Why is Supplemental Learning Important for Online Students?
One thing instructional designers can attest to is the speed at which students’ needs evolve. Trends in eLearning, corporate training, and individual industries are creating a need for new courses more often than ever. Instructors and developers often find themselves having to enrich existing courses with new content, completely revise training materials, or develop courses from scratch on tight timelines. However, limited resources make that task more challenging. This is where augmented learning comes in, giving educators and developers a solution to provide online learners with high-quality learning materials in the least amount of time.
What is Further Education?
Before exploring the benefits that augmented learning brings to the world of eLearning, let’s first define what it is. Supplemental learning refers to any learning resources that accompany the basic training program. In other words, they are not complete courses but add-ons that increase the value of the core training program by allowing students to delve deeper into certain topics. In the context of online learning, additional learning resources can take any form, including online articles, eBooks, videos, podcasts, webinars, and exercises, among others. Designers will often add these resources to a supplemental learning supplement that they can update regularly, thereby improving their courses, improving student engagement, and improving learning outcomes.
6 Advantages of Online Students
1. Develops a Deeper Understanding of the Subject
Instructional Designers often avoid creating detailed training courses to minimize the time students spend on each module. In this way, they keep the students’ attention and avoid overwhelming them with too much information. However, in some cases, students may wish to delve deeper into a topic, either because they have a personal interest in it or because it is important to their academic or professional development. Supplemental reading provides that extra support, allowing students to decide for themselves how much they want to learn about the subject they are receiving.
2. Supports Different Learning Preferences
Even if you’ve done enough research on your target audience, it’s not always easy to develop relevant and engaging learning content for every single sub-category. Fortunately, additional learning resources can be a factor that makes training attractive to a wider range of students. For example, while the main training course may be text-heavy, additional learning resources can present information in a variety of formats, from videos and infographics to podcasts. This way, you can accommodate students with different learning options without changing the core learning content.
3. Encourages Self-Directed Learning
Online learning is a learning method that encourages students to take control of their learning journey. In general, students make their own schedules, often with limited contact with instructors. Therefore, additional reading is associated with it, empowering students to seek more information and spend more time as they want to explore the topic. As they take an active role in their learning development, designing their own learning style, online learners not only improve their learning outcomes but also develop skills such as critical thinking, time management, and accountability.
4. Improves Information Retention and Performance
Along with guided learning, additive learning also improves comprehension and retention of information by allowing students to explore learning materials in different formats. The more students interact with the content, the easier it is for them to remember it in the future. In addition, supplemental learning gives students the opportunity to see real-world applications of existing subject matter through simulations, exercises, and discussion forums. This helps bridge the gap between theory and practice, making new knowledge relevant and memorable to students.
5. Helps in Assessing Students’ Skills and Knowledge
Additional study materials are beneficial not only in helping students grasp new concepts but also in testing their existing knowledge. This can be done in a variety of ways, from self-assessment and follow-up questions to role-playing that encourages them to apply what they have learned. In line with the extended learning style, online students are free to choose how they want to be tested and can get feedback in a stress-free way. Based on the results of their assessment, they can identify their weaknesses and knowledge gaps and seek additional resources that will help them improve.
6. Encourages a Lifelong Love of Learning
As students become accustomed to taking control of their learning journey, a love of continuous learning grows. Further reading empowers them to dig deeper into their subjects of interest, examine and compare different sources, and strive to stay informed about trends and developments in the field. Embracing this mindset helps students achieve better learning outcomes and prepares them to embrace new technology and knowledge in their academic and professional lives.
The conclusion
In conclusion, the needs of today’s online learning world make additional learning a necessity. This flexible approach to enriching and updating online training courses helps students gain a deeper understanding of the course while retaining the knowledge longer and applying it more effectively. Additionally, it can make your online courses relevant to a wider audience by presenting learning materials in a variety of formats. Be sure to incorporate more learning into your online training program from now on to increase your flexibility and improve learning outcomes.
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