How Students Actually Navigate Your Online Course (And What to Do About It)

Wednesday, October 14, 2026 | 1:00PM–1:40PM ET
Session Type: Breakout Session
Delivery Format: Live Session
How do students really move through your online courses? Do they follow the path you designed, or forge their own? Most of us have assumptions about how students navigate course content, find assignments, engage with learning materials, and use mobile devices, but we rarely test those assumptions with data. This session shares findings from an internal quality improvement survey of 463 online students and examines their navigation habits, engagement with course elements, feedback-seeking behavior, and device usage. The results challenged some of our expectations. For example, certain course elements we carefully design turn out to be among the least-valued by students, while others we may overlook are considered essential. Beyond presenting what we found, this session is designed to be interactive. We’ll invite you to share your own practices and reflect on what could be improved. Whether you are an instructional designer or a faculty member, you will leave with practical strategies for designing online courses that align with student behavior.

Presenters

  • Mary Ellen Dello Stritto

    Director, Ecampus Research Unit, Oregon State University

  • Dana Simionescu

    Instructional Design Specialist, Oregon State University