Methods and techniques to improve international learning experiences online

ABSTRACT

International courses in physical classroom tend to be infeasible under the influence of epidemic diseases, such as the COVID-19. Consequently, the transition of teaching activities to online events, which is advantageous in reducing transportation and other expenses, has been acknowledged as an effective and practical solution. However, it also brings new challenges to the teaching in quarantine for vocational education and training, because most of learners at their working places may need to do other things in the online environment during their online class time, such as temporary works, attending meetings and receiving instant messages. In addition, they are usually from different cultures and time zones. Therefore, it is reasonable to create online engaging learning experiences with some careful planning. Taking the International Distance Training Course on Short-term Climate Monitoring and Prediction in Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (from 17th to 31st, May, 2020) as an example, this paper introduces some relevant practical instructional designs, collaborative methods and interactive techniques for improving learning experiences online, and analyses their effects. © 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.