What Belongs in an Electronic Classroom?

What belongs in an electronic classroom? After all, we're talking about a virtual learning space, not a room with blackboards and desks.

Not every e-learning class will offer all of the features I'm about to describe. But the more of them you get for your educational dollar, the better.

1. Does the class include a variety of media? A mixed-format course lets you learn in different ways through the day. While you are at your computer, you can learn online. In your car, you can listen to a CD. Over lunch, you can read a workbook. (Printed materials still have a place in electronic learning.) Variety helps.
2. Is there an upbeat feel to the course? Most of us are apt to squeeze in our e-learning at the end of our busy days. A course should have a vigorous feel that energizes you.
3. Can you repeat class sections and lessons? If your course is on a CD or DVD, that is a given. But in an electronic classroom where a teacher teaches while students submit questions via the phone or e-mail, that repeatability can be harder to achieve. We have addressed this problem at Trump University. If you are enrolled in our premier class The Entrepreneurship Mastery Program,for example, you can listen online to audio recordings of all earlier class sessions whenever you want. Pay attention to this. If the content of your class disappears when you shut off your computer, you are not getting a premium learning experience.
4. Is there a sense of community? I strongly believe in message boards and electronic forums where students exchange ideas. That is built into many of our courses. But even if you are takingone of Trump University's self-directed courses without classroom activity, you can still take part in The Trump Blog and our online discussion groups.
5. Is the instructor hands-on? The more expensive and full-featured the course, the easier it should be to interact with your instructor. But even a basic course should offer an email address that lets you ask questions.
6. What about support? If you don't have access to quick and efficient help, your whole learning experience can come to a standstill.

Please ask those questions, whether you are investigating courses at Trump University or elsewhere. If you haven't looked at our course catalog recently, I'd urge you to take a look today. We are adding great new courses weekly. They meet the criteria I outline above, and more.

David Highbloom is Chief Operating Officer of Trump University.