Achievements in M-Learning

Among the most famous sorts of feedback are badges and accomplishments. These started out life within the Microsoft Xbox 360 through the 'Gamer Score', when gamers enhance their ranking by earning 'achievements' (so-called) for performing certain actions in videogames. Basically, you'd earn achievements for completing a level, or something similar. Quite often, they have some numerical worth according to the perceived difficulty of performing the duty (100 points to save the world, 10 points for saving your puppy), nevertheless they may be as obscure or fanciful as game developers' chooses - in the videogame 'Saints Row 2', individuals get an achievement when their in-game avatar sings with the radio.

Achievements are appealing since they have no normal value: they don't allow access to added content, or capabilities, or skills.The truth is, they don't offer any solid benefit at all. They're simply goals which arise to congratulate the player for something. But far from being a straightforward record of feats reached, achievements influence how individuals play games, having the capacity to offer different and unusual objectives from that of the game.

Consequently it's no surprise that achievements are now being implemented in the e-learning market, as part of the 'gamification' of learning. A paper from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute found that "by including game-like aspects just like the understanding of achievements into learning, students are more inclined to find learning to be a fun endeavor."

On a basic level, successes can be in essence to any sort of graphical responses induced by fulfilling requirements: it can be a progress bar that fills up, or badges that show up on your account, in relation to targeted exercises or general advancement. The one criterion is that there's some illustration of advancement - the users are able to see, by some arbitrary measure, they've made some type of progress.

In addition to being excellent for user determination, achievements can really help retain users. Codecademy does something to this effect with the streak: users are encouraged to continue their streak, which includes a history of their greatest streak conspicuously shown on their profile, providing them encouragement to return to the content.

These benefits of motivation and retention shouldn't be unnoticed when devising your mobile learning content: the growing capacities of mobile devices mean increasingly rich distractions a little finger tap away. Retain individuals with achievements, and help keep them motivated when they feel they may be distracted.

4 Best Ways to Make Your E-Learning Session a Lot More Interesting

Providing a variety of e-learning courses is not enough to keep your popularity intact. Soon you may find the number of registrations dipping lower for your classes and thus adversely affecting your revenue generation strategies. You must have already started thinking on how you can rewind back to those days when people eagerly awaited to enroll in your classes. You must work on making your e-learning classes all the more interesting and appealing and a good way to do is to have a look at the following points that I have discussed below.

Introduce More Interactive Sessions

I Increase the number of interactive sessions to communicate more frequently with students. Select a date and time for these interactive sessions and in such meetings, discuss and debate on areas that need improvement. Encourage the learners to come up with questions so that instructors get the opportunity to resolve matters in real-time. Communication is crucial for the success of every project and thus you should ensure it is done with utmost care in case of online education.

Reward Your Students

You must reward top performers in your online classes. Rewards act as great motivators for people and therefore giving certificates or small tokens of appreciation to students can inspire them to perform even better and fetch high grades in examinations.

Come Up with New Ideas

There is no ground to believe that individuals who have enrolled for your e-learning class cannot offer you new ideas for better class conduct and management. Hence, ask them to come up with innovative ideas that will help manage the class in a much better fashion and in a professional manner. Of course, it is you who will take the final call but constructive suggestions always welcome. You may come across concepts and ideas that may be really helpful. In this way you will also be able to gather individual opinions and feedback about the rate of success or failure of your classes.

Is Your Course Adding Real Value?

While much is being said about interaction and rewards, what actually matters to a potential student is how far the course will help him fulfill his dreams in order to build up a successful career. Thus, first and foremost, as a class organizer, you should try to develop courses and programs which are in demand. Do a thorough research on what exactly the target audience is searching for on the internet - the type of degree or diploma programs that is getting the highest number of registrations every year, etc. Based on the study, try to chalk out an effective plan with immediate short term or long term consequences.

Top 5 Cons of Online Education

While distance education is very beneficial to many students there are some factors about online college that students may want to consider. With everything good come negative aspects as well. Many of the disadvantages of online colleges and universities are depleting some still remain. It is important to note however, that a lot of these factors are determined by the student.

Here are the top 5 cons of online education:

1. Diploma Mills

With the success of online colleges on the rise we have seen the uprising of diploma mills as well. A diploma mill is a place that will sell you a fake diploma. If the school offers a diploma for sale with little or no class participation required then it's a diploma mill. Make sure that the school that you choose is accredited, this type of problem can be avoided. And keep in mind that a phony diploma doesn't get you the job.

