A publication of
Time to get out there and make all your eLearning courses simply remarkable!
TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: If it’s not remarkable, why create it?
3
Is your content learner-centric?
5
Is your course inviting and visually interesting to start?
13
Is the way you present information easy to grasp?
18
Is your content meaningful and relevant?
23
Is your course exciting and enjoyable?
29
Is your content memorable?
33
Are you creating high-quality eLearning courses?
39
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IF IT’S NOT REMARKABLE, WHY CREATE IT?
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Is your course worth taking? It might seem like a basic step, but getting to know and understand your learners is the first thing you should do before doing anything else. If you don’t address the things that interest your audience, how are you going to engage them?
Before publishing the course, ask yourself if it's something you think your learners will want to read through. Is your course worth taking? Is it worth your student’s precious time? Does it captivate learners instantly? Or is the course easy to ignore?
Do learners feel that they’re achieving something while learning? Or are you providing a poor context that makes them feel they’re wasting time?
The idea of creating this checklist is for you to focus on creating eLearning courses that resonates with your audience. Creating content that's meaningful and that has a lasting impact is what every eLearning professionals wants. Because it’s the only kind of eLearning courses that keeps people there from start to finish. It’s the only kind that elevates your learning program from ordinary to extraordinary. www.shiftelearning.com
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IS YOUR CONTENT LERNERCENTRIC?
1
Are courses designed with the learner in mind? Are you considering how your learners are going to use the information at the end of the course? Are you giving learners a means to find information and pull only what they need?
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Remain learner-centered at all times!
Several studies revealed, time and again, that a student-centered approach to learning is far more superior than any other methods of instruction. This booklet published by the Cambridge University Press, for instance, found that such approach helps students cultivate a “can do” attitude. It allows for AUTONOMOUS, ACTIVE LEARNING. In fact, psychologists identify that autonomy is key to motivation. It’s what makes people wake up in the morning and do the work they love.
The learner, after all, has his/her own unique situation, personality, or set of experiences. These personal factors significantly influence how learners retain information, interact with fellow learners, solve problems and apply knowledge. Taking a content-centered approach while ignoring students is a surefire recipe for failure. Obviously, information is important and critical to learning. But information is only part of the formula. eLearning courses need to understand learners.
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Great content focuses on what will help your target audience specifically. By focusing on the needs of your learners and what they want, you are on your way to creating remarkable content.
Learners are more likely to feel motivated and engaged in a course when they consider the content is able to meet their
personal and professional needs. Therefore, eLearning course developers need to craft their courses based on this hierarchy of need to help learners achieve their maximum potential. Meet the basic needs of your learners first. Rest assured that good things will happen next.
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Physiological Needs: These are the very first and most basic needs required so that students can successfully complete the course. Appropriate job-aids, content and materials, compatible software, reliable and high-bandwidth Internet connection are just some examples.
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Safety Needs: In your digital classroom, preparing students is key to reducing
uncertainty
understand
what
is
and
anxiety.
expected
of
Make
them.
sure
they
Have
clear
requirements, or a pre-course preparation if necessary. Implement a consistent formatting and design for familiarity.
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Belonginess & Relatedness: Promote dialogue and collaborative or small group activities. Encourage student participation. Your presence as an instructor is also important. Inspire them to reach their full potentials through personalized, timely and constructive feedback.
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Self-esteem needs: As a course instructor or designer, you can help meet a student’s self-esteem needs by: giving students opportunity to constantly self-assess their progress and understanding of a subject, offering constructive and descriptive feedback to boost their efforts and encourage them in completing a task or simply providing a
concrete proof of appreciation such as a certificate. www.shiftelearning.com
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Self-actualization: When learning, humans aim for information that allows them to meet their individual goals and interests. This is why you should aim for relevant and meaningful content, and let students learn on their own pace using materials and tools they prefer.
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IS YOUR COURSE VISUALLY INTERESTING TO START?
