Celebrating learners’ accomplishments in online learning
Photo: Pineapple Supply Co. on Unsplash
My son turned seven this week, which got me thinking about celebrations. When I was a student, and I saw a sticker or a big, bright ‘A’ at the top of my work, it felt like a celebration too. While seeing a good grade is always satisfying, a high mark in a moderate font in a small text box on an online submission portal is admittedly less exciting.
So how can we bring the party to an online platform? Let’s talk about some options to celebrate learners’ accomplishments in Brightspace.
Intelligent Agents – Intelligent Agents are automatic messages sent to your learners, typically by email. Instructors can set them up to be sent to learners who earned a certain grade or higher on an assignment or to all learners once they reach a certain point in a course. Images (perhaps even the festive pineapple pic above) and replace strings can be used to make it feel even more personal and enjoyable.
Video Note – Feedback for assignments doesn’t always have to be typed! Consider providing audio/visual feedback by recording yourself using Video Note when learners do particularly well on a task. This will allow your enthusiastic tone and other non-verbal communication to shine through. Video Notes can also be posted to a content page or Announcement tool on the homepage to celebrate the final sessions of a course or other accomplishment.
Awards – Badges are a great way to celebrate learners’ accomplishments. They too can be released to learners who achieve a certain grade, to learners who submit an assignment before a certain date or to all learners who meet certain criteria, like posting on all discussion boards.
Celebrating learners’ accomplishments is a great way to help them stay motivated in their learning journey, so feel free to spread some cheer (or pineapples in sunglasses) to your learners today!