|
Online Training News
Training Department brings together the latest online training news, so our customers truly realize the value online training can have, while providing innovative ways of implementation. We hope to educate those who are looking for an online training system and demonstrate our value to their company. If you discover an interesting training or online training resource, send us a note and we'll include it.
Visit Our Other Websites
- Leapfrog Incentive Tool Suite
Achieve superior business results by rewarding and recognizing your sales partners and employees.
www.ileapfrog.com
Distance Learning Tips From A Procrastinator
By Clare Gill
Extracted from eLearningMag.org - Confessions of a Neophyte Distance Learning and Full-Time Procrastinator
Article excerpt - "In presenting my experiences as a neophyte distance-learner, it has not been my intention to come across as if I were any kind of expert."
... putting forth three basic ideas.
The first is that homemakers returning to the workforce represent an important part of today's and tomorrow's workforce, and that we stand to benefit greatly from access to distance learning as we attempt to reclaim our pre-homemaker skills.
The second is that there are many traits that we acquire during our homemaker period that are the antithesis of the skills for effective distance learning.
The final point is that there are techniques that instructors may employ that could help the procrastinator adapt to the unfamiliar distance-learning environment. While we may not be the easiest students to teach, we nonetheless offer the potential for great payback."
Comments from Training Department: Effective e-courses can be developed for all types of distance learners, including procrastinators. We believe that if online courses are developed to address all learning types including procrastinating types, that the delivery of materials will be successful and that students will accomplish their learning objectives in a time period that suits them. The author of this article makes quite a few recommendations that should be heeded by those developing and managing online courseware.
Monitor Student Progress
One of the big differences between my face-to-face classes and distance-learning classes was that in the former, I had the strong sense that my professors were always aware of my progress right from the very beginning of the semester.
Contrast that with the way I felt in my online classes, where the other students and the instructors were just names on Blackboard to me.
The Training Department software includes a student administration section that allows e-coaches and e-teachers to monitor and interact with students. Interaction during a distance learning course can improve the success rate of an e-course, it can also stimulate the distance learner and enhance the learning process.
Create Routine Events
In the two face-to-face classes that I took, weekly classroom events-lectures, activities, and discussions-were all an essential part of the fabric of the course. I believe that this organization helped me to thrive in both classes. There seems to be two elements in play here: the fact that these became a routine and the fact that each class was an event.
Interestingly, the only online course where I never fell perilously far behind was organized in the same way: weekly modules all involving the same basic type of activity with completion being signaled by passing an online test.
Customized Learning Response Tools are available to maximize on student retention rates. With Training Department's e-learning courseware.
Implement Group Dependencies
Every group I joined seemed to choose inconvenient times to meet online and met far more often than I thought was necessary. But you cannot argue with success. I was far more engaged by these group activities than by anything else I did in these online courses. One thing I would recommend, also from my own experiences, is not to be too haphazard in assigning students to groups. Usually within about three weeks of the start of an online class, it has become pretty obvious (to everyone in the class) who the non-procrastinators are-they're the only ones whose names have appeared in any online activities. Their talents need to be spread around.
Online Forums are another way to help promote communication among team members, trainer and administrators.
Don't Make the Student Lose Hope!
As a procrastinating student, I was fortunate that most of the professors and teaching assistants in my online courses encouraged me to keep trying to complete the assignments in spite of my less-than-perfect student behavior. Most commonly this took the form of not penalizing me too heavily for my lateness.
Don't Give Up Hope on the Student!
There is no doubt that dealing with procrastinating students like me can be very frustrating. Chances are, however, that we have other qualities that we use to compensate for our time-management deficits, thereby allowing us to function in our other day-to-day lives. Unfortunately, a distance-learning course is probably the worst lens through which to view these qualities-at least until the last two weeks of the semester.
I believe that chronic procrastinating students, particularly homemakers retraining for the 21st century workforce, have a lot to offer. I believe, equally strongly that we can be very frustrating to deal with. I think it is important for instructors to recognize, however, that the behaviors we exhibit are in no way intended to be disrespectful. We are going to be an increasingly important part of the workforce in the coming decades and, as already noted, we stand to gain particularly great benefits from being able to participate in distance learning.
Training Department knows that online courseware can be successful with all types of industries, courseware and types of learning. Distance learning has it's challenges for procrastinators, but they are not that difficult to address. The e-courseware is the tool and the online trainer or e-monitor is there to make it a truely interactive experience where no one is left behind or left alone.
Contact Training Department for more information.
or
Frequently asked online training questions.
By Clare Gill, BA in Religious Studies from McGill University, a MEd from Tufts University, & a CSS in Management from Harvard Extension.