Interactive learning is fun and straightforward to create in a physical classroom. However, without the same guardrails in an online class, creating engaging online courses is challenging for many professors. While the tools available can help you create more interactive online courses, there are some things to consider before diving in.
Why are Engaging Online Courses Important?
According to research published in Frontiers, around 60% of students rated online learning as unsatisfactory in 2020. Considering this, it’s essential to bring the online learning experience closer to that of physical classes. We believe engaging online courses and interactive classes are essential in this process.
Interactive online classes are essential because they provide a dynamic learning environment that promotes active student participation, engagement, and attentiveness. When actively engaged, students are more likely to retain the information they learn, develop critical thinking skills, and enjoy the learning experience.
In a traditional physical classroom, professors can use various teaching aids like whiteboards, posters, or group activities to make the learning experience more interactive. However, in an online class, professors must be creative and use technology to provide similar experiences.
Creating interactive online classes is even more critical in the current scenario, where students will likely study remotely. Students may feel isolated and disconnected from their classmates and instructors without physical classrooms. Interactive online classes can help bridge this gap by providing a platform for collaborative learning and building a sense of community.
With this knowledge, let’s dive into three simple products that can help you create interactive classes.
Quizlet
Quizlet is a free tool that allows students to create and study flashcards. Millions of students and teachers use it daily, so if you’re looking for an engaging way to help your students memorize vocabulary or definitions, this could be it!
Quizlet can be used for any subject, not just for language learning. The site has several different tools that make creating quizzes easy:
- Create a new deck using images from the web or upload your files (such as PDFs).
- Add text-based questions and answers to each card; Quizlet will automatically generate multiple-choice options and “fill in the blank” questions based on your type into their fields. You can also add audio recordings or images from Google Images directly onto any card–and even customize how many seconds long each recording should play before moving on to the next question (which is great if some terms are easier than others).
Lens
Lens is an innovative Zoom add-on that provides real-time metrics to professors during online classes. With Lens, professors can monitor student engagement and attentiveness levels, conduct polls and quizzes, and even gamify the learning experience with a leaderboard. Here are some of the key features of Lens:
- Real-time engagement and attentiveness metrics
- In-meeting browser for access to external resources
- Leaderboard to gamify student interactions during the class.
Lens provides professors with essential insights into how their students engage with the online course material, allowing them to adjust their teaching methods accordingly. Additionally, Lens offers various tools that can help keep students engaged, active, and interested during online classes, providing a more interactive and collaborative learning experience.
Storyline
Storyline is a tool for creating e-learning courses, and it’s a great option for professors who want to create interactive, engaging online courses. It’s easy to use and can be used by professors with little or no technical experience.
Storyline allows you to create an interactive lesson plan where students can practice their skills in real-time. You can also assign homework from within the software so that students don’t need to go anywhere else once they’ve finished watching your video lesson!
Creating engaging online courses can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right tools and resources, professors can create compelling learning experiences for their students that are informative and fun.
