The Secret Formula To Build An Engaging Virtual E-Learning Platform.

Since the year 2020, the pandemic has fast-tracked the growth of online learning. It has driven millions of students into virtual learning around the planet. According to market intelligence platform ReportLinker, the global e-learning market is expected to grow at a 10.3% CAGR from 2020 to reach US$457.8 billion by 2026. Academic online learning, one of its segments, is projected to increase at 10.2% CAGR to touch US$314 billion by 2026.

As a promoter/manager of an online learning platform, you face a challenge. How to make virtual learning, which you offer, immersive? You can reap the benefits of both worlds. Retain the charm of the social experience that in-person learning offers. But you also want to bring to learners the many new, exciting advantages of remote learning. How do you achieve that?

The larger objective for you is to make your students ready for the post-pandemic world. You as an education specialist and the instructors on your online platform need to consider many factors to achieve these goals.

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Community feature: The key to e-learning success

Humans are social animals. An online learning community brings the social learning experience into the virtual education ecosystem. Students get a space to discuss concepts, share ideas and opinions, ask and answer each other’s questions. Most importantly, collaborate on assignments. Also, have meaningful interactions with their instructor(s).

Being in a community means students are no longer isolated individuals. They become accountable to their peers. And, thus, a part of something much larger.

The sense of belonging or community, typical of traditional classrooms, is vital to the success of virtual classrooms. Traditional learning has given students ample opportunities for that over the ages. The joy of connecting and engaging with peers and teachers alike. But all that has changed. 

Now, it’s the age of virtual/online learning, all set to dominate every sphere. And for success, remote learning also needs to cultivate the social or community feature. And as an owner of an e-learning platform, you must create a vibrant community to empower it. 

Your virtual classroom may appear boring and even grueling to a lot of learners. Create a lively online learning community. And you transform it into an exciting experience for them.

Your vibrant learning community will motivate and engage students. So, your virtual classrooms won’t just replicate. But surpass the traditional classroom learning levels with the added advantages. 

Yet, some students will fall behind. But your online learning community will instill in them a sense of belonging and relationship. That will motivate them to stick. The community feature is particularly suited to introverts. It allows them time to think before saying what they want to say. 

Broadly, the supportive and collaborative environment helps students in many ways. Apply what they’ve learned, retain knowledge, and develop relationships. The community holds each student accountable to peers. This helps them to meet deadlines and perform better. The onus is on both teachers and students to ensure the community space is both safe and productive. 

The teachers’ role

Remote learners do feel isolated, particularly at the start of a course. Experienced or trained teachers understand this. They develop and apply strategies to help them overcome feelings of isolation. And for this, creating and strengthening the online learning community is a must. 

The community feature empowers the instructor. To give the students clear, concise, and timely feedback on assignments. Even when students’ questions are vague, they can stimulate discussions to help them understand and communicate their needs. And help them get the right answers. Thus, monitor their progress. 

Engaging learners in your online learning program is the key to ensuring that they learn effectively. And get the most out of what they’re learning and doing. 

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AtomChat: Gain a competitive edge

You can take your online learning platform head and shoulders above your competitors. Simply integrate the AtomChat community feature. 

How does AtomChat turbocharge your online learning platform to get you ahead of the game? And incredible success too? Let’s dig in the goldmine and see how it does!

First, a 360-degree perspective: Online teaching can be challenging particularly for untrained and inexperienced traditional classroom teachers. Remote learning may also be new or difficult for a lot of students. 

As the owner-educator of an online learning platform, you must ensure the teachers nurture the community. They need to:

• Ease into each class with a personal touch and casual chats
• Train students to collaborate using various tools 
• Group students located across geographies to ensure time-zone uniformity
• Guide them to use screenshots, and revision history, to track progress 
• Create questions related to virtual classroom chats 
• Give fewer/shorter lectures to encourage peer discussions
• Inspire friendly debates among students on specific topics etc.

The AtomChat community feature can transform the ways a teacher does all the above tasks. How the instructor(s) and the learners connect, interact, and engage. How the students collaborate. 

It’s about taking the students much beyond watching the dull video tutorials virtually. It’s about delivering both groups incredible learning and teaching experiences.

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A pack of irresistible features

Its group chat has all the powerful essential community features and functionality. The students and the teachers can use them to engage. And turn learning on your online platform immersive and awesome interactive experience.

• One-on-one and one-to-many chats: The AtomChat group chat will empower the learners to interact in a large group. Or have a one-on-one conversation. The teacher(s) can instruct, explain, and guide a group of students. Or trigger a discussion or friendly debate among them. They can even help an individual learner by clearing a doubt or explaining a difficult concept.

• Interactive group chats: Group chats are like group studies in an in-person learning environment. The students can share insights, ask questions, exchange ideas, and discuss doubts with each other. And collaborate on various learning activities. This gives them a much-enhanced, incredible learning experience. For the teachers, it becomes much easier to solve collective queries and host live Q&A sessions for a specific group of learners. 

• Voice and video calls: AtomChat empowers students to get on an instant voice/video call with their peers or instructor(s). The teachers can discuss plans and topics, and exchange ideas among themselves. All that using a reliable, secure, and uninterrupted connection. The community feature of AtomChat gives the students and the teachers a rich, immersive experience. The power of HD audio-video call options makes it possible. 

• Multilingual integration: The instructors on your online platform can create various groups of students. They range from open-to-all, public to password-protected, or exclusive groups. The students can chat with their instructors or peers who speak a different language. The teachers can do the same. This is the magic of AtomChat’s real-time translation! 

• Personalized online guidance: Each of the students has a different learning/grasping capacity. Some of them may need more personalized online learning than others. AtomChat lends the teachers the great advantage of being able to address the specific needs of each student. A more personalized collaborative experience drives more engagement. And also retention on your online learning platform. 

• Virtual classrooms for real-time interaction: The instructors may often expand the modules using many diverse learning materials. With the chat plugin, they can host and take part in virtual classrooms. Anywhere anytime for real-time engagement. This excludes the regular video tutorials. Moreover, they can record their classroom sessions. Use them for future references, or as downloadable for learner access. 

• File and screen sharing: AtomChat lets you keep students and teachers engaged with top-class collaborative features. It enables the teachers to share screens and explain concepts difficult to grasp. The file-sharing option enables them to share images, multimedia content, course material, performance analyses, reports, and other useful files. All within the chat platform. It’s also a great way to conduct polls and surveys during or after every online class to test the learners’ knowledge and skills.

• Collaborative whiteboards: The now-popular digital collaborative whiteboards are replacing traditional blackboards/whiteboards. They give students enhanced immersive learning experiences. Digital whiteboards are a far more effective tool than traditional ones. For presentations, teaching, brainstorming, and many more. The teachers can explain difficult concepts effectively. By drawing shapes, figures, graphs, diagrams, and other graphics, all with the click of a button.  

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The last word

Getting students to take part in your online classroom is challenging. But that’s the way forward for the foreseeable future. Active participation of students and teachers is the key to making your online classes interactive, engaging, and productive. 

If you’re a forward-thinking promoter of virtual learning, you can make your online classes interactive and immersive. You just need to have an innovative approach and the right tools.

Affordable and easily scalable, AtomChat can be a game-changer for your e-learning platform. For an incredibly collaborative, engaging, and immersive learning experience, and much more. The addition of the plugin will offer a win-win solution to both the students and the teachers.

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