How can I make engaging eLearning courses?
When designing and developing eLearning how you separate content is one of the most important things to ensuring you develop a course that is engaging and interesting for the learner. To create an eLearning course that flows well and does not overwhelm the learner requires a combination of good design and well though out content.
Below are some things to consider to help you make content that is engaging for learners.
1. Information overload
Information overload is something to avoid when designing and developing your eLearning courses. When deciding on the content for your eLearning modules try not to overload the learner with too much learning content. This may sound simple but can be very difficult, for example you need to think how much you want to go into a subject, is it a beginners courses or is it more advanced? How much time is the learner spending on this course? And do they have any prior knowledge of the subject? When deciding on how much detail to go in to carefully think about these questions, you need to ensure that the course covers enough that the learner is learning something new but doesn’t overload the learner with too much information that they loose concentration or find the content isn’t relevant.
2. Screen Design
Something you can do during the design phase is carefully designing your screens so that it is easy for learners to use. When displaying content on screen it is important to lay it out in a way that is clear and intuitive for the learner. If you have a screen that is overloaded with content or functionality it will be difficult for the learner to digest what they are trying to learn. One way you can do this is by splitting up content, by splitting content up into individual screens means that learners are better able to learn about one subject at a time, concepts can be displayed on screen and the learner can progress when they are ready.
3. Going too broad
Another thing to avoid when designing and developing eLearning is going too broad on the subject. It can be tempting to try and give the learners as much information as possible about a subject however this can have a negative impact. If your course covers too many subjects it can run the risk of either covering too much so that the topic does not resonate with the learner or it can provide the learners with too much information so that they become overwhelmed. If possible try to keep the subject of the eLearning as specific as possible, if you feel you need to go into another subject consider breaking the course out into several smaller courses or separate the content by chapters.
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