2
You definitely don’t want learners starting the course thinking that it’s another boring and old eLearning course. Is your course visually interesting and attractive? Do you understand the role of visual design in enhancing eLearning? Are you giving deep thought to the visual layout of every screen of your course?
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Create more than just pretty courses! As the cliche goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. People decide what is beautiful in accordance with their own likes and dislikes. However, studies on what we find aesthetically pleasing find that in truth, there is a serious science to making things beautiful.
We make split second decisions about the aesthetic nature of images, products and websites, often within milliseconds. These judgments formed early and quickly, affect the way someone interacts with the product. In essence, we either trust something or not based on our first impressions.
In eLearning, the aesthetic quality of a course can improve the
learning outcomes. If courses are consistent and attractive they are more credible to the learner. Content matters, but the beauty of the course shouldn't be underestimated. eLearning professionals who understand that they need to present content in aesthetically pleasing way, will be able to better share that content. So, increase the effectiveness of your eLearning courses by applying the three basic principles of aesthetic design.
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Principle #1: Go Simple
Achieve maximum effect for minimum means applying the principle
of
simplicity
in
eLearning
means
relaying
information through the simplest means possible.
To achieve simplicity in eLearning course design, first identify the key concept a course screen needs to convey. Then, strip away extraneous elements that distract rather than enhance the concept, just like the Zen garden.
Looks matter but, more importantly, simple ideas matter!
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Principle #2: Variety Without Unity is Confusion
Within chaos, humans look for order. If they can't find it, they move on. In design, this means having unity within variety so that learners can quickly and easily find patterns, make sense of information, and find connections between concepts.
This concept is easily achieved in eLearning design by creating a style guide.
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Principle #3: Find a balance between novelty and typicality
People want diversity and novelty, but they also want familiarity. We look for the familiar because it's easier to process. We look for the unique as part of natural curiosity. Designers have boiled this conflict down to the principle called MAYA or most advanced yet acceptable.
Basically, what is the furthest you can stretch a familiar concept so that it becomes new, different and exciting while still retaining enough of the familiar so a learner doesn't get turned off?
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IS THE WAY YOU PRESENT CONTENT EASY TO GRASP?
3
If you are just dumping information and presenting it in the same boring way, do you actually think learners will engage and learn? Are you letting the screen look full of cluttered text? Are you present information keeping in mind the how people read on screen?
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Make it easy on the eyes to begin with! When building an eLearning course, the first thing you need to be sure of is that it can be easily read and understood. A cluttered screen would obviously make it harder for the eyes to read. But a simple, usable design—one that guides the eyes smoothly along the screen—would definitely make learning much more effective. In 2007, the Poynter Institute released the “Eyetracking the News” study. Its findings still apply today. It revealed, among others, that you can grab attention through navigational or directional tools, graphics or photos and headlines.
But you can only do so in a fraction of a second to a few seconds.
Why? Because people scan first before they decide to read. They look at the most important parts, check which is worth reading and then make a decision. Will they stay or switch off? Make it easier for learners to stay and focus.
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Some great examples of ways you can present information in an easy to grasp way:
Start with the most important things first. Assume that your readers have less than five minutes. Place important information at the top (What's in for them?), then supporting it with the sentences that follow.
Break your content into small chunks. Don’t break content just for the sake of “breaking.” Break for the sake of helping learners better understand your content.
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Avoiding long and complex sentences Use short, active sentences. Substitute a word for a phrase, as long as it doesn’t alter the meaning.
Make your text easier for the learner to take in Highlight keywords, use appropriate headings, write concise sentences and paragraphs, get to the point quickly, and utilize lists and bullet points.
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Direct the learner’s eyes Through a sequence of steps in a way that facilitates information processing and reading. People use to scan the screen top-down and left right – so order your screen content that way too.
Use White Space To allow the eyes to rest, that is, to let learners breathe or pause and think of the new material they’re learning.
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IS YOUR CONTENT MEANINGFUL AND RELEVANT?
