When school administrators and instructors first embark upon a project to embrace eLearning, the immediate temptation is to “scan everything and put it online!”. While “pure digitization” might be a quick way to introduce online learning to kids, it’s not always the best way to engage kids through eLearning. Key design and conversion considerations Unlocking the power of eLearning for kids is not just a matter of digitizing content from the existing curriculum. Kids today are extremely tech-savvy, and when they stare at an electronic version of their textbooks, it’s likely to spur immediate disengagement. ELearning designers must therefore go way beyond scanning and uploading paper content to pique kids' interest. Here are five design considerations that should help you decide whether you should design from scratch, or convert or port school curricula into eLearning courses: Enhance your content ELearning provides you an opportunity to go above and beyond what existing … [Read more...] about Converting school curriculum into eLearning: Considerations for designing eLearning for kids
eLearning
Training for Agility: Understanding the new paradigms in eLearning
Dell Technologies Inc, one of the largest technology manufactures in the world, said recently that “…around 85% of the jobs that today’s learners will be doing in 2030 haven’t been invented yet.”. The new world will be based on organizations “...becoming more agile and profitable”. This bold statement was made in a report titled “The Next Era of Human Machine Partnerships”. If this prediction is, in fact, true, it then introduces a brand-new paradigm for trainers and instructional designers alike: How do you train future workforces to embrace that leaner, more competitive, agile and profitable future? Agility in eLearning The challenge with future of workforces, as laid out in the report cited above, is that information and knowledge is expected to become redundant at a much faster pace than it is today. In the new paradigm, while employers have already mapped out a new business model, they won’t have a sizable enough trained workforce to implement their vision – unless they … [Read more...] about Training for Agility: Understanding the new paradigms in eLearning
Why storytelling in eLearning works? Secrets to telling compelling stories
The best way to engage and communicate with your eLearning audience is through storytelling. Not only will you be able to connect with your learners, but if the story is appropriately framed and structured, they will be able to better relate to the content being taught. This will lead to improved transfer of knowledge and, as a result, deliver better overall learning outcomes. Why tell stories at all? In late 2013, Emory University published a study conducted by its neuroscientists that linked changes to the brain’s neural patterns as a result of reading real-life event-based stories. Without getting too technical, researchers saw extraordinary activity in the research subject’s left temporal lobe – the part of our brain responsible for processing semantics (meaning) in vision and speech. In layman’s terms, the results showed that stories created more brain connections to the events being studied, compared to straightforward facts, figures and other raw data. The conclusion that … [Read more...] about Why storytelling in eLearning works? Secrets to telling compelling stories
4 Ways To Apply Behaviorism Principles to Your ELearning Materials
As instructional designers apply behaviorism principles to create courses for virtual settings, it is important to keep in mind that the driving force behind progress is reinforcement. 1. Repetition Take audio visual presentations as instructional methods employed in virtual classrooms. People learn through observation, so audio or video presentations are an efficient way to enable learners to understand the subject, organize their own thoughts around that subject, and ultimately present their own analysis of the matter. In behaviorism, only the response to the information received can be measured, so it is a good idea to develop materials that promote drill tasks. This involves teaching concepts by presenting a series of steps that lead to expected outcomes. For example, in a database class, the lessons would entail presentation of various data types as well as the commands for specific functions. Step by step video tutorials would be provided, guiding the learner as to … [Read more...] about 4 Ways To Apply Behaviorism Principles to Your ELearning Materials
3 Cognitivism Principles for More Effective eLearning
The wise application of cognitivism principles in the design of training materials results in more effective learning for both children and adults. In any kind of learning environment, the needs of the learners need to be taken into consideration so that optimal absorption and understanding of new information can be ensured. In a nutshell, cognitivism principles have to do with optimizing the way adult learners are able to think about, understand, process, and integrate new information to put what they already know to good use. Cognitivism Principle #1: Learning Should Be More Focused and Purposeful Adults learn more effectively when they know why they are learning something in the first place. They need to understand how the concepts and ideas that they are going to learn can be applied to their own lives. At the onset, the why is often more important than the how. Therefore, clear and specific purpose of all training materials has to be stated at the beginning. … [Read more...] about 3 Cognitivism Principles for More Effective eLearning
How to Incorporate More Visual Content into ELearning
According to Psychology Today, our brains are wired to out-process visual data and video-based information, as opposed to text, by a factor of 60,000 to 1. The reason why visual content is so effectively processed has to do with the cognitive function of the brain.When we read something (text-based), the brain is also actively trying to create mental structures to help us understand what we read. Looking at graphical content however, is much more passive, thereby enabling the brain to focus more on grasping and understanding what we see. This fundamental architectural difference, on how the brain reacts to different types of content, is one of the main reasons why instructional designers should incorporate more visual content into eLearning. Here are 6 best practices on how you can enhance visual content in your courses: Shorten the use of text: Where possible, limit lengthy written narratives. Instead, substitute words for graphical … [Read more...] about How to Incorporate More Visual Content into ELearning