Tip for Creating eLearning Content

In a previous article I wrote about the different options for getting eLearning content. In this article I am going to write more specifically about the content itself. Content development is extremely important, being able to reach the learner in a manner that they retain the information you are presenting is key. One of the key benefits of eLearning is being able to reach your learners in a more modern fashion, but unless the content itself is good and relevant, it will not translate into the results you might want as a company.

Know you audience:

It should go without saying that knowing the audience you are training is paramount in delivering relevant content that is lasting. It is incredibly important that you use content that the learner can relate to; they will be more likely to stay focused on what they are learning and as a result they will retain more of the information. Include examples and case studies that the learners can relate to and include a way for your audience to apply the information they absorbing through exercises.

In order to create relevant content you are going to need to know specifics about your audience. You will want to know specifically what information your audience needs to acquire, what the audiences background is and what their learning preference are. Perhaps the audience learns best through case studies, example based/scenario based learning or maybe they learn best via a lecture or video based approach. You might also want to issue a (short) pre-course assessment in order to determine what areas need to be focused on.  

Minimize Cognitive Overload:

The human brain can only process so much information at a time. They are a little bit like a computers or some other hardware that processes too many tasks or programs at once and seizes up. Ultimately you have to restart the computer and start from scratch. Cognitive overload works in the same way, in that when you brain processes too much information, there comes a point when our ability to absorb that information exceeds our capacity to do so. There are a number of things you can do to reduce cognitive load on a user:

• Remove non-essential content and reduce redundancy.
• Break down information into smaller modules, makes the task at hand less daunting and the learner can take in the information at their own pace.
• Limit the amount of text you use throughout your course. Use a combination of pictures/infographics and text and other animations you deem appropriate.
• However, do not use just visual based information, use verbal delivery methods as well.
• When delivering information through a verbal delivery method it is best to summarize the information in front of the learner as oppose to a word for word narration.
• Limit difficult problem solving exercises… keep it relevant but simple.

Assessments:

It is necessary to include assessments and quizzes in your courses to gauge how much your learner is absorbing. However, consider breaking the assessments up into smaller groups of questions and placing them in their relevant spots throughout the course as oppose to one large assessment at the end of the course.

Looks matter:

No matter how good the content itself is, if it does not look pretty your learner is going get bored and they will not absorb as much of the information. The learners are scrolling through pages of information, it is about keeping them engaged, therefore, you have to keep the information relevant and aesthetically pleasing. Further to this point, keep your course consistent throughout, in terms of text, color and images.

Note:  Through my research I have found that there is the suggestion from some that eLearning slides or pages should have a time limit so to ‘keep the learners’ on track. However, it is important that you evaluate the needs of the learners and recognize that not every individual learns the same way. One of the great things about eLearning is the ability to reach your audience in a different way and allow it to be more self-paced. As someone who always had difficulty learning, when I had the opportunity to utilize an LMS, there was a certain level of relief knowing that I could pace myself (within reason) and in doing so I was greater enabled to absorb the content. Therefore, limiting the amount of time an individual learner has to absorb the information on each slide is not something I would suggest. What I might do instead is set requirements (you would need to find and LMS to do this) so that the learner has to achieve a specific grade before being able to proceed onto the next section of the course.