It's no secret that a primary concern for most educators is the design of the courses that they teach. Whether the learning experience is based in academia or in the workplace, ensuring that educators and trainers design their courses in a way that engages learners should be a top priority for any eLearning program.
This article will give you all the information you need concerning the creation of engaging content design for eLearning.
Encourage Learners to Write
Time and time again, research has shown that one of the most effective ways to engage learners in course content is through the use of writing exercises. Writing exercises are fantastic teaching tools because they not only reinforce memory, but they also allow learners to explore the ideas of their learning in a thoughtful and reflective manner.
Explore Collaborative Learning
When you're designing an eLearning course, strongly consider the incorporation of collaborative learning into your eLearning program. Collaborative learning is not only incredibly effective at stimulating critical thinking within learners, but it also allows learners to develop interpersonal skills by working together as a group.
In the U.S., as an individualistic society, we often struggle to make the development of interpersonal skills the priority of our education programs. Additionally, the isolationist nature of eLearning can sometimes make incorporating collaborative learning exercises into eLearning experiences difficult.
However, particularly when it comes to workplace training, the development of interpersonal skills is vitally important to the success of learners. One of the easiest ways to incorporate collaborative learning into eLearning experiences is through the use of forums.
By creating discussion boards that incentivize student interaction, you can encourage learners to work together and successfully collaborate on course material.
Get Creative with Your Course Design
One of the major benefits of eLearning is that it allows educators to be more creative than ever before with their course design. For example, if media training is part of your eLearning course, consider having an activity where learners run a Twitter campaign, and give an incentive to the learner who can get the most likes and retweets.
By using social media and the wealth of information the internet offers to your advantage, you can easily design creative eLearning experiences that consistently introduce learners to content in new and interesting ways, therefore keeping them engaged with the learning process.
Also, consider falling back on some more progressive elements of traditional teaching, such as incorporating elements of a flipped classroom (in which learners watch instructional video outside of class time and then use class time or instructor meetings to ask questions or work on assignments) to further engage learners.
Make Active Learning a Core Element of Your eLearning Experience
Active learning exercises, in which learners are asked to practically apply the knowledge they gain to a specific assignment or situation, should be an integral element of any good eLearning experience. This is particularly important for workplace training, in which being able to practice job elements before being "on the clock" is tremendously beneficial to learners.
Other options for improving engagement with active learning are using interactive content and introducing gamification into your LMS and eLearning programs.
Are you looking for ways to revolutionize your eLearning experiences? We'd love to help! Lambda Solutions specializes in streamlining eLearning experiences, helping companies implement an LMS into their eLearning program, and learner data analysis through Zoola Analytics. To learn more about what we can do for you, click here.
For more resources on increasing learner engagement, watch our on-demand Webinar and Master Class:
- Webinar: How to Reduce Disengagement with Gamification
- Master Class Series: How To Use Interaction To Drive Engagement And Learning Outcomes
