Author: Ceyda Kaya
Publication date: 30.07.2024
E-learning has entered almost everyone's lives with the global pandemic in 2019. One of the most important reasons for this is that online learning eliminates time and space constraints. This learning method is now used not only in school education but also in many other fields from the health sector to corporate training. However, the critical point is how to design engaging online learning modules.
What is e-learning?
E-learning or electronic learning provides users with interactive tools, course content and educational materials through digital technology. Learners can reach content from anywhere at any time. Online learning makes the learning experience flexible and accessible. Anyone who wants to improve their knowledge and develop their skills in any subject can benefit from online education option.
How can we make e-learning modules more engaging for learners?
Understanding your audience
To make e-learning modules more engaging for learners, it is first necessary to understand the individual characteristics and learning styles of the target audience. The age and education level of the learners can be most decisive factors among individual characteristics. For instance, younger learners have shorter attention and focus spans. Gamification and keeping class duration short can be satisfying strategies to cope with this issue. On the other hand, adult learners will want to hear more real-life examples and practices. In terms of education level, clear and simple expressions would work for low-educated people, while critical perspectives and advanced-level contents excites the high-educated ones. Moreover, a test can be applied to understand the learning types of the students and a separate training module can be organized for each learning group. In this way, visual learners can be trained with pictures, maps or virtual reality headsets, a popular educational tool of recent times. On the contrary, holding group discussions will be more effective for auditory learners. Organizing online education contents according to certain levels or learning types will have a positive impact on learning outcomes.
It would be useful to briefly mention what skills and knowledge you will have when the training is completed and the points to be achieved. Additionally, by separating the course scope, we ensure that they progress at their own pace and under their own control. In this way, the modular structure makes the contents more followable and prevents boredom.
Making Use of Interactive Content
In online education, the distraction rate of learners is really high. To avoid this, the use of multimedia tools in the content will be beneficial. Videos, animations or simulations related to the topic can improve the quality of learning. To attract students, it is a good idea to use Pop-up quizzes, drag-and-drop activities. Such engaging elements can help students to apply and retain what they have learned. In addition, social learning tools such as team building, discussion rooms, etc. can help students feel a sense of belonging to a community.
User-Friendly and Attractive Design
Although there are many online learning platforms, simple, easy-to-use platforms are always one step ahead for an effective design for effective online learning. Udemy and Coursera courses are the most successful e-learning platforms in this regard. It is necessary to provide simple colors, appropriate fonts, and the appropriate layout of the elements in a navigable way. This design supports to prevent eye fatigue on the online platform. In addition to this, it should be taken into consideration that students can access this digital platform from mobile devices. Therefore, the content display should be designed to work properly on mobile devices.
Instructional Design Strategies
There are several strategies to teach a topic to learners innovatively. One of them is using stories. Telling a story about the subject stimulates emotions. Generating emotion facilitates keeping the information permanent in mind. Setup, Relate, Interpret, Apply (SRIA) is a good example of a story-based e-learning design model. You can exercise this model by using metaphors and an Avatar. In the setup part, a situation that contains emotional points is introduced. For instance, the problem is a company in loss, and your avatar character is a detective. In the second part, the detective asks some questions to relate the learners’ thoughts to the topic - “What are the reasons behind this loss?” Then, he does some investigations, tracks potential clues, and provides information and feedback about the case. At this point, the learner can interpret the potential reasons for the loss in the company. Finally, the learners try to practice those steps for their company.
Another one is creating a scenario related to the topic. Learners match themselves with the actor in the scenario. The learning process becomes effective with a sense of wonder while trying to solve the problem in the scenario. Sergiy Movchan is the co-founder of Raccoon Gang which has served as an online learning solutions company for many years. According to him, the important points to consider in a scenario are using an active voice, a conversational voice tone, staying relevant to your learners and including authentic and realistic scenes to ensure consistency and attraction of interest.
Moreover, innovative technologies and trends for instructional design are emerging in e-learning day by day. The microlearning strategy, as one of them, works for people who are easily distracted. Dividing the topic into small parts makes students feel less stressed during the cognitive learning duration. On the other hand, machine learning (ML) determines the key points to create individualistic content for each student separately. Another one is artificial intelligence (AI), which helps learners choose the right content by giving personalized recommendations and providing instant feedback and support. If we take one step ahead, augmented reality (AR) comes into prominence, especially in the engineering field, to develop an experience in the current environment. Virtual reality (VR) gives the opportunity to practice the complex operational methods of medical students in a completely different world from the current environment. Finally, gamification, which involves completing levels and earning badges, is an attractive teaching strategy for participants, because it creates an enjoyable process to fulfill their responsibilities.
In conclusion, designing engaging e-learning modules requires adopting a learner-centered approach and using technology effectively. Strategies such as interactive content, clear and attainable goals, and attractive design increase student motivation and make learning more effective. Innovative instructional design in education can transform students' learning experiences. These best practices and strategies will help educators and content developers create more effective and engaging e-learning modules.
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