When creating an eLearning course, an important factor that you need to work on is how you can keep your learners riveted on your custom content. Capturing their attention in the beginning is great because you want to make sure that they sign up for the course. However, how can you keep up that interest so retention is guaranteed?
There are many reasons why learners lose interest in the midst of a lesson. It can be because of an overload of information. While you want them to learn as much as they can, it is important that you know the limit when it comes to serving them information. That way, they get the complete message without being overwhelmed by the information they are receiving. Another reason why learners can lose interest is when your course is too monotonous and boring. That can also divert their attention to seek more interesting content out there.
Fortunately for you, there are ways for eLearning courses to keep their students focused on the lesson. Here are 5 tips that you can consider while developing your custom content.
- Give them an overview of the lesson. Not only will this tell your potential students what they can expect from the course, it will also give them something to look forward to. Think of it this way. When you go to a new place, the road seems long isn’t it? But when you are making your way back, the trip seems to just fly by. That is because when you know the roads you are to take, you anticipate the journey time more accurately. You will not feel like it is taking too long. The same is true with your course. If the students know what to expect from the custom content, they will not feel like the lessons are too dragging.
- Do not overload them with information. Another tip is to give them the information gradually. A common mistake of eLearning courses is that they try to squeeze in everything in a short course so busy learners can get what they need in a short amount of time. While that is logical, it is usually not effective. Being overwhelmed with information could affect the retention of the data itself. That could tire the brain too much that learners will stop paying attention to the custom content of the course.
- Use multimedia tools. Insert a video here or use audio there. These will help break the monotonous tone of a pure lecture in your eLearning course. Using animations will help make the course fun and exciting – thus keeping your learners focused on what is happening in your course. There are a variety of tools that you can utilize. Make sure you select something that is relevant to your content.
- Make your course visually appealing. Utilize graphic designs, bold fonts and colorful texts to emphasize points in your course. Not only will this help with retention, it will also keep your learner’s attention focused on the content. Putting important tidbits of information in a box or highlighting them will automatically catch the attention of your students. Use this wisely throughout the course.
- Minimize the clutter. Of all the animations, graphic designs and images that you will use for your custom content, make sure to use them sparingly. Do not overload the content because they could end up as clutter and turn into an eyesore. Stick to what is relevant and make sure it will not overpower the content of your course. Instead of merely highlighting what is important, your animations can distract your learners from the content. Be creative but avoid the clutter in your eLearning course.
Follow all of these steps and you should be able to create a powerful and effective custom content for your eLearning course.
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