4
Everyone can create content, but not everyone can create content that resonates with your learners. Is your course content-rich and relevancy poor? Are you making the content relevant to the learner's daily tasks? If it’s not, it will always be boring unless you find a way to entertain the learner. Are you telling the learner why does he/she needs to know the information?
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Creating relevant content may be one of the biggest challenges for eLearning professionals!
Meaningful eLearning modules do much more than present information to learners to consume. Instead, they actively engage the learner in meaning making.
As Michael W.Allen says: "Good learning experiences aren't just about facts, they are about becoming a more proficient, capable, and
valuable person.“
Only meaningful context has the power to connect your course material with learners: their expectations, values, goals and interests. It's the only kind that motivates.
On the next pages, you’ll find some great tips for creating more relevant and meaningful eLearning content.
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Tip #1: Focus On Meaning, Not Facts
An
eLearning
course
that’s
heavy
on
memorization is not only boring; it also blocks students from seeing the real-world application of skill or workplace relevance of a topic. Aim for meaning instead. Help students understand how important their lessons are to improving or refining their work. Help them make sense of their situation and see the bigger picture. Having a deeper understanding of a topic helps students transfer their knowledge back to the job.
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Focus On Meaning, Not Facts
Subjects that are heavy on facts, for instance, can be presented in meaningful context by adding elements of novelty, humor and suspense. Note, however, that the best
contexts are realistic ones. They easily reach to learners and relate to their inner drives. All learners want to feel that they’re achieving something while learning. They want to get things done. Use meaningful contexts that project how efficient learning is; not a poor context that makes them feel they’re wasting time.
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Tip #2: Tell a Good Story
Facts alone won’t significantly change the way people think. Stories do, and good stories are very effective tools in the art of persuasion. They keep people engaged and interested. They evoke strong emotions and they’re easier to remember than facts. They tap into the heart of your learners, allowing them to reflect on their experiences and pay attention. It’s why presidents are always advised to tell stories to win votes and influence people.
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Tip #3: Avoid “Busy Work� Interactivity
Clicking interactive.
Watching
multiple-choice colorful
videos
bubbles isn't
isn't
engaging.
Interaction and engagement come from being asked to think and respond intelligently, rather than simply reacting to stimuli on blind reflex. Build worthwhile courses that pull out learner's personality and actually make them apply their knowledge to daily tasks. Use interactions to reinforce the accomplishment of mastering a new topic - not as filler to make your course seem more valuable.
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IS YOUR COURSE EXCITING AND ENJOYABLE?
5
Are you doing everything possible to make sure your learners have a positive experience online?
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Creating relevant content may be one Effective eLearning design should evoke positive emotions. If learners feel safe, happy, and fullfilled, they will actually enjoy learning. Don Norman, founder of Nielsen Norman Group, said it more eloquently” “The problem is not the technology, the problem is that
nearly
all
of
the
(eLearning)
environments
I
know
metacommunicate dreariness and boredom, and they only address the cognitive part of learning.”
Keep in mind that when learners do tasks because they're enjoyable or in a state of flow, they will continue doing it even if they don't get rewarded. This is called intrinsic motivation, which is the only kind of motivation that consistently works. But here's the thing. You can't force intrinsic motivation but you can, however, design an eLearning course for motivation. The keyword here is learner engagement, where you're giving learners just the right amount of challenge to match his or her level of skills and pace of learning.
Lack of challenge usually bore students and turn them into passive observers. Without any meaningful challenge or goal, learners won’t see any reason to get involved with the course. They may be able to complete assignment imposed on them, but they won’t likely be stimulated by the course.
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Humor, challenges and games bring joy and fun to eLearning for adults who usually have very little free time among their many obligations for professional development or personal learning. These three factors make people produce dopamine, a brain chemical that increases learning and stimulates attention.
