Some elearning courses, although full of great content and possibilities, fail because they seem boring to learners. This is one of the things that can bring your course down. To avoid that, you need to make sure that your course will be successful in leaving its mark. You want the learners to end the course feeling inspired. You cannot do this if you fail to make the learning experience memorable for them. This is what will make retention high in your course. We want the retention to be high because that is what will enable learners to implement what they have learned.
But how can you create an elearning program that will be memorable enough to make it effective? Here are some tips that you can follow.
- Create a personality for your course. This might seem hard to accomplish but with the right visuals and content, you can actually elicit an emotional response from your learners. Instead of using just about any graphic, choose the gripping ones that learners can identify with. Select stories and real life anecdotes that will make your course realistic. Choose the right audio that will stimulate interest in your learners. Make the course dynamic and that should be a great way to give your course some personality.
- Know the motivation that will lead learners to your course. A motivation is different from a goal. They are connected but they are not entirely the same. That is because motivation combines values, beliefs and desire. When your goal seems unreasonable, it is your motivation that will help you surpass the difficulties keeping you from the goal. This is the very reason why your learners are participating in your course. They need to learn something because they are motivated to achieve a goal. You need to identify what drives your learners to go through your course. That is what you need to satisfy. Once you satisfy what motivates them, you can be assured that they will finish your course feeling inspired.
- Challenge their intelligence. While learners avail of your elearning course to add to their knowledge, you need to respect the level of intelligence that they already have. Never assume that they know nothing although they are obviously seeking out your course to learn. Given that, you need to challenge them while going through the learning process. Do not spoon feed the information to them. Stimulate their minds so they do the thinking and exploring themselves. You need to let them feel that they have control over what they are learning. This level of participation that they will be forced to put in your elearning course will help make the experience more memorable.
- Make the course slightly unpredictable. You want the learners to know what they will learn from the course but you do not want them to know how it will happen. Give them a few surprises here and there because that will stimulate their interest in the course. Impress them with the tool that you will use or the activities that you have prepared. Entertain them with videos and images that will not only encourage them to think, but also to feel.
The bottom line is, if you want your elearning course to be memorable and effective, you need to make sure that you can connect to your learners. Follow these steps and you should be able to inspire them into action. That should give your course a whole new level of success.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles for FreeDigitalPhotos.net