Online learners seek out e courses because they want to learn something new. This is usually something that will help them with a one-time task or a responsibility that they need to do repeatedly either for work or at home. All kinds of elearning courses focus on improving a skill or adding to their knowledge.
But you should not only focus on the skill, knowledge, idea or concept that you will teach online learners. Believe it or not, it is also important for you to focus on trying to make lifelong online learners out of those who will go through your course. This means instilling the passion and love for learning in the hearts of the students who will access your e courses.
Of course, that is easier said than done. It seems unlikely that you can influence the perception of online learners. But if you know how to create your elearning course the right way, it is a possibility. You can turn a one-time student into a lifelong learner who is constantly looking for something new to learn.
It all boils down to what you will put in that first course that the learner will look at. You have to make sure that they will be so impressed with their learning experience that they will come back for more lessons.
Here are a couple of tips that will help you convert your e courses to produce online learners with a never-ending thirst for knowledge.
- Utilize social learning. The thing about social learning is it makes the experience fun. When you are learning with other people, you observe each other and become more engaged in the lesson. At least, this is true compared to learning by yourself. Simply integrate a social learning activity in your e courses. For instance, group learners together and allow them to engage in an online discussion. You can group them together to compete in online games. There are various ways to socialize online and make it relevant to your online course.
- Help them discover their learning style. People learn differently from each other. It is important for you to consider how you can help the learners discover their own style of learning. Some would like to learn by listening to audio tapes. Others like how to videos or storytelling through animations. There are those who are better at retaining concepts if done through slides. There are online learners who like to learn through games. If you help them identify the learning style that best fits their personality, they will find the learning process to be more enjoyable than they first thought.
- Make the course motivating. Someone who is motivated to learn will not require much push when it comes to learning. To make your e courses motivating for online learners, encourage them to set personal milestones. As much as possible, these should be milestones that extend beyond the timeframe of the elearning course.
- End with a challenge. One of the ways that you can encourage learners to seek out more e courses is to end the current one with a challenge. You want them to come back for more so end the lesson by challenging them with a problem or question. This will encourage them to seek answers or new skills and knowledge to rise up to the challenge you just gave.
Think about these qualities when you create e courses so the online learners will not stop asking for more lessons from you.
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