Humor doesn't mean silly, though. It does mean offering a satisfying and pleasant learning experience. Inserting the “fun” element in your content can help reducing stress and anxiety, especially when it comes to learning. And a more relaxed environment means more openness to learning
Building fun into your eLearning courses is just a matter of learning a few techniques… .
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1. Tailor the content to meet individual learner's needs. Yes,
it has to resonate with learners on a personal level.
2. Aim for purposeful fun. Think of it as a game that one can thoroughly enjoy without losing sight of the real goal.
4. Use an interesting story that has some fun element or a twist of humor in it . You don't have to get learners to laugh, 3. Use humor only in the
it's enough that they get
context of the learning. In
more open and receptive to
other words, the humor must
new learning material.
relate to your content.
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IS YOUR CONTENT MEMORABLE?
6
Are you helping people recall what they have learnt? What are you doing to help students remember? Are you taking the time to show why your content is worth remembering?
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eLearning that no one remembers is just wasted time and effort. Most of them time, students are willing to apply a new set of skills or use a new approach on the job. The problem is, they just can’t. They can no longer recall what they’ve just learned.
If you want people to actually learn and apply their knowledge in the real world, you have to create a lasting impression with your delivery of content. Consider how much information is given away and how you present it to the learner. After all, not only do you want learners to receive your message, you want them to understand it deeply and thoroughly.
For this to happen, you have to engage emotions and make learning experiences compelling and remarkable.
There are some things you can do that help your learners remember the information and use it in back at their job. In this chapter, you’ll be learning about them.
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Tip #1: Make DOING part of the learning experience Learning is an active process. People learn more effectively if they are active rather than passive during the learning process. Truth is students don't absorb knowledge like a sponge absorbs water. You can't assume that people remember content just because they took a course once.
Keeping learners in an active mode is crucial. It's much easier to remember actions than simple observations. This kind of learning brings the student into the process and helps the learner internalize and retain the new information more effectively. By actively participating, students able to use relevant information and theories to solve a problem—or learn by doing. They are able to react and respond appropriately to information and thus process it actively.
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Tip #2: Combine see, hear and do for unique striking impressions. If you want to create a vivid and lasting memory, then make sure that memory is created in a multi-faceted way. Students learn best when all their senses are engaged, when their imagination is most active. The more impactful and impressive your course is, the chance of learners remembering your content increases.
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Tip #3: Address emotion Emotions play an important role in making your eLearning content more memorable. Learners are not merely rational animals. They’re emotional beings too. Start by provoking their interest in the introduction.
Or engage their emotions by sharing a story. Facts alone cannot help students learn. Stories do. They keep people engaged and interested. They evoke strong emotions and they’re easier to remember than facts. They tap into the heart of your learners, allowing them to reflect on their experiences and pay attention.
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Tip #4: Make important content noticeable Humans, pay more attention to things that are noticeable unfamiliar, different or unusual. In your eLearning courses, use images that stand apart from chunks of paragraphs or lines of texts. Stylize texts for emphasis. Use a different color or bold and italicize them. Make headlines or sections bigger than paragraph texts. These simple changes will help make your content memorable.
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Wrapping it up
ARE YOU CREATING HIGH-QUALITY COURSES?
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Ensuring high-quality courseware
begins with including relevant content that's easy to understand but also including high standards in instructional design, media, usability, appearance and editorial. Low quality courses are characterized for looking unprofessional or being full of shaky videos and 1990's images.
Just avoid that.
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Quality Trumps Quantity Less is more applies to eLearning too. More content, more flashy technology, and more ideas stuffed into a single presentation is a sure recipe for disaster.
What learners need most today is quality eLearning material that uses simple yet powerful mechanisms. Engaging and truly effective content does not need special effects. Instead of drowning students in a sea of content, why not keep stick to one idea and help them understand it deeply? Let learners focus on a simple “must-learn” content per screen and cut out the non-essentials. Be ruthless in weeding out content that doesn’t help meet their goals. This is what quality over quantity means. It may sound easy in theory, but not in practice.
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