eLearning online courses are perhaps the most productive method in staff and employee training and onboarding and can save any company hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in what would have been spent in traditional training practices. But reaping the benefits of efficient eLearning online courses requires designing a module that truly works, and missing certain eLearning elements can definitely dampen the strength of your online program.
With each of these five eLearning elements come certain benefits that enrich your program. Without these, your eLearning course won’t nearly be as effective and enjoyable as it could be. These elements are:
1) Gamification
Successful learning consists of three elements: 70% as a result of real tasks, problems, and experiences; 20% from professional feedback and observation, and 10% from formal training. What does this mean? That the most effective learning occurs when a learner is actively engaged in the activity they are supposed to pick up.
There’s only so much that can be taught and understood in a classroom setting; if you want someone to learn how to do something, you have to make them do it.
Gamification is one of the ideal eLearning elements for this. With various gamification tools such as eLearning badges, the learner is thrust into a learning environment that doesn’t feel like a traditional learning environment. Instead, they are taught to enjoy the task that they are doing, through points, levels, and fun interfaces.
Gamification rewraps valuable information and presents it in an enjoyable and addictive package, turning the learning process into a game that the learners will want to play – who can resist earning eLearning badges? – rather than feel forced to study.
By increasing the engagement factor, gamification tools hit two birds with one stone: they give the learner an entertaining experience while imbuing them with the skills and knowledge they need for their job, whether they recognize it or not.
2) Surveys
The value of surveys in eLearning is an ongoing debate, with some arguing for it and others arguing against it. The fact of the matter is, the survey is only as effective as the way it is designed; if you ask the right questions, the feedback from a learner satisfaction survey can give huge value to the right analyst.
There are several reasons why a learner satisfaction survey is invaluable to an online course. Firstly, evaluation matters—it’s important to keep an open mind about your training processes, including your online course.
It can be easy to fall into a pattern that feels like it’s the best it can be. It is instances such as these where the feedback of someone with a fresh set of eyes can help knock you out of an inefficient training course and help it improve.
Secondly, it’s essential that you establish a culture of communication between you and your learners. Despite the lack of quantitative answers that learners can give in the basic learner satisfaction survey, the simple presence of a survey opens them to the idea that feedback is not only accepted but encouraged.
And with something as simple and easy to set up, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t make use of it. There’s nothing to lose, and potentially much to gain.
3) Certifications
An eLearning certification is essential towards adding a sense of accomplishment and award to your online course. Despite not having any greater meaning, it’s the little touches like a certificate that can make any online course shine.
Through making use of one of the most effective eLearning elements, the learner is taught that yours is a company or industry where they will be rewarded for their accomplishments.
But there is also a second psychological benefit from rewarding learners with an eLearning certification. The learner is also taught that the skills and knowledge they acquired through the online course are more valuable than they might have assumed, thus automatically raising the importance of these skills in their mind.
Going the extra mile by integrating certifications to the course, makes the experience more gratifying, and adds a professional and personalized touch to the program.
4) Conferences
An online learning conference or virtual instructor-led training (VILT) is essential if you wish to keep the traditional training vibe through an online or remote platform. As great as certain online course elements can be, conferences are at times the best solution towards getting certain points across, such as skills and knowledge that can’t be picked up through self-learning.
By using these two eLearning elements, learners have the opportunity to learn the traditional way which they may be accustomed to while the company still reaps the benefits of the eLearning platform.
Not only is it more cost-effective to conduct training and conferences online (if the learner and instructor are not nearby), but it also allows you to replicate the conference environment without the cost of printing dozens if not hundreds of training materials like workbooks, handouts, and visuals.
An online learning conference or a virtual instructor led-training session is simply the best of both worlds: the learning remains centered on traditional and direct instructor-led methodology while enjoying the saved time and money of an online course.
5) Analytics
Data is the name of the game in the modern world, and not making use of your data is putting your company at a disadvantage. If you are looking to improve your course, learner performance, and cost efficiency, eLearning analytics is the ideal solution from all the eLearning elements available.
Through the use of eLearning analytics, there are certain aspects of the online course that can be studied and compiled in digestible visuals like eLearning infographics: statistics on your portal usage, the most active courses measured in training time spent in them, course completion and test pass rates, as well as a breakdown of gamification achievements, can make a huge difference to your training strategy.
By understanding and analyzing these numbers in graphics in the form of, say, an eLearning infographic, you will be able to improve your course by predicting future performance, increasing retention rates, and understanding which learning methods work and increase engagement while abandoning those that decrease engagement.
Make the most of what eLearning analytics give you and your team; the potential to create the best online course possible, by cutting out that which doesn’t work and boosting that which does.
With an advanced study of your data, you may even possibly create custom exams towards certain learners, getting the most thorough response out of certain personalities with the tests that have been proven to work best for them.
No matter how well designed you think your online course is, including eLearning analytics as an integral part of your building process allows you to see the blind spots in your own program. This quick process will save you time and effort and will lead you into building the optimal eLearning online course for your employees.
Identifying the Best eLearning Elements for Your Online Course
Including all five elements in your online course will result in a training program that is well-rounded and actively engaged with the learner’s learning process.
However, we understand that all online courses are unique, and you may not feel that yours requires certain elements. Recognizing the value of each of these five elements and understanding what they can bring to the table is essential towards augmenting your online course with exactly what it needs.
Ultimately, the goal is to establish the smoothest link between the instructor and the learner, keeping both communication and learning at their maximum. Only you know what will work best for your online course.
| Tags: eLearning Courses
