Design Strategies In Create An Engaging eLearning Course

Published on October 4th, 2022

eLearning courses are becoming an increasingly popular choice in almost all fields. Organizations are picking the best software and tools for training their employees online.

It is proving to be effective and convenient for both the learners and the instructors. Every course is created keeping in mind the learning objectives that are to be achieved.

That helps finalize the material that will be used and the content that will be shared with the learners. However, what is also important is the way this content will be delivered.

Instructional design strategies are detailed plans of how the course design will look, and everything related to the format of the course.

This includes identifying the methods and techniques that will be used to teach, considering the devices that the learners might use, media elements and resources, and the overall layout of content and assessments.

You will also have to think of how you are planning to deploy your course, whether it is meeting the standard compliances and what development tools can be used to create the course.

Here are some strategies that you can use to create your eLearning course:

Microlearning

Microlearning consists of short and focused learning units that are individually created to achieve a particular learning goal. To put it another way, learning is “chunked” to reduce the cognitive burden on the learner and increase their capacity for comprehension, recall, and retention.

The bite-sized modules allow a lot of flexibility to the learners and keep them from distractions, while also ensuring that all relevant and correct information is covered.

Each 5-10 minutes module is able to bring their attention to what is important and gives them one key takeaway.

It can be used to reinforce what has been learned, suppose, at the end of a conference or a workshop, in the form of interactive videos, infographics, checklists, etc.

Personalization

The courses you create are for your learners and each learner will have different concerns and needs. To make sure they all benefit from the course, you need to personalize the content for every trainee.

Make sure to run a quick evaluation, before starting your course design, of who will be using your course and for what roles, so that you can tailor-make it for each learner’s experience.

It can allow customization with basic things like creating an avatar, choosing a custom theme, font, background, or a preferred format of content delivery.

Your course must be able to respond to the questions that every employee has about how this new training will affect them and their jobs, so they will also have a goal in mind.

Each employee will be able to comprehend their function, the advantages they may anticipate, how their tasks and responsibilities may evolve, and the supports that are accessible to them with the help of customized training.

Gamification

Many learning tools offer features like gamification which changes non-game contexts into game designs.

This strategy works in motivating learners to achieve new skills and knowledge which will unlock more levels of learning for them.

It is a creative element that can excite individuals to take up challenges and move further ahead in the ‘game’. It makes use of elements like leaderboards, points, badges, levels, etc.

The idea is to use the intrinsic motivation of employees and push them through these elements. Make sure to use only relevant and simple elements that align with the learning objectives. Adding rewards and recognition can also motivate employees to do better and give their best at the training.

Learning management systems can help make gamification easy. LMS such as Adobe Captivate Prime offers features that can help you design an engaging eLearning course, like badges, points, leaderboards, and customized gamification mechanics.

You can go through Adobe Captivate reviews to get a detailed insight into what else there is to receive and if it will be a good fit for you.

Story-Based Learning

eLearning courses should be packaged as engaging narrative stories to keep learners interested. A tale establishes a personal connection and produces an educational experience that is both emotional and perceptual.

It is a good tool to help you keep your audience interested and intrigued by elements like a compelling plot, powerful narrative, sympathetic and relatable characters, suspense, and excitement.

Thinking of learners as the main character of the storyline and providing them authority to advance the narrative in order to achieve the learning objectives is an intriguing story-based instructional design method for eLearning.

Another strategy is to set up a conflict that includes tension and anticipation so that the learners will focus on the story’s logical progression.

You have quite a few strategies to explore and experiment with but choose your instructional design strategy only after you have considered the parameters of time, cost, learning environment, objectives, and audience roles.

Once you have these figured out, you are set to prepare an eLearning course with an instructional designer on your team.

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