A recent submission to my elearning course.
Adding variety to your course will create a huge impact on your learners allowing them to be more engaged in the material being presented and having a greater vested interesting in the quality and quantity of education that they are receiving.
Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 has a wonderful slide presentation[i] that is simple, to the point and interactive (albeit limited). Some of the key points that they describe within their slides are:
- Animation and narration more clearly explains concepts, principles, facts and procedures.
- Demonstrations guide learners and simulations provide immediate practice of material.
- Interactive practice activities and labs are engaging, provide hands-on practice and help instil knowledge and discovery into the learner
- Allow for imitation so that the learners may then innovate, direct the learners to create their own goals.
- Assessments can be more fun (such as games) creating experiences for the learners to draw back upon when recalling material outside of the classroom
- Help learners identify, evaluate, and use external sources of knowledge.
- Team activities promote interaction amongst learners, fosters trust and strengthens your online eLearning community
- Make it easy for learners to get answers to their questions by using email, instant messaging, telephone and face-to-face tools if available.
- Send students on virtual tours to museums, art galleries, etc.
- Create a bank of job aids that assist and encourage further learning.
Mixing many of these applications together will create enormously exciting, engaging and interactive learning environments for your participants.
[i] Making eLearning Meaningful. Retrieved June 18, 2007 from Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 website: http://www.slideshare.net/sspengler/making-elearning-fun. (November, 2006.)