Written by David Guralnick

When people think about online learning, the first thing that comes to mind is often a class held on Zoom, with an instructor talking to a camera. But there’s so much more that online learning, in its various forms using different technologies, can provide. Well-designed online learning experiences can offer meaningful, engaging, personalized learning, as well as the flexibility for students to learn whenever and wherever they have time to do so.

Re-imagining Learning

Imagine you’re a student (or anyone!) who wants to learn about ancient Greece.  Instead of having someone tell you about ancient Greece, you enter a virtual reality version of ancient Greece—maybe while wearing a VR headset or maybe just via a laptop or smartphone--and explore it, interacting with realistic characters representing famous ancient Greek thinkers such as Socrates and Plato, with the help of a “coach” character created with the use of artificial intelligence. This is an example of a sophisticated online learning interaction that provides a completely different type of experience than you might find in a traditional class.

Advantages of Online Learning

Online learning in its various forms, including live online classes, experiences based around simulations and games, learning on mobile devices, and learning using newer technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), can have numerous advantages for students. These include:

• Anytime, anywhere access:  Students can learn when they want—whenever they have time, using a laptop or smartphone.

• Students can quickly find and review what they want:  Students can spend more time on, and easily go back to, specific areas that they’re interested in or feel they need more work on.

• Students can participate in realistic scenarios, alone or in collaboration with others, and potentially experience things that would not be possible for them to experience in real life. For example, a chemistry simulation might let students conduct realistic experiments that would be too dangerous to try in real life.

• Enjoyable experiences that can include games, videos, animations, and more.

Online learning approaches offer a number of advantages that can benefit both faculty and students.

Making the Most of Faculty Members’ Time

Online learning experiences can be designed as independent experiences that students complete on their own, or can serve as a key element of a program that involves other teaching and learning methods.  One advantage that online learning can offer to faculty members is that they can be more of a mentor and less of a content provider. For example, students learning history might participate in a self-driven, online simulation in which they play the role of a historical figure, and then there might be a Zoom-based (or in-person) class discussion, led by the faculty member, about what the students experienced.

Creating Online Learning Experiences

How can faculty members best make use of online learning? One useful approach is to:

• Design scenarios that ask students to do something—make a decision, interact with a character, anything.

• Create those scenarios in an online format using video, graphics, and/or animation.

There are software tools that can be used in the scenario-creation process.  Many graduate students and others have experience with relevant tools and could help with the implementation process. Even a scenario built in PowerPoint with simple graphics and a little bit of interactivity can be tremendously useful, helping students see and get a feel for real examples. This approach puts students in a position to make active, thoughtful decisions rather than simply absorbing content.

Scenario-based online experiences work well on their own and can also serve as the basis for discussion questions in a live (whether in-person or online) or asynchronous class (e.g., via discussion forums).

Where Does Generative AI Fit In?

Generative artificial intelligence, or “generative AI”—software that can be used to create images and writing—is, suddenly, everywhere. ChatGPT, an artificially intelligent chatbot, is improving with every new version and has gained tremendous popularity for its ability to answer questions (though sometimes its accuracy is not ideal) and to generate creative written text about seemingly any subject in any style, such as “a poem about the New York Yankees baseball team in the form of a haiku.”

AI is changing rapidly, and new and improved generative AI tools are being released regularly these days. While there are questions and potential concerns about students using generative AI in their own assignments, these tools can help faculty create online learning experiences. Some educators are experimenting with having generative AI help them create documents. AI-generated images, such as those created by Midjourney, also have a lot of potential for educational use. And video programs such as Synthesia can create realistic-seeming talking-head video characters based on written scripts.

What’s Next

The world of potential for online learning is endless, and new technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) add more and greater opportunities for both faculty and students. One key is to recalibrate our thinking so that we make sure to focus on learning experiences rather than on teaching. While teaching remains critical, students can learn through a variety of methods, and faculty members’ roles can shift to becoming more of a coach or mentor than a traditional teacher.

The world is changing rapidly and online learning, with its ability to support engaging, meaningful experiences that students can access from anywhere, is positioned to play a larger role over time. As with anything else, however, the success of each online learning initiative depends substantially on how well-designed the experience is. The approach to designing an online experience is slightly different from that of designing a more traditional course, but faculty who transition to incorporating online learning experiences (beyond Zoom classes) in their courses are sure to see the benefits. 

About the Author

David Guralnick envisions a new approach to education and workplace learning that integrates innovative uses of technology. David holds a Ph.D. from Northwestern University and is CEO of Kaleidoscope Learning, founder and chair of The Learning Ideas Conference, and the author of the book How Organizations Can Make the Most of Online Learning.