interactivity checklist 2.0 - elearning

I n t r o

Truly interactive eLearning courses have the power to transform

learning and content into meaningful experiences for learners.

Interactive courses help learners retain content longer, allowing

them to actively process and apply content, and take their learning

back to their daily lives.

Don't let "interactive" become a word you add just to create buzz.

Create true interactive eLearning courses for learners instead.

About us: www.shiftelearning.com

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B e n e f i t s o f I n t e r a c t i v i t y

When interactive eLearning courses get it right, learners experience

several positive outcomes.

First, they retain the knowledge from the course at a significantly

higher rate, anywhere from 50 to 90 percent, than passive courses,

which only result in a 5 to 30 percent retention rate.

Secondly, learners have the opportunity to process content and

apply concepts in interactive environments. They're putting their

learning to use in realistic scenarios requiring them to think, interact

with peers or an expert, and evaluate the outcomes based on

decisions they make in the moment.

Learning often occurs faster with interactive courses as well

because learners work on higher order thinking skills like

appraising, interpreting and summarizing information rather than

merely labeling, memorizing or describing information.


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Good interactivity must have a purpose. The key lies in learning

how to achieve the right balance in your eLearning courses so that

they are truly interactive and engaging without irritating or annoying

your audience.

Making our eLearning course interactive and having students

participate actively doesnt necessarily mean you have to invest

large amounts of resources.

There are several ways to design interactive eLearning courses that

increase comprehension and retention, boost learning and hold a

learner's interest. If you're looking for an efficient way to add

interactivity to the learning experience, invest your time in creating

content that follows these best practices.


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C r e a t e S c e n a r i o s a n d S i m u l a t i o n s :

Learners need to be situated in real-life scenarios where they can

try on their skills, solve problems and practice what they know.

Simulations of actual circumstances allow learners to play and

explore with variables to change outcomes or study consequences

of specific actions.


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P u t t h e l e a r n e r i n c o n t r o l :

Put the learner in control by offering choices and letting students

have some say in what directions the course can take. Give them

options on how they want to consume content. If learners can

control aspects as the pace and sequence, motivation and learning

increases.


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Is the content tailored to fit learners' real-life situations? Are you

using examples to clarify concepts or theories, and those examples

are relatable?

Students should be able to relate to problems and tasks they can

handle. Many course developers are guilty of introducing learners to

problems that are either irrelevant or too complex. Avoid this by

starting with a simple problem and moving towards complex yet

manageable task.

U s e p r o b l e m - c e n t r i c a p p r o a c h :


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Challenges stimulate the brain. They force the learner to think

about their previous knowledge, process the new information,

reflect, and then make a decision. Learners who face appropriately

challenging decisions require them to apply knowledge, not just

recall it.

Some strategies you can use:

Add knowledge checks or surprising statements.

Give learners a problem to solve.

Introduce thought-provoking questions.

P r o v i d e c h a l l e n g e s :


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Incorporate games to evaluate students knowledge. Games are a

great resource for experimenting with ideas and knowledge. They

enable students to see the results of their decisions in real time.

Besides, everything the learner does has a consequence, and

therefore they become a very experiential resource to use.

There are several different types of games that offer interactivity.

Some that we can mention: Adventure games, Building games,

Reality Testing games, Role-play games, Puzzles, Competitions,

Sport Games. Always keep in mind that youre making it easy for

learners to play the game!

A d d g a m e s :


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There is no interactivity without feedback. The user needs to know

how to improve and what his progress along the course is.

When giving feedback, it works best when you actually show what

happens when you make a mistake, for example by presenting an

image, video or audio from a frustrated customer. However, if you

cant show it, be sure to explain these consequences clearly.

P r o v i d e F e e d b a c k :


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Useful material respects the users intention. It encourages user to

engage, discover, find, read or do whatever relevant action is

necessary to accomplish learning goals.

Look for ways to let the learner find information in different ways

by clicking around on the screen and finding the information they

want. This can be done by including buttons, tabs, among other

resources.

E x p l o r a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s :


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Learning isnt a solitary activity. Learning is a symbiotic

relationship. Let students collaborate with each other by giving

them opportunities to actively seek and share information, construct

meaningful insights, produce a diverse set of ideas and appreciate

multiple perspectives.

Encourage dialogue and social interaction so that they can take

ownership in the learning process. Create a learning atmosphere

where they can participate, offer response, draw affective feedback

and communicate in short, focused messages.

I n t r o d u c e e l e m e n t s o f c o l l a b o r a t i o n :


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Unfortunately, many eLearning courses only attach the label

"interactive" to a course, falsely assuming that simply being online

makes a course interactive. Learners may navigate through a site,

click the buttons and flip through content but these courses equate

to lecture-style courses or what we often call "info-dumps." Moving

a mouse is not interactive.


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Several features of eLearning appear interactive, but actually do

more harm than good, including:

Overusing unnecessary animation or sound: Bells and

whistles only distract the learner and divert attention away from

important content. And if the content is boring, no amount of bells

or whistles will make it any better.

The "Next" button: Yes, the learner is technically interacting

with the mouse and the screen, but the learner isn't interacting with

the content and likely will develop clicking fatigue, waiting and

searching for the next "next" button rather than paying attention to

content.

Activity overload: You can't make up for a lack of interactivity

through sheer volume. Too many activities on page videos,

graphs, animation, quizzes will overload learners and could

cause them to miss important content hidden amid the activities.

These attempts to design interactive eLearning courses may

actually do more harm than good to learners since they distract

from the content rather than enhance it.


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As you can see, interactivity, when done right, can add to the

experience. But when done wrong, it distracts or otherwise adds no

value to the learning experience.

Now is your turn to check the elements we just review to make sure

your course is going in the righ direction!

T h e c o u r s e h a s S c e n a r i o s a n d S i m u l a t i o n s

T h e l e a r n e r i s i n c o n t r o l

T h e c o u r s e u s e s a p r o b l e m - c e n t r i c a p p r o a c h

T h e c o u r s e p r o v i d e s c h a l l e n g e s

T h e c o u r s e n e e d s a n d i n c l u d e s g a m e s

T h e c o u r s e p r o v i d e s f e e d b a c k

T h e c o u r s e p r o v i d e e x p l o r a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s


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interactivity checklist 2.0 - elearning

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