An elearning blog is an effective tool to use in education. Probably the best feature that it can bring is the continuous learning experience. Regardless if it is for educational purposes or corporate training, a blog is a way for the learners to practice self-learning even after the actual course is done.
Our society is thirsty for information. We hang out in social networking sites because we want to know how our family and friends are doing. We constantly visit search engine sites to research information that will help us improve our daily activities. We look for videos and other multimedia materials that will make learning easier.
Most of what we learn are actually done in an informal setting. We observe and absorb our surroundings and learn from what we see and hear. However, if you are the source of the information, it is difficult to control the learning in any informal setting.
This is where elearning blogs can be very helpful. It is a platform where you have full control of the content but at the same time, you give learners the freedom to access it whenever they want to. It is also versatile enough to be used before, during and after the course.
To use blogs effectively, you have make sure that it has the right elements that will give the learners the best elearning experience.
- Use a search box. Make it easy for learners to get the information that they need. You need a visible search box that will help them find the specific article that will answer the questions that they have. This is a very useful tool as you add more articles to the blog. If the learner finds it hard to search the article that will answer their questions, you might lose them eventually. There are people who want to get information fast and if you cannot deliver, they will move on to the next source.
- Feel free to use widgets. There are widgets that will help make the search even easier. These widgets will help display the categories that organize the different articles in the elearning blog. You can also use a widget that will display the popular keywords that you use in the articles. This will allow the visitors of the blog to see what type of topics they can find in the site.
- Provide excerpts. The excerpt of your articles will help the visitors check if it contains the actual content that they need. There are websites that display the most recent posts in the home page. These are the articles that would need excerpts. You do not have to provide for all the articles. But make sure that there is one ready just in case an old article is used as a feature. There is a widget that will help you with these excerpts.
- Choose the right image. This image is not just something that you will use in the article. This is also something that you can set as the feature image so it will be displayed together with the excerpt of the article. This will help entice the visitors to click on the article to read it.
- Allow comments. Some blogs do not allow comments. This will actually depend on the objectives of the elearning blog. If you wish to engage the visitors, then you need to allow them to post comments. This can be a great platform for visitors to interact and possibly come back for more articles. Some people actually visit blogsites again and again because of the online relationships they formed in the site. The comment section will also allow you to get the feedback that will help you improve the site.
Think about implementing these tips in the elearning blog so you can benefit from this learning tool.
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