So, you’re planning a new e-learning course, or maybe you’re looking to revise and improve one that already exists. Well, this is a great place to start! This post is going to go into depth on what elements have been shown through research to make e-learning courses the most effective. We are also going to discuss a few considerations you should be making when planning an e-learning course that can be applied across all university disciplines. Well, let’s get started!
Activity
Andrew Brown and Bradley Voltz have identified in their research 6 key elements of an e-learning design. The first we will discuss is activity. In their article Brown and Voltz (2005), state that, “Despite the apparent obviousness of this requirement, it seems all too easy for providers of e-learning to become carried away with, or distracted by, other design elements and to overlook the necessity of providing a rich learning activity.” When designing e-learning activities there are several important things to consider: engagement, challenge, and relevance to the course.
Scenario
In scenario Brown and Voltz explain how scenarios play a pivotal role in helping students contextualize content during activities. This topic has been shown to be fundamental in other research as well. As stated by Pan et al., one of the biggest challenges educators face today in higher education is helping students connect what they have learned in the classroom with real life practice. In order for an e-learning design and its materials to be effective it is essential to clearly identify the target audience (or discipline) in order to develop scenarios that will be engaging and enhance learning (Brown & Voltz, 2005).
Feedback
“Experience becomes knowledge through reflection,” ( Brown & Voltz, 2005). Feedback is an essential part of learning that allows student to reflect, learn, and increase their level of skill. When considering designing an e-learning course it is important to remember that feedback to learners is essential, but so is feedback from learners in order to grow and improve the course for future students.
Delivery
Each student is going to require specific e-learning delivery methods which will be dependent on the student’s area of study (Smith, Torres-Ayala, & Heindel, 2008). Appropriate delivery of e-learning, through the guidelines of the other elements listed, should include maximizing student engagement, enable stimulating contexts, and maximize feedback and reflection opportunities ( Brown & Voltz, 2005 ). For example, Smith et al., applied Biglan’s Taxonomy of Academic Disciplines to e-learning in their study, determining that students in ‘hard’ areas will value methods that reinforce facts, principles, and concepts, whereas students in ‘soft’ areas will value methods that support the development of argumentation skills and critical thinking (Smith, Torres-Ayala, & Heindel, 2008).
Context
Taking context into account when discussing effective e-learning requires that the designer consider the demands and scaffolding inherent in the learners’ environment (Brown & Voltz, 2005). According to Brown and Voltz (2005), the broader context of the learner’s environment is relevant when addressing the learning needs. The difficulty with the management of learning contexts in virtual settings is that they that significant differences of degree compared with an in person class (Figueirdo, 2006). This means that it is up to the learner to interpret the material in the context of their own learning and environment, compared with the context potentially provided by an instructor in a traditional classroom.
Influence
The final element for effective e-learning as stated by Brown and Voltz (2005), is influence. The essence of this element is to consider how the e-learning materials will impact the learner. Brown and Voltz say that designers should consider how much learning will the material influence compared to how much effort was put in to produce the material. Other considerations of influence mentioned include ensuring that the impact of the e-learning design will benefit the learner, society and the environment (Brown & Voltz, 2005 ).
Although the majority of these elements focus on student experience, Brown and Voltz (2005), state that it is important to take a participatory approach where the e-learning course is a two-way street allowing ongoing communications between designers and learners.
References
Brown, A. R., Voltz, B. D. (2005). Elements of effective e-learning design. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 6(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v6i1.217
Figueirdo, A. (2006). Managing learning in virtual settings: The role of context. Information resources Press.
Smith, G. G., Torres-Ayala, A. T., Heindel, A. J. (2008). Disciplinary differences in e-learning instructional design: The case of mathematics. Journal of Distance Education, 22(3), 63-88.