As I try to ignore the roar of American war planes flying in for the Abbotsford Air Show and focus on wrapping up this course, I can’t help but admire the great job VCC does with its online courses. To help my future self (and my beloved readers) do the same, I am posting a list of five things which make an online course GREAT:

1. Learner interaction– Nobody wants to live in a ghost town. Actually, now that I think about it, it might be a fun time with those creaky saloons, giant rolling dust balls, and random eerie music notes… Oops, bad example! Anyway, when you sign up for a course, it’s a whole lot more fun to learn with others. That’s why most of us have decided to sign up for something with a friend, rather than going it alone. In short, lively discussion boards, chat rooms, and group work (sometimes) rock!
2. Instructor interaction– Ok, I’m gonna do better on this one. Nobody likes being lost- we all love a great leader! Gosh, now I’ve steered this analogy straight into Kim Jong territory… another epic fail! Anyway, even if we are discovering our own path in a new course, it is helpful to have someone there with a safety net… and office hours, an email address, and a phone number! If we feel the instructor’s presence in the course, we feel a whole lot better about the learning experience… and spending our hard-earned money on tuition.
3. Grading rubrics– Expectations can really suck! But in education, they’re awesome! If you know exactly what to do to get a great mark, what’s stopping you? Nothing! By having clear rubrics for all assignments, we can ensure our work is top notch and up to expectations prior to submitting our work. Great deal, eh?
4. Images, gifs, and videos– Nothing is worse than a giant wall of text on a computer or phone screen (before you make a snarky comment, see gif below).
   That’s why we should make sure our courses include visuals like diagrams, short instructional videos, and even fun things like funny gifs! These nuggets help keep learners engaged and, equally importantly, help boost student reviews of the instructor/course. 😉
5. Formative assessment– Every student loves long exams which are worth a fat chunk of his/her final grade. OK, they don’t. A better approach is to have lower stake assessment throughout the course, so students get regular feedback on their learning and don’t feel as stressed when the exams do happen. This also encourages students to improve over the course of the semester and gives them a motivational boost when they get a good grade.

Well, that was a fun piece to write (my mood improved as I wrote because the noise outside has stopped for now). I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Bye for now 🙂