2. You are in charge of your success!

Being a student at home can be a huge benefit to someone with a busy schedule. It can also be a major distraction. Most times students who take online courses take them whenever it is convenient, at home, at work, at the middle of the night. Being a student on your own time and terms can make it hard to focus. Students that attend a traditional setting are basically forced to pay attention to the lecture when they are in the same room with their professor for an allotted amount of time. It can be hard to study when you are distracted by your kids, or your job, or whatever surrounds you. With online courses, your success depends totally on you and your ability to manage yourself and stay on task.

3. There is not much interaction with others

Some college courses require you to interact with other students on the internet, other than that the interaction that you have with other students is dramatically decreased. The whole college life experience is quite different when you are taking courses online. To some this can be detrimental. If you are looking for a whole college social experience, online courses may not be for you. While you may not have the same "experience" as someone who attends a traditional college, you will certainly gain the same education.

4. There can be technical problems

Online college courses are computer and internet based making them highly prone to technical glitches. It is important to have a computer that works well and a stable internet connection. Yet, even the most fool-proof systems can cause problems for teachers and students. These problems are on the decline but it is important to note that you may experience technical difficulties.

5. Standardization of coursework and materials has not yet been completed

Even though you may be going to an accredited school and earning a high quality education that does not mean that you are earning the same education as students in the same program at different schools. Schools use different class content and course materials. This problem is thought to soon be solved in the next few years however, because accreditation agencies are working on standardizing the coursework and materials.

The Advantages of Using a Learning Management System

Albert Einstein once said,"Learning is not a product of schooling but the lifelong attempt to acquire it." The Internet has made learning materials available 24 hours a day, turning all information seekers into learners. E-learning development software is increasingly being used in the market today, but it will not be actually replacing conventional modes of learning. Instead, it will help to create a platform that would make the process of learning wholesome.

There are many advantages of getting e-learning solutions from companies. These solutions help to deploy training faster, by creating content within weeks and publishing it soon for widespread access. Mobile learning can be conducted through various platforms, such as Symbian, Android, iOS and Blackberry OS, such that training can be imparted on the move, irrespective of the location. Powerful tools can be used to promote sessions, courses and curriculum, to maximize training attendance.

Two models of e-learning can be considered here- one of them brings learners in front of their computers at a specific time, to interact with their instructors. It is more similar to conventional classroom teaching, where the instructor uses virtual blackboards to elaborate concepts and clears doubts via chat. This is a synchronous model of learning. The other model is asynchronous, where learners can choose their own time. This lends flexibility to the process of learning, and students are permitted to access recorded lectures, in audio and video form.

Students in asynchronous kind of online learning are permitted to access the recorded videos and audios for lectures. In fact, a learner also gets personalized attention, through this model.

Using e-learning development software, community-based learning can be facilitated. One can learn a lot from other individual learners, through modes of discussion and interaction. This makes the online form of education more cost-effective, instead of only attending regular classes.

An effective learning management system (LMS) ensures that people do not learn just for the sake of learning, but do so to close skill and competency gaps. They do not just improve the contribution of an employee in a current role, but also prepare him for a future role. The organization will also be able to monitor progress of employees through LMS tools.

Online Education - The Benefits

With the growth of social media and the Internet, more people than ever before are gaining their Certificate and Diploma qualifications (particularly the Cert IV in Training and Assessment) through the 'untraditional' mode of online or distance study. However, many critics pose the question of whether an education gain through online learning holds the same credibility and authority as one acquired through traditional face to face learning.

Many Vocational Education and Training courses are offered online in a bid to eliminate geographical limitations - particularly useful to mature aged students.

Critics believe that social interaction with peers plays a significant role in the learning process and is central to education. To combat this, many training institutions focus on heavy interaction with students and require work place training as part of the unit or course curriculum.

On the whole, online education and training is a productive method of learning as students collaborate openly with tutors through a variety of mediums. Interaction and incorporation of the internet through the virtual class room experience is creating a generation of tech savvy students, critical to twenty-first century job seekers.

Online training also offers the ability to create a personalised learning plan. Individuals can tailor when and where they study, which is ideal for those b`lancing work and life commitments. On the whole, the method allows students to reap the benefits of lower course fees while having the opportunity to advance their career.

Students undertaking online learning courses also represent a large majority of the student cohort, ranging from 77 percent of enrolments in New South Wales to 92 percent of enrolments in South Australia. Victoria also had a substantially high percentage of students representing online and distance learning at 81 percent and the Australian Capital Territory had approximately 91 percent of students in online learning.

The Vocational Education and Training sector has also been receiving government support through recent funding. Significant upgrades to satellite services for higher education distance learning students are at the forefront of the federal budget and the availability of bandwidth for tertiary students will be doubling that available to schools. The upgrades also give rise to a range of new services targeted towards enriching online learning experiences, such as two-way video conferencing and interactive media.