The e-learning industry is projected to be worth around $325 billion within the next half decade—and for very good reason. E-learning initiatives lead to increased employee retention rates, increased revenues, and more, and nearly all (98%) companies will invest in e-learning by next year, especially digital and video content, according to one company’s research.
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But if you want your e-learning initiatives to be effective, you must incorporate effective and engaging design elements and strategies into the courses and materials. Otherwise, learners may end up becoming more distracted or simply ignore your e-learning implementations altogether.
Below is a list of eight instructional design tips to keep in mind when implementing your e-learning initiatives.
1. Use Colors and Images Strategically
There is a design science behind using the right colors in the right way, especially if you don’t want to put your users off or under- or over-stimulate them, so make sure to use the right colors in your e-learning courses and materials to invoke the right levels of engagement. In addition, images incite more user engagement than walls of text, so use images throughout your e-learning courses.
2. Include Intuitive Navigation
Be sure to include back buttons, menus, and icons that are self-explanatory in your e-learning courses so your learners can easily navigate them, understand how to navigate them, and engage with your courses.
3. Break Content Up into Bite-Size Pieces
When designing e-learning courses, ensure each module, activity, or interaction isn’t longer than around 5 minutes, and break up learning content into bite-size pieces via microlearning tactics and techniques, as most learners will access their content on mobile devices.
4. Always Offer Supplemental Resources and Support
To significantly increase the effectiveness and value of your e-learning courses, provide FAQ sheets that are just one click away or accessible chatbots that let learners ask questions and receive answers in real time. Also, always offer supplemental training videos and documents for additional study materials at the end of each course or learning module so learners can continue their own learning.
5. Rely on Real-Life Scenarios
To increase your learners’ engagement, include real-life scenarios in their e-learning materials, such as videos or audio clips of real-life customer interactions for your sales or customer service e-learning courses. These elements can demonstrate to learners how their e-learning content applies to them in real life and their everyday work tasks and environments.
6. Add Quizzes and Assessments
Include interactive elements that require learners to test their knowledge, such as short quizzes, assessments, or polls. These will help keep engagement with these e-learning courses high.
7. Provide Recaps, Feedback, and Explanations
At the end of each assessment, quiz, e-learning module, or e-learning course, offer learners a recap of how they did, along with explanations.
For example, if a learner got a series of questions on a quiz wrong, explain where he or she was incorrect; discuss the right answers; and offer links to supplemental resources, materials, and support for further learning.
8. Personalize E-Learning Experiences
Whenever possible, include learners’ names and learning statistics (i.e., quiz scores, overall learning progress for a course, etc.) in their e-learning experiences, and allow them to access their individual learning profiles so they can look back at their own progress at any time.
Overall, as you implement your e-learning initiatives, work to incorporate the instructional design elements and strategies highlighted above to ensure that they’re effective and user-friendly for your learners.