The level of learner engagement indicates whether someone has received enough motivation to completely commit to learning. True engagement is reflected in a learner’s participation and interaction with other learners and educators. There is more to learner engagement than the flashy bells and whistles you see on your LinkedIn feed. It involves utilizing human emotion. Maintaining learners’ motivation is important. It aims to support learning throughout the entire process, from beginning to end.

According to 45% of participants in an Aptara poll, establishing focus and intentionality is the area that is most frequently neglected when trying to engage learners.

For an engaging learning experience, the content must cater to the needs and tastes of your learners. Your learning program should be created, communicated, organized, and delivered in a way that appeals to learners in a range of positions and generations. Understanding your learners is the first step towards doing that.

Online learning programs frequently lack a natural social element of the human learning process without the in-person interactions between instructors and learners. This isolation frequently lowers learner engagement, which can result in a decrease in completion rates, a decline in effective learning, and an overall decline in content comprehension.

To increase online learner engagement, you can always explore a variety of strategies that are available in the market. Here are some strategies to start with:

1. Create high-quality videos:

Using video in your eLearning program is essential in today’s digital age.

Videos give an interesting learning experience that few other eLearning modalities provide, appealing to both the visual and audio senses. If you are producing videos, be sure that the target audience will find them to be well-written, exquisitely designed, and enjoyable. Instead of just passively watching a video, learners can engage with it by answering quiz questions, commenting, and providing feedback. This kind of interaction increases participation and promotes deeper learning.

2. Design compelling visuals:

Even though the content is usually the most important aspect of any learning program, the design is still quite important. Your audience will quickly lose interest if your eLearning program seems obsolete and stale. Try to provide visually appealing, up-to-date content in the form of films, pictures, clear charts, and graphics. Aim to use images/audio between 60% and 80% of the time, depending on your learning objectives and the size of the project. Use text merely as an additional tool to support the course material.

3. Record a crisp voice-over:

A strong voice-over recording is essential for boosting participation in your eLearning course. Podcasts and audiobooks are becoming increasingly popular. This is an important realization that learners value high-quality audio content.

4. Keep everything on brand:

It is crucial to check in with your customer so you may apply their brand guidelines, logos, and color schemes in your work. Consider your color selections carefully when creating any content, including photos, infographics, films, logos, headers, and more. Next, think about your font selections. These must also originate from your client directly. Use just a few straightforward, clear fonts if the client has no preferences.

5. Add meaningful interactions:

The best technique to ensure long-term comprehension is to evaluate learners using recalls. Additionally, it makes your online course much more enjoyable! Engaging activities like flip charts, quizzes, video embeds, and discussion questions are all quick and effortless ways to boost student engagement. Making game-based eLearning, also known as gamification, is an additional and effective choice.

6. Keep your lessons short:

In business contexts, taking an eLearning course is frequently not a personal decision made by the learner. Most frequently, a manager or member of the HR staff will assign it. This implies that many employees will be time- and interest-constrained. Make sure your lessons are brief to overcome these obstacles. Self-paced online learning courses should not last longer than 45 minutes. You achieve this, make sure to constantly edit your voiceover and text scripts. Modules should be divided into manageable, bite-sized pieces for learners. Aim to keep each film under five minutes, especially for videos.

7. Use relevant analogies and examples:

One of the most effective learning strategies is the use of analogies.

Learners are compelled to examine one item and apply that analysis to the other item by using a pertinent comparison of two objects.

8. Simplify your eLearning program:

Before going live, ask a friend or co-worker to user-test your eLearning course. To improve learner engagement, their comments will help make improvements and enhance clarity with simplicity.

All eLearning content managers face the challenge of making their learning programs engaging. While there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to this, there are many ways to boost learner engagement. What tips or tricks do you use to engage learners in an online setting?

The post How to Boost Learner Engagement in eLearning first appeared on Aptara Corp.

