Top 10 Reasons To Publish Online Your Learners' Work

Top 10 Reasons To Publish Online Your Learners' Work
Summary: This post features the top 10 reasons why it is indeed beneficial to publish online learners' work. Whether you are looking for a way to increase learners’ feedback, encourage group collaboration, or boost learners’ engagement, publishing work online offers a wide range of advantages in all educational settings.

Reasons To Publish Online Your Learners' Work

In the past decades, displaying a learner’s work on the class bulletin board or posting a notable piece in the school’s newspaper offered a variety of benefits. From confidence-building to skill enhancement, making the work of a learner public often resulted in an overall enhanced educational experience. Today, thanks to the power of technology, we are able to magnify all of these benefits by posting learners' work online.

  1. Motivates learners to do their very best
    If learners know that they are going to be held accountable for their work and that their work will be displayed in a public forum, then they will be more likely to devote their full time and attention to the assignment or project. Nonetheless, keep in mind that learners should always be aware of the fact that you are going to publish their work online and get their permission beforehand. You don't want to betray their trust by uploading their assignments onto an online platform without prior consent. Not to mention that this simply won't have the desired effect. Ultimately, the primary goal is to encourage them and give them incentive to take their work to the next level, and for this to happen effectively they must be willing participants in the publishing process.
  2. Helps to build strong writing, editing, and revision skills
    When learners know that their work will be seen by countless others online, editing and revision becomes a top priority. As a result, publishing learners' work online can help to build certain skill sets, such as those associated with the editing process. They learn how to be concise, clear, and critical of their own work, and they gain a better understanding of how to assess and analyze what they have created.
  3. Gives other learners the opportunity to acquire experience
    Sharing the work of your learners' online benefits other learners as well by offering invaluable experience. If peers are able to see a great example of how an assignment should be, (or even an example of how to correct mistakes made in a draft paper) they will be more likely to improve upon their own skill sets and knowledge base. Also, learners can better realize how a well qualified assignment should be done and which mistakes to avoid by viewing the work of others, and utilize this knowledge for their own future projects.
  4. Helps to build learners’ confidence and self esteem
    Seeing their work published online can instill a sense of self worth and confidence within learners. It helps learners to build their self esteem, because they are given the chance to be recognized for all of their hard work and efforts. Learners will feel encouraged by the fact that their work is being posted online for all to see, which may just give them the self confidence boost that they need to do their very best moving forward.
  5. Offers learners invaluable feedback
    Peers are often able to leave comments on the published assignments, offering this way effective feedback about how the learner who has written the assignment can possibly revise or elaborate upon a particular aspect of the project. This allows both parties to fine tune their skills. The commenters are developing their editing and peer review skills, while the learners who have completed the assignment can use this invaluable feedback to improve their writing, revision and writing skills.
  6. Encourages group collaboration and offers peer support
    Publishing also enables learners to receive support from their peers, which makes any learning experience more interactive and engaging. Learners can even collaborate on projects or participate in discussions based upon a particular assignment. If you're looking for a way to encourage group collaboration in your eLearning course, then publishing learners’ work may help to enhance peer-to-peer engagement.
  7. Gives learners recognition for exceptional work
    If a learner goes above and beyond, and devotes a great deal of time and effort to creating exceptional work, publishing this work online may offer him/her the praise and respect that he/she rightfully deserves. While a high grade may be enough incentive for some learners, others may be motivated by the positive recognition they'll receive by completing an exemplary project.
  8. Learners' work can be seen by a wider audience including friends, family, and colleagues
    When an assignment is published online it can be accessed by anyone, anywhere. The learner’s friends, colleagues, and family members are able to view it, which means that learners can show off their work proudly. This also encourages them to give their best, because they are aware that individuals they know in the real world will also be seeing their work.
  9. Work can be shared via social media sites
    Work that's been published can be shared through social networking platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, which increases exposure and leads to further feedback and peer support. Sharing via social media sites can also help to boost social collaboration in online learning environments, which is a big plus for educators who may be trying to make their eLearning courses more interactive.
  10. Encourages a free exchange of ideas
    Learners are able to see the work of their peers, even those who may be a world away and who are enrolled in an entirely different eLearning program. As a consequence, they gain the opportunity to become inspired and to share their opinions and thoughts with others. In other words, there aren't any limitations with online publishing, especially in terms of exchanging ideas. Learners may get into new concepts, processes, and ideas by reading the work of their peers and the creator of the work can further delve into the core ideas through peer-to-peer discussions and feedback.

While publishing learners' work may have evolved over the years, the core objective is the same – to give learner's the incentive to do their very best, and to offer them the opportunity to be recognized for their hard work. As eLearning professionals, publishing also enables us to create more interactive, effective, and engaging learning strategies.

If you'd like to learn more about the free educational technology tools you can use to publish student work, you may find valuable The 5 Best Free Tools for Publishing Learners Work.