Within businesses, there are lots of opportunities, and necessary occasions, for training. Learning is part of progress, and in the modern human resources landscape, it is essential to help team members stay united, working together towards common goals, to maximize productivity.
With the new normal of remote and hybrid working models, e-learning is the solution for many businesses, but that also brings its own set of unique challenges. How can you make e-learning a success?
We will discuss some e-learning best practices that are helping companies of all sizes and specialties to train their staff in the best ways to get the best results.
What is E-learning?
E-learning has definitely been on the up since new opportunities of technology made it possible and the restrictions of the pandemic made it essential. E-learning utilizes educational technology to teach audiences the skills they need in an easy-to-use way, through software, over the internet, and on their chosen technological device.
It is easily accessible, meaning that e-learning opens up the potential to train employees regardless of where they live, work, or are based. It also creates a whole new platform for educational content, as teachers can incorporate many more technologies and applications to enhance the learning experience and improve the effectiveness of what they teach.
For some, online distractions, the lack of interaction, or poor digital literacy makes e-learning a challenge. For others, it makes learning easier, quicker, and a lot more fun.
It all depends on the writing of the content beforehand, which is why it is so important to think carefully about course creation when it comes to e-learning.
The content can make or break the whole course and have a direct impact on the abilities of those who learn through it. Evidently, it is important to put some time, energy, and effort into curating the best experience possible for all involved.
Have learning objectives in mind
A clear learning directive gives purpose and impetus to education and makes sure that the course is set for success from the start.
All of the individuals involved in the course, from educators to learners, are aware of what their learning goals are so they have someone to focus on and understand the importance of what they are learning.
By implementing SMART goals, learners have a measurable way of tracking their progress and staying motivated. When they fully understand what they are going to learn and what they will be able to accomplish after the course is completed, they will have more reason to stick to it.
Create the course logically
The mistake that some people make when writing e-learning course content is writing out all the information and then tagging a few questions at the end. This is not an engaging or effective approach to take.
Firstly, with your goals and objectives in mind, determine how their achievement of them will be assessed, perhaps through questions or activities. Then create content that is relevant to your questions. This helps you to keep courses more succinct and engaging, and it stops you from including content that is irrelevant.
Use differing course templates
Hermann Ebbinghaus was a psychologist and memory researcher in the 1800s and he discovered that humans forget 90 percent of what they take in only a few hours after they learn it due to the basic way that their brains are wired.
The key to beating this is through repetition, therefore it’s important to create courses that are, rather than single, information-packed sessions, but small series of repetitive lessons presented over time.
By changing the different course templates that you follow, you will find that you can develop the most effective structure of education. Additionally, vary the questions you ask and the types of questions you use to help students learn and repeat what they take in.
The added challenge of e-learning is the device and platform, so remember that learners may want to access the material in various formats. Therefore, it’s important to create content that will be compatible with different devices in various different formats.
Keep it short and sweet
E-learning has the added challenge of keeping learners’ attention so it’s best to keep lessons brief, preferably even within 5 to 15 minutes. Even within these small lessons, keep the content succinct by writing short paragraphs and simple sentences to get to the point quickly. Learners will be less likely to lose interest, get distracted, or forget about what they take in.
Ask for and learn from feedback
It’s no good to plow ahead with your e-learning program if it’s not working. Taking time to get feedback from your learners so that you can pinpoint areas that aren’t working and that need improving or changing completely.
This will greatly improve your skills as an e-learning course writer and have a direct impact on the effectiveness of what is taught. Additionally, it’s important to give the same feedback to your learners.
If a student of the course makes a mistake, they need to know where they went wrong and understand how to improve. Furthermore, if you can give constructive feedback in response to their work and progress, they will understand what they can do to improve and value what they are learning.
Don’t be afraid to share your knowledge
Be a knowledge sharer, not a knowledge hoarder. Through e-learning, you can share your experience and understanding with others, and you will find that you learn a lot as you go too.
By training others as a team, you will save time as it is far less time-consuming that training people on an individual basis. You will also be able to share some of the burdens you carry with other, now fully trained, individuals in your team and create an environment that is supportive and progressive for all involved.
Clearly, e-learning can be an extremely valuable platform for education when it is done correctly.
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