Tips for Standardizing Educational Best Practices

5 Workable Tips for Standardizing Educational Best Practices

Digital learning tools have given educators and course developers around the world a great deal of freedom. The use of customizable software with numerous features instead of specific books and a simple blackboard enabled them to optimize the learning experience in several ways. However, it is generally accepted that a certain degree of standardization is required to ensure that all participants across the board receive the same benefits. In this section, we share 5 steps to achieve standardization of educational best practices, while ensuring that your content remains creative and engaging for online learners.

5 steps to ensure standardization

1. Know your resources

A good starting point when standardizing educational best practices is to gather all available resources. Specifically, you need to identify any related materials, such as articles, websites, videos, podcasts, etc., as well as the tools available in your online conference solution. Advanced software can provide a wide range of optimization features, such as fully customizable pods and layouts. Using it, you can create timers, games, comment buttons, quizzes or chat boxes, and assemble different storyboards depending on your audience and topic. Later, you can also organize these resources into a library of content and layout templates where all team members can access them.

2. Create templates

Once you have created a comprehensive resource plan, it is time to start building your layouts. Identify which special features would best suit the content of your course and start putting together storyboards. Depending on the capabilities of your online conference software, this is the best moment to unleash your creativity. Enrich your content with games, interactive activities or simulations to promote engagement and personalization. The best part is that these templates are persistent. This means that once you create them, they remain available for other members of your team to review or for you to reuse for another audience or at another time. This saves you valuable time as you do not have to re-create your courses every time.

3. Leave room for flexibility

By staying on the topic of perseverance, standardization of best educational practices ensures maximum quality of content, whatever the topic. In addition, it helps you to establish a personal yet professional look and feel. However, you do not want to use the same course over and over again. Inflexibility is the enemy of standardization. Rather, use your persistent templates as a starting point and change the activities or setting up of your storyboards from time to time. By regularly updating the way your content is presented, you keep your audience engaged and inspired.

4. Establish a trial run

Before they are released for commercial use, programs, software or applications, release a beta version. Similarly, before presenting your webinar, course or presentation, you should take it for a trial run. Gather a focus group similar to your audience and let them go through your content and test all interactive activities. This will be especially useful if this is your first time using an advanced online conferencing tool for learning purposes. This trial run can help you smooth out any problems with the flow of your layout or replace activities that are not performing as you expected.

5. Take advantage of integrations

Apart from a variety of highly customizable features, advanced web conferencing tools also allow you to integrate with multiple LMSs. Make sure you use this to obtain proper data analysis, record keeping, management of educational materials, as well as accessibility for all participants. Keep in mind that one of the most important educational practices stays up to date. Keep up to date with updates and new features released for your digital learning solution as well as its integrations. This way you can be sure that your audience gets the best learning experience possible.

Closure

Standardization has gained some of a bad reputation in the learning world. Many believe that it is uninspiring and leaves no room for flexibility, creativity or input from educators and learners. However, advanced video conferencing tools can ensure equal learning opportunities and a variety of customization options. Create your own educational best practices using the tips we shared in this chapter and build a standardized virtual learning experience that can easily adapt to the ever-changing needs of the learning world and your audience.

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