5 Ways Online Instructors Can Improve Their Presentations
Online learning grants participants the opportunity to learn almost anything from anywhere at any time. Unfortunately, like any course in a physical setting, online classes can come with their own challenges and obstacles if the instructor isn’t prepared.
While there are many solutions and workarounds for these potential obstacles, acknowledging and preparing for impediments will allow you to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
By following these five tips, online instructors everywhere can not only overcome common online course obstacles, but even sidestep them altogether!
1. Build a Personal Brand and Know Your Participants
There are many articles that discuss how online instructors can get the best possible response from their participants, and one area they all examine is how personable the instructor is, as well as how well they know their participants.
In the digital age, we all know how online settings can make a person bland and anonymous if we let them. Teachers can become faceless robots and learners can be lost amongst the crowd. No one benefits from anonymity in online learning.
Combatting this begins with the instructor.
Give your participants a little background on yourself. Make yourself as welcoming and genial as you can. This will encourage participants to listen and engage more, to reach out if they become stuck or lost at a certain stage, and–importantly!–more forgiving should something go wrong.
To get to know your participants better, ask each of them to give you a little information on their own background–their experience, their session goals, their careers. This will help you provide feedback and even lessons that are tailored to them and their specific needs. The better you know your participants, the better you’ll better understand their work!
2. Foster an Active Environment
There’s a misconception that online courses must be less interactive than in-person classes. This comes from the idea that, because students are learning on their own time, they are alone.
This doesn’t have to be the case–nor should it be!
Like an in-person classroom, online classes need a supportive and active instructor. Not only should instructors be present, they should make their presence known by engaging with participants directly. This active participation will go a long way in showing learners that you’re engaged and care about their progress!
This goes hand-in-hand with our previous step; by making yourself friendly and approachable, learners will be more willing to participate in conversations with you. You can also help bolster discussion by asking follow up questions of their responses–even challenging them to stimulate thought.
Avoid adding too much extra work or research for learners in these discussions, though–otherwise, some might avoid adding their input in the first place. You want to be welcoming and thought-provoking, not antagonistic.
3. Avoid Miscommunication by Creating Clear and Deliberate Expectations
In an online setting, your initial written instructions will set the standard for the entire course.
Not only do these upfront instructions need to be crystal clear, they need to establish guidelines and expectations that everyone must follow–including the instructor.
Timing is always incredibly important when dealing with online courses. One of the huge benefits to eLearning is time flexibility, so participants need accurate scheduling information to organize their courses around their lives.
You should also consider and display how quickly you will be able to respond to queries, then adhere to it. These times can be modified later if needed, but you want to establish accurate expectations from the start. Let learners know what to expect ahead of time, and they’ll be more likely to work well with you.
When it comes to instructions, there’s a good rule of thumb to go by: if multiple people asking the same thing, even you believe the answer is obvious and available, there’s a definite clarity problem you need to deal with. Your instructions are the common denominator in this situation, after all!
When this happens, it’s best to address everyone in the course. The best online instructors are the ones who accept constructive criticism and provide detailed feedback in return.
If the course is designed well, the success of future modules depends on the material itself. Providing written feedback gives participants an actionable list of things to work on for their next assignment.
Make it known from the start that you’re willing to provide extensive feedback and that building from it is necessary to flourish. Don’t forget, though–teaching is a two-way street, so make sure participants have plenty of opportunities to make suggestions, too!
4. Set Learners (and Members) Up for Success
Solitary online learning does not (and should not) mean loneliness.
You don’t have to baby learners, but you can build a course and a system that helps set them up for success.
One tip to accomplish this is to start slow and easy. Make your early lessons or assignments especially easy to understand and complete; this will allow learners to become fully (and comfortably) immersed in the course right away. It also helps build their confidence.
From here, you’ll want your course design to follow an obvious pattern. This will help learners build a rhythm and make it easier to anticipate deadlines.
That being said, missed deadlines are unavoidable, no matter where you’re instructing. Thankfully, you can limit these by setting up helpful, friendly reminders. You can set up automated notifications to advise learners about any important dates coming up.
Another key for setting online participants up for success is to ask for their feedback during the course and upon completion. You’ll need to learn to take critique in stride and work toward resolving criticism, rather than disregarding it.
Do this and you’ll find that with each passing course, you’re becoming more and more effective in your methods! Your course delivery will also grow smoother and easier to manage. You’ll be an expert in no time!
5. Ensure Quality Resources are Easily Accessible
The final obstacle is technological limitations and a lack of online resources. The solutions are theoretically simple but more difficult to put into practice.
First, do your best to ensure that all of the course resources are digital, current, and easily searchable online. If this isn’t possible, make sure that they are at least easy to find for all learners–there’s nothing more defeating in a course than being unable to find a resource!
Go through and check all of your links, confirming that they aren’t broken or missing. Not every course will have access to high-quality digital material, but working material is an absolute must.
Another great tip for online instructors is to try and break up the monotony with a variety of exercises and resource types. This is essential for keeping learners engaged and feeling refreshed when working away on their own.
Then, there’s the technology. Regardless of how well you plan, tech problems can be inescapable at times. You can’t avoid them, but you can expect them; have a plan in place for when they do happen. Tutorials and helplines can be invaluable in this situation.
Conclusion
For learners, falling behind (or getting lost altogether!) can make them feel like they’re on island. Thankfully, the reality is that they aren’t alone!
By following these tips, you can prove this; create a friendly and welcoming environment and you’ll find that eLearning can be every bit as inclusive as an in-person classroom is–if not more so.
Sources:
Milheim, Karen. “Toward a Better Experience: Examining Student Needs in the Online Classroom through Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Model.” Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 2012.
