I think my biggest take away from this first week is the need for instant and frequent feedback when creating online learning programs. Just as the assessments need to be varied and adapted to a wide variety of learners, the feedback also has to take many forms. First of all, the online lessons should be short (10-20 minutes each), and there should be a quick quiz at the end to give the students some instant reward. If possible this quiz should include real world examples or problems. Once that is done, then there should also be a larger assessment at the end of a unit, and grades for these should be made available as soon as possible. Finally. there should also be frequent interaction with the instructor, either in regular weekly sessions, or by email. Instructors may need to initiate this for the more introverted students in the class.
Online instruction can really isolate a student, especially since there is no face to face interaction. By providing frequent and varied feedback, instructors can help students stay engaged in a class.
I agree with your assessment of the need for instant feedback. In several of our past classes, we have not even had our grades posted to see how we were doing and did not know what our grades were even after the class ended. I could now imagine how my students would feel if they did not get feedback on how they were doing and what they did well and could improve.
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