The popularity of the e-leaning platform in the corporate arena has grown not only because it is less expensive or convenient, but because it is capable of providing a positive learning experience even without the traditional components of training. So, when developing an online course, it is important to make sure that it has quality and engaging content. How do you do this? Get feedback from your learners. Here are some tips on how to get honest feedback that will help you maintain a successful online course.
Invite Them to Test Drive the Online Course
Reach out to people who have not taken the online course before and ask them to do a test drive. If possible, it would be advantageous for you to observe them as they navigate through the modules to see if there are any parts of the course that they find difficult to understand. Encourage them to provide you with honest feedback about the online course’ content, design, graphics, and layout. Ask the testers if there are parts of the course that were difficult to navigate or understand. This is especially helpful prior to launching a new e-learning course as this will allow you to receive objective and unbiased feedback and make the necessary changes before you launch the online course.
Include Tests and Projects in the Modules
Integrate tests and projects in each of the modules to allow learners to apply what they have learned. While these may seem to be more of an assessment of the learners, tests and projects can also help you gauge the effectiveness of each module by how much of the total number of learners have passed on their exams and projects. A high percentage of passers can indicate that the module has effectively presented information that the learners understood well enough to apply in the tests and projects. Having a low percentage of passers might indicate that there were parts of the module that did not present the information in a manner that they would understand well, or it could also be that the module lacked certain information or examples.
Integrate Surveys and Online Questionnaires in the Online Course
Surveys and questionnaires are some of the most direct and effective ways to receive feedback from online learners. Ask specific questions that will allow you to measure the overall experience of online learners and identify areas that may need to be improved. Encourage your online learners to be honest in completing these surveys and forms, letting them know that their feedback is invaluable. You may want to add these in each module for a customized set of questions that will make it easier for you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of every part of the online course. This will also ensure that the questionnaires are kept short and not inconvenience the ones answering them. Then ask them to rate the course from 1 to 10 with a comment box where they can add their opinions and recommendations for the online course as a whole.
No matter how well though an online course is, this does not guarantee that every single learner will find it to be fool proof. A successful e-learning platform for online learners can be achieved if you are open to feedback from your learners. Encouraging them to provide their feedback to their e-learning experience and suggestions on which parts need to be improved will be very helpful in enhancing the online course.
Michelle Gonzalez has been writing for SMEs across the United States, Canada, Australia and the UK for the last five years. She is a highly-experienced blogger and SEO copywriter, writing business blogs for various industries such as marketing, law, health and wellness, beauty, and education, particularly on e-learning platforms such as www.teachable.com.
