The proliferation of learning technologies has given rise to a number of approaches that instructional designers can use to deliver eLearning content. Based on extensive research, the National Training Laboratories (NTL) developed an effective Learning Pyramid that demonstrates a clear relationship between the teaching method of choice, and content retention rates. Your choice of how (the most effective approach) you wish to deliver learning, should be based on what (the content) you want to deliver (not the other way around!). Content Domain Analysis and Content Level Analysis should be conducted prior to selecting the instructional approach. Content Domain Analysis must be carried out in order to determine the fundamental objectives of the content. For instance, does the content address cognitive, emotional or physical characteristics of a … [Read more...] about Content Analysis: How to determine the best learning approaches
instructional design for eLearning
3 Easy Ways to Create Effective ELearning Graphics
We all know that graphics can make our eLearning courses fun and engaging, but we also know that our graphics should be relevant to the content, and that we should avoid decorative graphics as much as possible. Designing effective graphic that really works is time and resource consuming, so in this post, I will cover 3 easy ways to create effective eLearning graphics. Crop existing stock photos – Using existing stock images can be a real time saver, but most of the stock images are simply boring. Furthermore, a lot of these images have been used and reused so many times that most of us are so tired of looking at them that we often ignore them to the point where these images become meaningless in the course. Luckily, there is an easy and quick fix for that. Consider cropping photos, so that you only leave the details that are truly pertinent to your message. You can easily crop stock photos using Photoshop, but if you don’t have that tool available to you, you can consider other … [Read more...] about 3 Easy Ways to Create Effective ELearning Graphics
3 Ways To Make Your Multiple-Choice Questions More Effective
In the last post, we looked at some ways to make your multiple-choice questions effective. In this post, I will suggest some other ways to make your multiple-choice items more reliable. Avoid negatives. Oftentimes, learners overlook the word not and, as a result, choose an incorrect response. It is a good practice to record your stems whenever possible. If the stem cannot be reworded, bolding, underlining, or capitalizing the negatives will draw the learners’ attention to these negatives and help them concentrate on the actual question. Also, if instructional designers absolutely have or want to include negatives in their questions, it is suggested to add them at the end of the question stem and use capital letters to bring attention to them. For example: All of the following are ways to make your assessment items reliable EXCEPT: Avoid revelation of correct response. The stems should be written in a way that does not automatically reveal the correct response to any of the … [Read more...] about 3 Ways To Make Your Multiple-Choice Questions More Effective
Why Instructional Designers Should Add Games To ELearning Courses
ELearning gamification is the use of various game mechanics and gaming elements in a non-game context. When used in the workforce, gamification provides a quicker success rate than traditional training methods. Its elements include simple but effective specs like earning points, badges and a leaderboard as achievements (think Foursquare or Duolingo). Forbes’ recently interviewed Adam Penenberg, the author of Play at Work: How Games Inspire Breakthrough Thinking. Penenberg provided insight on how effective eLearning gamification has become in the corporate logistics. In addition, according to the Entertainment Software Association, it is estimated that for 70% of major employers games are quickly becoming the standard way companies enhance the training process for employees. Luxury hotel chain, Marriott, which launched their own eLearning game back in 2011 is using Facebook to offer their gaming application called “My Marriot Hotel” to recruit employees as that game allows … [Read more...] about Why Instructional Designers Should Add Games To ELearning Courses