Motivation is a decisive factor in e-learning at home, although it is in many cases one of the most difficult elements to achieve. The reason? It requires a perfect combination of attention, determination and concentration on the part of students.
However, the role of the instructors or trainers also acquires a fundamental role, since it is vital that they know the needs of the students who are being trained with an e-learning platform at home. However, identifying a simple way to meet the needs of students is not an easy task, since sometimes it is the students themselves who recognize that at some point they have lost motivation. This lull in their enthusiasm may have led them to experience stressful situations and tension.
There are different tips and tricks to help motivate students online and increase the effectiveness of e-learning courses at home. At CAE, we have been dedicated to e-learning training around the world for more than 40 years. In this article we will present a series of creative ideas that we have compiled which are to always keep students active and motivated in online learning.
E-learning at home: 5 creative ideas to motivate students online
How do you get your students to do the work when they are taking e-learning training at home? The answer is motivation. If you can get your students excited about logging in and learning every day, productivity and progress will be consistent.
So, what strategies can you employ to boost their motivation remotely and keep them learning from home? To answer this question, here are five ways to get your students excited and motivated about distance learning.
#1. Set goals
Goals are an essential component of e-learning at home. Why? They motivate students by letting them know exactly what they need to do to make learning happen. A good idea is to start by setting goals that reflect basic classroom expectations. For example:
- Complete a certain number of assigned activities each week.
- Access all published lesson content and provide a short comprehension summary.
#2. Turn mistakes into learning opportunities
It is common for many students who opt for e-learning training at home to fear failure. In fact fear is undoubtedly one of the main obstacles to this type of learning. Many students are not motivated to learn because they are too afraid of making a mistake. This situation means that they do not participate in the learning process or make the most of all the advantages that online education offers.
To avoid this scenario, it is vital that every trainer is able to turn students’ mistakes into learning opportunities, thus removing the obstacle. But how do we do it?
- Give students studying from home the opportunity to reflect and review their approach from each e-learning activity.
- Offer personalized feedback and constructive criticism that they can use to create actionable goals.
#3. Motivate with rewards and praise
Motivating with rewards and praise will greatly help students to engage responsibly with online learning. Some rewarding strategies in e-learning training at home are:
- Send students positive feedback messages using fun videos, GIFs, and images.
- Create simple badges for different student achievements.
- Communicate online in a mature and respectful manner.
- Set new personal records.
Rewards and praise not only motivate students to learn online, but also allow them to feel more connected. A single positive comment lets the student know that their trainer is involved in their learning, no matter how far apart they are.
#4. Set time for self-reflection
When a student is participating in e-learning training at home, it is important that every trainer knows that not all students are capable of keeping up with the same pace as their peers. Therefore, in this learning it is important to leave a space to reflect on the material and absorb the information.
If you want to keep students motivated so that none of them lose the pace of learning, choose to incorporate short breaks so that each student can spend time on self-reflection and evaluation (where they will be able to identify areas for improvement).
#5. Encourage student responsibility
You can take advantage of the email notification feature in your learning management system. Opt to schedule contact and email those students who often don’t log in. If this happens, one of the causes for this situation is a lack of motivation.
Remind students that they are not alone in the learning process and that they will always have an instructor or trainer to help them with whatever they need.
Study groups or online collaboration groups can also act as reminders. In addition, these groups not only increase their motivation, but also ensure that students become actively involved, improve their communication skills as well as promoting teamwork.
The above are five ways to always keep your students motivated online. However, do not forget that the best way to increase students’ desire to learn is to have an effective e-learning instructor. This instructor will always keep the course content updated (news, research and development, articles, podcasts, opinions, trends and emerging practices…) and will help students identify or design a learning path to keep them motivated at all times.
In short, e-learning at home should not be a lonely experience, because if it is, it will cause the students’ attention and motivation to drop off. Try to make this learning as personal as possible in order to connect with students, as this will make them more likely to stay engaged with the training they have completed.
At CAE, we develop and provide e-learning technology
We have been projecting our vocation in e-learning training and online educational solutions in a globalized way since 1981. This international vision allows us to offer products and services with the highest levels of quality.
An example of this is that our Voluxion training platforms meet public institutions’ requirements for delivering online training. Our educational platforms meet all needs, such as guaranteeing interaction between participants, being available 24×7 and allowing simultaneous access to all users, among other key aspects.
If you want to discover all the advantages of our products and services, you can contact us for a no obligation consultation and benefit from the enormous register of online educational solutions that we can put at your complete disposal.