Engaging Your Learner

When it comes to eLearning - it’s just as easy to lose your learners, if your content is not attractive from the word ‘go’. Here are 9 top tips to consider when trying to engage your learners that should help you through 2016.

Relevant:

The topics that are covered in an eLearning course should be relevant to the course itself. Headings and subheadings should clearly describe what the learner can expect to read, gather and gain from the content. So much for my heading!

Up-To-Date:

Knowledge changes at the speed of light. Every day there is something new - new theories are invented and old theories are disproved. What was new yesterday is old news today. We live in a fast-paced, ever-changing, highly competitive world, where keeping abreast with the latest global developments and happenings is crucial to learning. Your content must be up-to-date at all times if you don’t want your learners to leave.

Simple:

When creating an eLearning course, use clear and simple language and stay away from jargon: While there are some industries that require the use of jargon – like the medical field which requires the use of medical terminology, not everybody appreciates jargon. Corporate jargon is one such example – where very few employees appreciate the use of words that make little or no sense.

Light:

Don’t saturate your learners with text. Stick to matter that is relevant and necessary. Do away with unnecessary sentences - like this one. Keep the content fresh. If you are going to use multimedia, don’t fill your course with it.

Interesting::

It’s not just the written matter, but the design itself. The proper use of colors (the color of the background and the use of an appropriate color combination), and fonts (the type and the size of fonts), and the appropriate use of images and other multimedia, go a long way in keeping your learner’s interest level, high.

Neat:

Keep the screen clutter-free. A clean screen without distractions will keep concentration levels high for a longer period of time. What’s a distraction? Anything that takes the reader’s mind away from the study material and learning is termed a distraction – which brings me to the next principle.

Interactive:

While interaction is good, too much interaction can be distracting. By interaction, I mean everything that you ask your learner to do – whether it is clicking a link to go to another page, watching a video, or using any other multimedia … add only what is necessary and only that which is going to provide knowledge.

Blended:

Blended learning is a combination of online learning and face-to-face learning. Blended learning gives learners the best of both worlds – online learning and ILT (instructor-led training). A blended course provides a holistic approach to learning.

Short:

Finally, the maximum attention of a human being is not quite as much as we would like it to be, therefore, keep your courses short. When you run out of relevant information to provide your learner, stop.