Designing Digitally
10/23/2018
The idea of having a dedicated classroom for learning or knowledge sharing is fast becoming obsolete. Learning is now more focused on digital devices like mobile, tablets, and laptops. Due to an increasing familiarity with such devices, organizations are readily turning towards elearning and ensuring that they have the best people to take care of elearning design requirements. Though it may seem easy, elearning design is an expert’s job and requires a thorough knowledge of the various nuances involved.
If you are wondering how to go about designing a course that is engaging and relevant, the following tips for effective designing will assist you.
Even before you begin your elearning designing activity, you need to ask yourself one simple question, “What is the learning objective of this course and how would this course ensure that the learners meet the goals?” Answering this question will help design a learner-centric course. A realistic learning design makes it easier for the learners to recall the concepts they learned in the course. The more learner related questions that come to your mind, the better you will be able to design the course. Don’t focus on whether the content is enough or the graphics and color palette is fine. Instead, focus on whether the learners are enjoying taking the course. Are they motivated enough to reach the end? Have they really learned skills they can apply at work?
Chances are that your learners won’t go through the entire content in detail. Even if they do, their concentration levels will vary for different parts of the content. Therefore, it is imperative that in the elearning design, the most important information is highlighted. You can use bold text, pointers, alternate colors, and so on to highlight information. You can also use slightly exaggerated effects to highlight important sections, separately within the content. These techniques help in improving knowledge retention in the learner’s minds of the important concepts.
The alignment of texts and graphics is an important component of elearning design. The more the proximity between these two, the lesser burden it would put on the learner’s mind to form a connection between them. Putting text right under or right next to the concerned image usually works best in the elearning design.
You may want to provide extensive information in your elearning design, but it usually has a negative impact on the learner. The ideal way to go about disseminating large amounts of information is to break it down into smaller chunks. Small bytes of information can be digested better by the learners. It also prevents cognitive overload. Think about different ways of providing information through audio, video, podcasts, and storytelling.
At Designing Digitally, Inc., we understand that each organization has its own requirements. We delve into individual learning needs and design customized eLearning for you.
Get in touch with our experts who can create solutions specific to your requirements.
We bring a personal and effective approach to every project we work on.
