What Do Teachers and Students Think of Online Learning After 2020?

2020 was quite a year. Even before the pandemic, online course was growing leaps and bounds. In 2018, according to the National Clearing House for Education Statistics, there were almost 7 million people enrolled in accredited online courses in the United States. That number doesn’t include, private or non-credit training programs. It was estimated in late spring of 2020, over 90% of students were taking courses at some point online because of the virus. But with all these changes, I thought it would be interesting to compare what teachers and students thought about online teaching since the dust… or maybe shock and transition, has settled a little.
I started searching through blog posts and articles of what teachers and students were saying about online teaching/instruction in 2020 and here is a little of what I found.
TEACHERS

  1. Teachers were shocked by how much work online teaching was and can be. Many teachers said that they had never compared an online course to a traditional course before as far as content and workload. They were surprised by how much research was involved to build the course, time it took to develop the course and that their in-person lesson activities didn’t always work well in that format. It took them a lot of time to learn the learning management or delivery system and were surprised by how much time it took to check in with students, grade assignments and posts/discussion boards.
  2. Teachers were also surprised at the differences in communication. Establishing presence and relationships and delivering timely and appropriate feedback were very different.
  3. Technology overload. For teachers that are just starting, it can be so overwhelming to sift through all of the wonderful and cool technology tools that are out there. It can also be overwhelming thinking about technology that you have never used before, instructional design issues and accessibility compliance. Most came to the realization that they used enough to get the job done and be effective.
  4. If the teachers are tired, what about the students? Teachers were perplexed by how to keep students engaged and interested virtually or online. There was a big learning curve figuring out how to get students to complete assignments, participate in class and stay motivated. Many realized that deadlines, flexibility and consistency were necessities. Many teachers listed the importance of checking in with students throughout the course as well as sharing ideas, concerns and thoughts with other colleagues. Utilize your school and other colleagues to offer tips, advice and insights about teaching online.
    STUDENTS
  5. Students generally liked learning at their own pace especially if they were in a different time zone.
  6. They wanted instructors to provide more clarity or direction in instructions and expectations. They also wanted more virtual office-hours to ask questions instead of through email. Students also asked for more timely feedback.
  7. Too much work! Not all students have access to fast internet services which made taking tests and finals difficult. Some instructors break testing down to smaller quizzes but this increases the workload for students through the week. It is also important for instructors to gauge how much time it takes students to complete readings and assignments correctly.
  8. I need a break please. Zoom fatigue is real. Students asked for breaks from the webcam, opportunities to stretch or do a different activity to break up lectures. They also asked for varied types of activities so that it wasn’t the same thing over and over.
  9. Students wanted to have social interactions with peers. A benefit of online courses is that students may interact with other students they might not have previously. Many students reported that class discussions helped them engage with the material while facilitating social connections.
  10. Show your Personality. Students actually like it when your dog is barking or that there was something interesting in the background. They want to build and form relationships with you. Sharing bits of your personality and life are ways that you can do that. It also encourages persistence and participation.
    Teachers have a lot of pressure on them to deliver quality education correctly. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many educators, who never in their wildest dreams thought they would, to teach online. The silver lining by looking at both sides of the coin is that students don’t seem to be looking for perfection, they are still looking for a social and engaging learning experience. They want to get to know you and want you to keep their interest. So, teachers don’t fret. Keep doing what you are doing and delivering courses the best way that you can. Utilize resources that you have and reach out to colleagues or experts to help you get through this. The students seem to be learning and adjusting just fine.

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How to Build an E-Commerce Website From Scratch in 8 Easy Steps

The unfortunate onset of the Covid-19 pandemic had resulted in lockdowns and travel restrictions that are being enforced worldwide to curb the spread of the disease. Owing to this, many people all over the world have become less mobile and doing their physical shopping to meet their needs has become difficult. Hence, shopping online has become popular worldwide over the prevailing pandemic period and is expected to increase even after the pandemic is over.

It follows that many e-commerce websites have been set up to capitalize on this growing trend. As a result, the growth of e-commerce business has outstripped that of the traditional ‘brick and mortar’ businesses many times over in recent times. In fact, many of these traditional businesses, even the more established ones, have to take their businesses online in order to survive. However, many smaller ones face stiff competition from e-commerce businesses and those that were unsustainable had unfortunately closed down.

