Creating custom content is crucial if you want to have an edge in the elearning industry. Sometimes, elearning courses have the same content but some are preferred over others because of the way it was delivered. Having great content is one thing. Knowing how you should transfer the knowledge to the learners is another.
Fortunately, there are various ways to make knowledge transfer effective. You just have to make sure that your choice will make the online learners receptive to the content that you will give them.
Here are 5 strategies that will help make online learners receptive to the custom content in your elearning course.
- Bite-sized learning. The first option is to give the data to the target audience in manageable portions. If it is a big content, you cannot give it to the learners all at once. That would overwhelm them. Most likely, they will only remember the latter parts of the lesson and forget the rest. You want to give their cognitive abilities enough time to reflect on the content that was just presented. Give them time to absorb it before giving them something new to learn.
- Real life connection. Another way to make them more receptive to the content is by connecting it to real life. Instead of teaching the theory and then forcing them to see the value in it, why not cite a real-life situation where a certain theory will be relevant and beneficial? For instance, you can ask a question that will highlight a common problem. Once everyone acknowledges that it is something that they can relate to, that is the time when you can mention the custom content that will be taught in the elearning course. If they know how it will be valuable in real life, they will pay more attention to the lesson at hand.
- Social learning. There is something about learning from your peers or colleagues that makes the experience more relatable. When it is relatable, it is easier to understand. It is like teaching them in the same level as their understanding. It is using terms that they will understand. That is the benefit of using social learning to get your audience to understand your custom content.
- Practice and simulations. There are times when practice is the best way to teach learners. Theories can be boring and hard to remember. But if they are allowed to practice what they learned, the retention becomes more pronounced. Instead of just remembering words, images, and texts, they get to be reminded of what they felt while going through all the activities. Since this is an online course, simulations is one of the ways that you can help them practice the content.
- Assessments and evaluation. Finally, using assessments and evaluation is the best way to reaffirm what was learned. It is not just for the instructor to know if the course was effective. If the evaluation comes with a great feedback, the learners will realize their strengths and weaknesses. This is a great way to help them assess their own performance so they will know how to proceed in their pursuit of learning.
Think about these 5 strategies when you are developing the custom content for the elearning course. Take note that you can use more than one strategy. For instance, you can use simulations with social learning. It all depends on your learning goals.
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