6. Recommendations
The key elements to delivering a successful online programme
such as this are:
- Getting students online as a priority- making sure that
there is an easy registration process
- Providing engaging activities that have relevance to students’
work or learning
- Including lots of group activities
- Providing a thorough induction
- Structuring the programme and giving clear guidance of what
students need to do and when (clear language is very important here)
- Using the activities to build up to the assessment; so the
assessment is not an ‘add on’ to the course materials. This really helps to get
student engagement.
- An online tutor presence is vital, but not OTT- give
students the space to do the work!
- Not overloading students with content. As a lot more
scaffolding and signposting has to be done with online students it’s usually
inappropriate to transfer material from a face to face programme into an online
context.
- Making it clear that there are core and optional otherwise
students think they have to do everything. It is helpful to think about what
students need to know, what is nice to know etc. This should not result in dumbing
down but engaging in deep learning about fewer topics.