The online learning became more popular across the globe , mainly due to the COVID 19 pandemic. However teaching online is not that easy as how it was predicted. From facilitator’s point of view , designing an online course is more challenging than preparing the usual course materials. It is always important to remember , how the learner feel and pursue the created online forums for learning. Coming out of the box from LMS or Blackboard what are the other interactive mechanisms available for facilitators to use for teaching? The biggest challenge in online teaching is , you need to understand how much knowledge delivered to the students and the level of absorption. In traditional face to face teaching forum , you can feel it. But when it comes to a digital platform there is an emotional and physical segregation, but again do we really need the emotional engagement for teaching?? – Another important question to think on.

However , there are several aspects to consider when designing an online course. Firstly , you need to think about the discipline you are teaching in. The approach you need to follow is highly depend on the discipline you are engaging in. It is undoubtedly true that you can’t do all the clinical experiments and lab sessions which are related to medical disciplines. But other than those unique cases , many courses can be taught in online through virtual platforms. So, it is important to understand how to design an online course to get the best learning outcome.

Some considerations

• Blend the Theory and Practice together
• Create tasks , which will let your Lerner to explore more
• Give them opportunities to reflect the learning – Reflection in action
• Set goals
• Establish boundaries
• Give constant peer support
• Evaluations need to be appropriate and custom designed for the online course / task
• Create room to accommodate range of learning styles
• Be flexible
• Give support on selecting medius for delivery
• Encourage use of digital tools