Add a Little Web 2.0 for Engaging LMS Online Courses
One great benefit of LMS online coursework is that it aids students in their development of strong independent study skills, and teaches them how to self-motivation and discipline. However, what many don't know is that e-learning has also come to encompass interactive and collaborative learning.
Of course, an educator or trainer can make or break a class. The level of interest students have in a course may be diminished by an uninspired teaching style. On the other hand, an engaging instructor can transform an ordinary or dry subject into an exciting one.
Oftentimes what makes college and university classrooms so engaging is that students are freer to dissent and debate. The factor of student input and discussion in the classroom can add a new and exciting dimension. This pedagogical practice is being valued and practiced to a greater extent in the e-learning realm. John Milton spoke of the importance of free discussion when he said, nearly 400 years ago: "Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience."
Even though many university professors still lecture only and do not follow an interactive format in their classrooms, online learning is becoming more collaborative.
A great number of course subjects, of course, don't call for discussion. For instance, a calculus class may lack both the time and need for student voices. But for a great deal of online course topics, an option or requirement of student collaboration and/or discussion is in fact appropriate and enormously helpful. Student-led discussions are an efficient and exciting way of helping students familiarize themselves with the course content, as well as form their own ideas and share them with their peers.
E-learning has matured since its early days as a solitary, independent enterprise. Using LMSs and Web 2.0, learners can "utter" and "argue freely according to conscience" just as Milton encouraged people to do. Tools like wikis, social networks, and discussion forums are a few ways in which LMSs can allow students to interact with their peers and with the learning content in a simple, efficient, and convenient way.
These formats, unlike face-to-face ones, also effect more sophisticated and democratic discussions, in which students can take their time to develop ideas and post them. In this way, LMS online courses that incorporate Web 2.0 tools allow students to interact with the learning material in a more thoughtful and comfortable way than face-to-face classrooms can.