With over 80% of higher education students using some form of an online learning tool, and with the number of learners enrolled in online degree courses expected to hit 5 million by 2020, there is no denying that universities need to ensure that they are providing excellent quality in their online educations. An unforgettable online learning experience should be engaging, stimulating, and enjoyable. Here are three edtech tools that you can use to create these experiences for your students.

1. Use video technology to bring in international experts. Video streaming technology can enhance everything from basic instruction to global collaboration between students on either side of the world. Open out your classroom to an expert from another country by streaming one of their lectures via your Learning Management System.
2. Integrate some m-learning elements into your course. Mobile learning (m-learning) enables students to access education via their smartphones and tablets. M-learning has helped to improve access to education, as many learners who do not own computers will nevertheless be able to afford or access tablets and smartphones. In 2017, the m-learning market exceeded $12.2 billion due to m-learning’s ability to improve engagement and knowledge retention. Provide reminders to your students about upcoming lectures and other events using a mobile app. Use the app to send on little factoids that relate to a topic you have discussed in a seminar, or to challenge them to 5-minute quizzes, to keep them thinking about the issues you are studying and to boost their memory of the content of the course.
3. Gamify learning. Gamification gets students to learn actively by motivating them to engage very directly with a quiz or a learning tool that has the structure of a mind-bending puzzle or even an RPG. Gamified learning tends to deploy a reward based structure (for instance, by awarding students points for facts that they have remembered correctly) which motivates them to keep playing – and to keep on learning.  Gamification is not just for high school or pre-school students: there are gamification tools available that are specifically designed for the higher education setting.

As you can see, a successful online learning experience tends to be one that keeps students engaged in varying teaching and learning styles and by using both audio and visual content to create a multimodal learning experience. Has this worked for you in your institution?