In today’s fast-paced world, everything is just a click away. eLearning is a wonderful tool that provides users with 24/7 accessibility and the ability to be autonomous. The ultimate goal for Learning & Development professionals is to create an immersive journey that grants their people a positive learning experience that results in the desired learning outcome. It is also essential that content is provided in a way that assists learners’ learning retention rather than acts in opposition to it.
There is a wide variety of eLearning systems available, such as Learning Management Systems and Learning Experience Platforms. eLearning is a cost-saving option that allows the learner to choose their learning according to their preferences, enabling even the busiest user to learn new skills. Creating the best eLearning experience for your company’s people might be a bit challenging, but by following the below tips you’ll be closer to attaining your goal.
Make use of interactivity in your eLearn
Including interactions adds substantial value to eLearns. Not only does it prompt learners to engage with the learning content, but it also serves as a form of communication between learners and eLearning tools. Interactivity also simplifies information points and makes abstract ideas easier for learners to understand.
Using interactivity in eLearns can be as simple as including motion on slides to more engaging quizzes. However, it doesn’t mean that every slide must make use of some sort of interaction but rather create a balance between the static content and the more eye-capturing visuals. For example, having images fade in and out, in line with what the audio is playing or text on the screen is displaying, is more effective both visually and learning-wise rather than having the same static image for the entire slide.
A lack of interactions will compel learners to click the next button over and over without taking note of the slide content. But by including interactive tasks, learners are more likely to engage with the content and in return, more likely to remember the taught information since they are being encouraged to make use of the knowledge they have just acquired.
Multimedia
A wide array of multimedia is available to be inserted in eLearns that further encourage user engagement. This umbrella term refers to animations, audio, images and videos. Using such media will increase the likelihood of capturing the learners’ attention span. In return, this can assist them in better envisaging complex concepts as information is adapted to be easier to digest. As well as capturing their attention, it can also form empathic connections as learners can form associations from the taught content.
With multimedia, the instructor also can cater to different learner needs. For instance, some learners tend to be more visionary, whilst others are more auditory. But not all media should be used together in one go. The key is to create a functional balance.
Scenarios
Scenarios can be included in almost any kind of eLearns. It serves as an excellent tool that provides learners with the opportunity to practice what they have just learned in a simulation. By using storytelling and creating realistic personas that learners can easily resonate with, they will be stimulated to act as they would in a real-life scenario. They would be encouraged to think and practice their problem-solving skills. By directly including them as part of their learning experience, they would be more likely to retain information, as proven in the 70/20/10 learning model. This model suggests that 70% of learning comes from on-the-job experiences, 20% from the knowledge learners pick up from others and formal training only forms part of the last 10%.
Gamification
By adding game-like elements to an eLearning course, learners will more likely find the course enjoyable and will opt to engage with rather than deeming it an added task they are compiled to do. Using gamification will drive a sense of competition between users, as they are prompted to make decisions to succeed, intending to attain learning achievements. Rewarding learners further encourage engagement. Gamification does not require complexity; a simple drag and drop can create a solid gaming experience, enhancing user engagement.
Design
The importance of design in eLearning is commonly overlooked but fundamentally it is one of the most important practices in creating an eLearning experience. Make use of striking imagery that makes sense in their context and fonts that are easily legible such as sans serif typeface. Aim to create a strong brand for the eLearn course that includes a complimenting colour scheme and template.
How we can help
PwC's Academy Malta is an enthusiastic team with a passion for learning. We continuously keep our learners in mind, focusing on catering to their needs by creating tailored content that helps in creating successful learning outcomes. Although some of our off-the-shelf eLearns may apply to your business, we drive, design and produce complete eLearning courses tailored to your needs and issues pedagogically and engagingly. If you would like to know more, feel free to contact us via our website chatbot or by email.
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