The success of e-commerce businesses has been so impactful that many individuals have started selling online using social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram or Tik Tok. But the more enterprising ones are looking to dive into e-commerce in a bigger way instead of just using the social media platform. But first, to start an e-commerce business, it’s necessary to build an e-commerce website for a start.

Fortunately, there is a structured process in building an e-commerce website. Though a website developer is normally engaged in such a task, having some relevant knowledge could also help you in building a website for your online business.

Simply follow these 8 easy steps to build an e-commerce website from scratch:

  1. Decide on the product niche for your store

When you search the Internet, you would have come across many e-commerce websites selling a variety of products. However, there are also many similar websites focusing on selling a specific line of products or services such as apparel, pet accessories, fashion wears, shoes or travel packages. Besides, there are some other e-commerce websites that sell many different products such as smartphones, cameras, home appliances, household items, sports and health items, lamps, laptops, books, and so forth. The latter is something similar to a hypermarket where you can find almost any stuff – you name it, they have it.

For a start, it’s significant to decide on the niche or type of services you wish to sell or provide on your website. In your decision, you need to find out the local demand for certain products relating to the niche or certain high-demand services you are interested in. Be mindful that buyers would normally prefer to buy products or obtain services from a local vendor whether online or offline. The local vendor would usually provide easy payment methods, faster deliveries, and faster replacements in case of the wrong or defective items.

  1. Decide on your business model

As a prospective e-commerce business entrepreneur, you should first decide on your business model that best suits your need and budget. You can either sell your products solely on your online store, or you can sell your products on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc. If you decide on the latter, there is no need for you to build your own website. All you need to do is to sign-up for an account and list your products at its marketplace and start selling. You can also choose to sell your products on both the platforms in parallel.

  1. Decide on a domain name for your business

If you have decided your business model to be an e-commerce online store as well as having chosen the niche and the range of products to sell or the type of services you wish to provide, you need to buy a domain name from any web hosting company such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, Hostgator, etc. Make sure that the domain’s hyperlink is “https” which ensures data security over the network. It’s preferable to choose a domain name that is closely related to the product niche or services you’ve chosen. For instance, if you choose to sell only pet accessories, get a domain like ‘petaccessories.com’ or ‘petaccessories.net’ depending on which is available. The domain name is also considered as your business name and should be easy to remember by your target audience. A domain provides a brand to your business and makes it easy for your audience to associate it with each other.

The hosting of the domain is easily done with the help of the web hosting company’s support team.

  1. Choose an e-commerce platform

There is a multitude of e-commerce platforms on the Internet nowadays, such as Square Online, Weebly, Big Cartel, Constant Contact, BigCommerce, Wix, Shopify, Squarespace, WooCommerce, and more. Some comes with a free plan while some comes with a free trial but for a limited period. Choose one that best suits your budget and requirement. Also, you need to make sure that the platform you chose is optimized for mobile phone usability to take advantage of the accelerated growth of smartphone usage worldwide. The online e-commerce platform can easily help you build your website in a couple of simple steps.

  1. Set-up your e-commerce store

Your e-commerce website is your online store, and it needs an appropriate theme to represent your brand. You have to set it up properly so as to ensure that your potential customers will have a good browsing experience in terms of fast loading speed, navigability, user-friendly, etc. Your website should contain accurate details on your products or services, quality images, good descriptions and prices as well as options for customers to leave reviews and star ratings. All this should be included in your product page for the viewing of prospective customers so that they buy based on an informed decision and not to mislead them into buying in any way. You must make your website and its web pages eye-catching as it’s your brands’ representation to your online customers.

Besides, you need to include pages on your website with respect to About Us, Contact Us, Return Policy, Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, Shipping Information and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). These are very important in order to build trust with your customers where they will feel confident to part their money in exchange for your products.

  1. Set-up payment gateway

For your online store, you must have a few payment options in place for your customers. Most e-commerce store builder platforms already have functions to allow you to easily set up the payment gateway. The customer should have options to make payments via PayPal, credit card, debit card, online wallets, Internet banking, etc.

  1. Secure your website by installing an SSL certificate

For all websites that transfer data online, especially relating to payment, you must ensure that the network connection is protected by a Secured Security Layer (SSL). The SSL certificate keeps your website secure from website hackers and will help to build trust among your customers.

  1. Choose your shipping partner

When you start selling products on your e-commerce website, you need to ship the products to your customers using shipping companies. You must choose those reliable ones that have good track records in fulfilling shipments within agreed durations and at the lowest available shipping cost, so that you can give your customers the best deal as well as maximize your profit.