Top 10 Tips for an Effective Online Course

 If you’re here, then you are probably trying to figure out what some of the best practices are for eCourses. Class times vs. office hours, locked browsers vs. open book, what websites you use, and how you can help your students learn… those aren’t even half of the questions I had when I first started!

After spending time in this industry and taking time to study the theory, there are roughly ten main tips that encompass how to create an effective course. This isn’t a one size fits all. Instead, this is what I have seen, read, and tested.

You may have a different method that works or you might have different best practices. That’s awesome! If you have best practices other than those here, send us a comment about what they are :) I would love to have someone else's thoughts on what they found works and why.

1. Regular Times
   • In the great education shift to online back in 2020, a lot of ideas regarding online education were flipped on their head. One of those ideas was that class times were not needed for student success. However, students in all grades and in all kinds of courses showed that time slots were definitely needed: if there wasn’t some sort of external responsibility, then students quickly forgot about their classes. Because of this need for ritual, have a regularly timed course or period where students have to either watch material or join a group discussion. If you don’t, your students will quickly disengage!
2. Shared Work
   • This is based on the idea that more hands make less work. At the same time, when you have students work together on projects, assignments, homework, or whatever you want to call it, they are going to learn more. Why is that? Students that work together to learn information are going to retain that information at a higher rate than those that don’t. Even if you are an introvert’s introvert, talking out what you are learning helps solidify the information, and sometimes another student can explain something in a different way that just clicks with another student. You can have students and clients alike work in pairs or small groups so that you can monitor what goes on in each group. When you have group sessions you can even have breakaway sessions where your students break off into another virtual room for 10 minutes to talk through a project or puzzle. Then come back and every group shares what they came up with. You will be surprised by how many ways there are to solve the same problem.
3. Simplified Research
   • You know your stuff. You have researched your topic and learned as much as you can so that you are prepared for everything. You have probably learned all of the jargon, learned the nicknames for jargony words and even started journaling about the topic. You know this inside and out! But your students don’t. Take the information you have learned, and like what I’m doing here, break it down for your students so that they can take it in bites. Not only are they going to see the effort you have put in, but you’ll have opened wide the gates of knowledge for them!
4. Walkthroughs
   • Walkthroughs are one of the most underrated and MOST needed resources for anyone using a website or registering for a course. Something that many experts forget is that your clients and students aren’t going to know the ins and outs of the resources that you use. Because of this, they will desperately need walkthroughs in order to understand what you are talking about, how to navigate the course, and to get through their assessments. If these walkthroughs aren’t already available from your host website, then you will absolutely need to make them!
5. Considerate Construction of Assessments
   • Assessments are one of the most stressful things for students and clients. Did they remember the information correctly? Did they study like they were supposed to? Are they able to communicate their learning? When you make assessments, remember that there are more than just a few kinds. Homework, group work, in-class work, quizzes, open-book tests, and more are all effective for assessing students. Pay attention to your students and see what it is that they need. Adjust how you assess from there.
6. Regular Community Interaction
   • In order for your students to begin creating communities, you have to take the lead and be an example. Students are going to require a lot of support in online communities: they will need a space where they can talk with you, discuss with other students, and do something other than study all of the time.  To interact with your students, try hopping into class early or having regular group discussions. Read every response you can and respond to their points!
7. Developed Lesson Plans
   • PowerPoints, lesson plans, and study materials, it doesn’t matter what you call them, but a lesson plan is how you organize your courses. Always be prepared for your students. This sets an example for them and it also helps keep you on track.  Some students also need PowerPoints before classes so that they can take notes: if you have them ready to go, then you get to help more students succeed.
8. Invest in those you teach
   • We have to give more than we get when it comes to helping guide students who are new to a topic. Even students who have already learned some of your previous content are going to benefit from any and all additional resources.  Part of your investment is the work that you do daily, and sometimes it is that little extra handout or access offer that supports your students and helps you demonstrate your support.
9. Keep Everything Up to date
   • You absolutely need to keep your course items up to date. Sometimes the various technological services or programs, that we use to provide support to our students, release changes or updates that require us to update our documents.  You can even engage your students in helping find items that need to be updated. Just as they will need support in learning the system, you will need their support in finding any out-of-date material. If students can’t match what is on your resources, have them point it out! Maybe even make a fun contest with a prize for their error/outdated info-finding skills.
10. Reach Out and be Yourself
    • It doesn't take much to reach out with a small note, email, chat, or even just say hi to everyone by name during group sessions. You don’t have to reach out to every single student that you have. Instead, you can reach out to the students that you have personally connected with or the ones that have reached out to you. These students are more than likely to need more personal support.  Personal support gives you the opportunity to be yourself with your students and also helps them see that they can be real with you as well.

That wasn't so bad, was it?

I know this blog was a little longer than others, but that’s because I believe that all of you need this information as you go through the development of your courses.

Remember that you’ve got this and please let me know what your favorite best practices are!