The post How to Boost Learner Engagement in eLearning appeared first on Aptara Corp.

Scenario-based Learning (SBL) is an immersive training environment in which learners face actual job obstacles and receive realistic feedback as they progress. These processes make it possible for the learner to make real-life decisions in formal and informal settings with ease. Scenario-based learning, in essence, uses real-life events to encourage active learning, understanding, and application of the lessons learned.

Unlike many e-courses, where learners are expected to learn by simply learning the knowledge by reading a text and then taking a test, learners in scenario-based training are expected to actively participate in the process from the initiation to the finish of the process.

These processes can also be implemented with the help of apps and scenario-based learning software. The varied types of scenario-based learning are a great example of how a singular aspect such as dialogue can produce an immersive experience that may be used to learn.

Here are some examples of Scenario-based Learning

Real-World Safety Scenarios

Scenario-based learning is a good technique to teach staff about basic safety measures and hence scenario-based safety training helps them relate to the situation and learn safety measures easily with practical situations.

Such comprehensive courses discuss the significance of workplace safety, as well as how to assure safety by utilizing the proper equipment, according to safety laws, and having a proper strategy to perform a task, among other topics.

Real-life situations are used to demonstrate many elements of safety, such as the proper use of safety equipment, the need of having all of the necessary systems and tools in place, and other relevant topics. All areas of safety are discussed in detail using unique and entertaining scenarios based on real-world conditions and their past experiences.

Skill Training

The scenarios for skill training may be used effectively to deliver customized skill training to the professionals. Learners will have more fun and engaging experiences as a result of the interesting scenarios, making the training content more engaging, memorable, immersive, and applicable.

The course structure for skill training usually comprises a variety of exercises and gamification aspects in addition to situations. Certain courses have scenarios that are created by using actual people, animated people, graphics, and photographs to simulate real-life business settings and allow the learners’ to make the right decision.

Audio-driven Scenarios with Gaming Elements

Scenario-based learning is more impactful when mixed with gamification components, which is especially useful when firms want to improve their sales team’s performance and productivity. Adding gaming features to sales simulation scenarios allows salespeople to practice and enhance their abilities in a safe and supportive setting. These benefits can also be extended to other walks of life.

This is how the technique works –

• A scenario that is audio-driven may imitate the surroundings in which the learners participate and make decisions. This further comes in with benefits such as being low-cost and high-engagement.
• Because the scenario necessitates a first-person perspective, the student is fully engaged in the content of the course, resulting in a more holistic learning experience.
• Gaming aspects also give a sense of urgency and competition, simulating fast-paced, goal-oriented business situations.

Benefits of Scenario-based Learning

Better Engagement

Scenario-based training is more engaging because it immerses learners in real-world scenarios with the learning approach. At the same time, it creates a safe environment in which mistakes are accepted as part of the learning process and do not discourage students.

This creates a safe environment for them and allows them to be fluid in their approach.

Better Retention

Learners in scenario-based training are encouraged to utilize and engage all of their senses, analyze, and make decisions rather than merely passively receiving knowledge and reproducing it.

All of these factors boost participation, which is crucial during sessions such as compliance training.

Safe Learning Environment

Learners may apply what they’ve learned in a simulated, yet safe training environment via scenario-based learning. If you’re like the majority of students, you learn by doing and by immersing yourself in real-life situations.

It can be used to assess a learner’s fundamental understanding of the training material or to confirm their decision-making process in a real-world situation.

Key Takeaways

Scenario-based learning aids in the acquisition of skills and the better management of comparable circumstances. It aids in the reinforcement of information and the improvement of retention thereby improving the overall performance of the learner. The above-mentioned scenario-based learning templates help in the development of abilities such as critical thinking and decision-making.

The post What is Scenario-based Learning and how does it help? first appeared on Aptara Corp.

The post What is Scenario-based Learning and how does it help? appeared first on Aptara Corp.