Three Reasons Why Interactive E-Learning Works

Three Reasons Why Interactive E-Learning Works

By: Bill Harwood, Partner, New Level Partners

E-Learning has multiple formats. The design of an online course is most effective when driven by the content, the learning objectives and the type of learner experience intended. For example, ‘information delivery’ can be achieved by converting a presentation into an e-book, however, e-book formats can be dull for the learner and difficult to validate how much knowledge was transferred or absorbed by the learner.

By contrast, your team will prefer interactive E-Learning which meets their on-the-job needs and enhances – not impairs – their productivity. Three best practices of E-Learning effectiveness are:

•  High Interactivity. We are all media-savvy and are quickly turned-off by one-dimensional content. An online course needs appealing graphics, integrated narration, frequent user activity and course-end assessments – people like to prove they’ve absorbed and/or applied a concept. Video can be appropriate – but a course of 100% video is just a lecture and not an interactive exchange.
• Self-paced and time-flexible. Workdays are full of interruptions – a 30-40 minute online course is viewed positively by a user, especially if the course navigation enables stopping/re-starting at a saved point in the course – for example, launching a course in the office then re-opening the course on a tablet while commuting on the train.
• Repeatable and Reviewable. Learning – knowledge transfer that can be actualized – rarely happens all at once. We need to absorb concepts – or see concepts applied – multiple times for change to occur. Consider all the times you’ve listened to a lecture presentation and taken notes – only to never review those notes again. We remember the sound bites, the key high-level concepts but rarely the detail to translate concepts to action. Well-designed E-Learning enables easy repetition and review of concepts and lessons – on the individual’s own schedule – leading, especially when assessed, to real learning.