According to a recent World Economic Forum (WEF) report, half of all employees globally will need to upskill or reskill by 2025 due to the rise of automation and new technologies. As the rate of technological progress and globalization continue, it is imperative that today’s workforce learn new skills and learn to continually adapt as brand-new occupations and technologies emerge. Likewise, employers must look to cultivate the personal and professional growth of employees. Online learning addresses these evolving needs of employers and employees in an efficient, effective, and financially viable way.
Online offerings are ubiquitous, but not all created equally. There are clear indicators of what makes a good online course beyond factors like affordable, flexible, tied to a chosen career or skill, and a fast completion rate; there are additional components to consider to ensure the courses are worth the time, energy and investment! Below are examples of what to look for when considering taking your studies online.
Accessibility
As an instructional designer, I can tell you that accessibility is an element at the top of the list of what makes a good online course. One example of how accessibility is manifested in course design is that it sets up all learners to be successful through equitable design. Examples include diverse readings representing diverse perspectives available through open resources (rather than pricey textbooks), images represent diversity, and media that is captioned.
Challenging
When a learner is challenged, they are motivated to make a connection to learning and how to apply it to their own personal and professional experiences. Learner engagement is contagious and makes interactions with the instructor, peers and content more enjoyable. For example, in a discussion, learners could be prompted to apply what they are learning to their current professional projects or team projects. Learners could be given the opportunity to explain how a professional project directly ties to what they are learning. A project management professional could explain how his team approaches stakeholder management, as it applies to course content.
Interactivity
In addition to engaging learners, a good online course constructs an environment that cultivates a learning community. Interactivity is at the heart of a learning community and provides opportunities for learners to interact with each other as well as instructors. An example of this is the opportunity for peer to peer feedback.
Learning Outcomes
Students should have clear learning journey’s established to meet stated learning outcomes. Effective learning is a pillar of a good online course. A good online course identifies skills and knowledge that students will have the opportunity to gain and then provides them with specific activities to assess what degree the learner acquired the identified skills or knowledge.
Practical
Learn by doing! A good online course provides opportunities to put learning theories into practice. Practical or applied learning is the best way to acquire a new skill or knowledge. For example, A creative writing class would require a writing sample. But to take the learning a step further, have students peer review each other’s writing samples using a rubric for improvement.
Not surprisingly, all of these elements make for good traditional courses, but they are even more essential in an online course because all of the development has to happen well in advance of the start of the course. All too often, traditional courses are turned into online courses without taking the above elements into consideration and without making deliberate design choices with the learner in mind. Students participating in an online course should easily be able to see all of these elements come together in a cohesive way to provide them with an engaging and effective learning experience. When that happens, students can feel confident that they have chosen a good online course. And, as seen in studies conducted by The Teachers College Record, the evidence suggests there are no significant differences in students’ academic outcomes between online and face-to-face education.