provided assessment, and aligned objectives were highly rated. Courses that included additional reading, quizzes, video lectures, and opportunities for reflection and higher order thinking, and that used many different ways of applying learning, were quality courses. Other reports list components for teachers as the most important evaluation method. Teachers need to know their material well so they can answer questions and provide more information if needed. Course design must take into account all learning styles.
Communication is more important. Expectations should be clear and contact information provided for technology support and instructor and resource documents should be provided on how to use discussion forums, social media, chats, and email. The syllabus and other course documents should be easy to find and use with easy course navigation. Another study listed course facilitation skills as the most important element for an effective course for participation. These strategies were intended to improve instructor presence, connection, engagement, and student learning. Instructors recommended using a variety of assessments, rubrics, course templates, a quality control review process, and data collection for analysis.
Timely response and feedback, availability and presence, and regular communication were some of the facilitation strategies used by the award-winning instructors.
As you can see, the perspective of a school or institution greatly affects what makes an effective online course. If the goal is to measure learning, surveys and post-assessments may be a suitable indicator. It can be as simple as student evaluations of instructor performance or review of pass/fail rates or student completion/dropout rates in online courses. It may be the ease of use and the positive reactions to the interface being used. An institution might also have a quality standards rubric with pre-set items that should be incorporated into an online course. The key is to align these standards with the strategic planning of the school and to what is in the best interest of students. This plan must be implemented consistently in each existing and new course with a way to measure success year after year. After a few years, reviews should be done to ensure these measurements are still correct and standards are met. The bottom line is that you can choose any item you want, but using a consistent approach is ultimately what ensures an effective online course and eLearning program.
