Challenges to Motivate Students in an Online Course

Hybrid and Blended Learning, Online Instruction, Online Teaching Practices, Reflective Teaching, Teacher Development 0 comments

Challenges to Motivate Students in an Online Course

“What do you think will be the biggest challenge you face when motivating students in an online course environment?” Several thought whirl around my mind trying to make sense of what usually happens in virtual environments and what has happened in my blended learning experiences. My eyes have chanced to fall upon three challenges I feel now prepared to deal with: Marketing the LMS, creating a real community of learning, and having students meet deadlines.

Challenge 1: Marketing the LMS

Based on my experience with college students taking English in a blended learning modality, marketing the LMS is the very first thing instructors have to deal with. The LMS’s virtues need to be stressed, which in our cases is the fact that students can continue practicing the target language beyond the class time boundary. The knots and bolts of the system need to be fully explained to users, so learners get some sort of training before the face the platform on their own. Having students understand the possibilities the college LMS provide and having them comprehend how it works, the dos and don’ts, they can have a pleasant interaction with the system’s interface.

Challenge 2: Creating a Community of Learning

As it has been customary in my discourse about online and F2F teaching and learning, the creation of a Class Culture is necessary. This kind of culture is the first step towards the creation of a community of learning. Within our community, students can feel at ease and confident when it comes to learning. In a community of learning where students’ affective filter is low, students can be easily motivated towards the accomplishment of learning goals, based on the course outline objectives. By creating this community of learning, whose main ingredients are a great class culture and low students’ affective filter, it becomes easy and smooth the monitoring of student work and motivating them as the ultimate goal in learners’ education.

Challenge 3: Meeting of deadlines

As a blended learning language instructor, one of my main concerns –within our culture- is students’ procrastination. Procrastination in college education is Costa Rica is and has always been a problem. Although this is not meant to be taken as an overgeneralization that obviously does not affect early birds, this postponing of priorities is a common practice among university students. The need for friendly reminders for learners to meet deadlines is a must. Additionally, reminding them of their online performance is also necessary to have students comply with their responsibilities. It can be useful, -from time to time-, to have them go back and review the course expectations for learners to have them in the lookout.

To conclude, there may be more than a single challenge to face as an online instructor. Perhaps there might be more issues to be ready to deal with beside the one outline here. One thing is quite true, the fact that no matter what kind of teaching scenario we face, we have challenges to solve in a F2F class or within an LMS. Having some sort(s) of protocols to approach problems is the best, and wise, way to find the right path to have students feel at ease and willing to learn.

E To fully develop and comprehend this teaching issue, it’s advisable to research and expand these areas:

1	Student training in LMS use
2	How to market an LMS in your course
3	Creating a community of learning
4	The community of learning and class culture
5	Procrastination in VLEs