Improving the e-Learning Experience

Students and their teachers must face and overcome a number of challenges before learning takes place including: becoming and staying responsible for themselves; "owning" their strengths, desires, skills, and needs; maintaining and increasing self-esteem; relating to others; clarifying what is learned; redefining what legitimate knowledge is; and dealing with content. These challenges are considered in relation to online education:

•    "Becoming and staying responsible for themselves". High motivation is required to complete online courses because the face-to-face contact with teachers and other students is sometimes lacking. Teachers can help motivate distant students by providing consistent and timely feedback, encouraging discussion among students, being well prepared for class, and by encouraging and reinforcing effective student study habits.
•     "Owning one’s strengths, desires, skills, needs". Students need to recognize their strengths and limitations. They also need to understand their learning goals and objectives. The teacher can help distant students to explore their strengths/limitations and their learning goals/objectives by assuming a facilitative role in the learning process. Providing opportunities for students to share their personal learning goals and objectives for a course helps to make learning more meaningful and increases motivation.
•     "Maintaining and increasing self-esteem". Distant students may be afraid of their ability to do well in a course. They are balancing many responsibilities in their school and family lives. Often their involvement in distance education is unknown to others.  Student performance is enhanced if learners set aside time for their instructional activities and if they receive family and teacher support in their academic endeavors.
•     "Relating to others". Students often learn most effectively when they have the opportunity to interact with other students. Interaction among students typically leads to group problem solving. When students are unable to meet together, appropriate interactive technology such as e-mail should be provided to encourage small group and individual communication. Assignments, in which students work together and then report back or present to the class as a whole, encourage student-to-student interaction.
•     "Clarifying what is learned". Distant students need to reflect on what they are learning. They need to examine the existing knowledge frameworks in their heads and how these are being added to or changed by incoming information. Examinations, papers, and class presentations provide opportunities for student and teacher to evaluate learning. However, less formal methods of evaluation will also help the students and teacher to understand learning. For example, periodically during the course the teacher can ask students to write a brief reflection on what they have learned and then provide an opportunity for them to share their insights with other class members.  Sharing these reflections with parents is another excellent way to reinforce learning.
•     "Redefining what legitimate knowledge is".  Learners may find it difficult to accept that their own experience and reflections are legitimate knowledge. When the teacher takes a facilitative rather than authoritative role, students will see their own experience as valuable and important to their further learning. It is suggested that learners use first-person language to help them claim ownership of personal values, experiences, and insights.
•     "Dealing with content". Student learning is enhanced when content is related to examples. Teachers and parents should encourage students to find or develop examples that are relevant to them or their community.