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Online learning is an ongoing process that goes beyond creating quality online content. Whether for-profit or not, it is important to ensure that students understand the information and get a valuable return. Some experts believe that increasing participation is key to improving educational performance and helping students achieve desired goals. Below, we will provide you with more details about it so that your strategies have a greater educational impact.
Improve student motivation in the virtual environment
In online learning, motivation is crucial for students to better understand the valuable concepts covered in the content and that are important for their training. Therefore, you should focus on encouraging learning and development through participation. A key to achieving this is to motivate through the certification of your courses or training processes with digital badges.
Once you awaken greater motivation in students, they will enjoy several benefits, such as:
- Greater personal satisfaction.
- Improvement in digital skills.
- Increased motivation to complete the course.
This way, students will be able to experience deep learning with the strategies you have implemented on the online learning platform.
Recommendations to increase student participation
Since student engagement is a key factor, it is important that you focus on the following:
1.Set realistic expectations and model commitment
In addition to welcoming course participants, it is important that you let them know that you are committed to their learning. This way, students will feel like they are more likely to succeed with your help.
One recommendation is to design clear learning paths based on digital badges. These will motivate students to continue training. For example, you can award a certification in the form of a badge or microcredential for each short course they complete, and upon completion, they can earn a “master” badge or a final certification.
You can also consider sending a motivational email before the course starts, ideally a week or two before. In this resource, you must present the clear programming of the modules to be taught.
Likewise, it is important that you include a table with the deadlines for the tasks to be completed. This way, participants will have a better idea of the flow of activities.
2.Motivate compliance with activities
It is essential that you prepare a summary of each module you will teach. In addition, you must provide open educational resources that any student can access and that serve as a complement to the course, such as books, magazine articles, videos, infographics, among others.
In addition, you must create a precise guide that addresses the fulfillment of the objectives of each module on the virtual learning platform. These types of strategies allow students to develop critical thinking and establish connections with the course content.
It might interest you: How to boost the success of your recognition strategy
It is also important that you spend time reviewing the questions and reflective comments about each module. Schedule weekly microconferences to express your point of view and clarify students’ doubts.
What are digital badges and their examples of use?
3.Encourage participation without being dominant
During microconferences scheduled to clarify doubts, it is common to start an online discussion with students. When doing so, it is important to interact following some strategies:
- Ask open but specific questions.
- Conduct surveys on the topic under study and discuss the results.
- Inform about the monitoring of a particular topic.
If there is a lack of participation in online discussions, you need to acknowledge it and ask about it in a kind and polite manner. In this way, students will perceive your commitment to them.
4.Create an inclusive environment
At some point during the course, you should give students the opportunity to share a little about themselves. For example, encourage participation so that they tell about their hobbies, educational experiences, learning reasons, among others.
It is also essential that you celebrate the individual experiences of each participant at some point. For example, if a group achieves a milestone, send a personal message of congratulations, and if they don’t, do the same, but expressing your commitment to helping them overcome barriers.
5.Recognize achievements
One recommendation for recognizing student participation and achievement is to immediately value their efforts. This can be achieved, in addition to the digital badge recognition initiative, through a learning program and a scoring system in which everyone can see their progress.
This way, they will feel motivated as they earn a badge and will feel that their progress is recognized. This will encourage them to:
- Visualize your goals.
- Evaluate your progress.
- Strengthen and improve your skills.
A satisfied and motivated student will increase their participation in the course, and that is what digital credentials generate.
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