Are you an education provider that struggles to create powerful eLearning content? Teachers are often looking for new ways to make learning interesting for different kinds of learners. For example, Pauline Gibbons, an education researcher, tells us, “Rather than trying to simplify information, amplifying the curriculum means finding as many ways as possible to make key information comprehensible.” This article explores several techniques for creating eLearning content that will keep students engaged.
Everyone is familiar with how a conventional classroom looks, and even there, keeping students of any age engaged can be a challenge. eLearning is still a large part of student’s educational journeys. As a result over the years teachers have had to adapt their teaching styles and methods to adjust towards the transition and persistence of online learning.
As the International Center for Leadership in Education pointed out,
“We know for a fact that everyone learns differently. While a one-size-fits-all approach served its purpose for some of us, it doesn’t meet the diverse needs of kids today. It also doesn’t provide teachers and administrators with valuable insight on how to best support learners no matter where they are in relation to standards and critical competencies. Thus, educators need not only a vision for how to personalize learning effectively but also essential supports that will help to ensure success.”
At the end of the day, engagement boils down to the level of personalisation and allowing for different ways of learning within the instructional design. When creating powerful eLearning, several techniques can be used, let’s explore some of those methods.
Table of Contents
Software, Templates and Tools
Thankfully, eLearning systems, platforms and tools are more advanced than ever, meaning that the stress of keeping students engaged is a thing of the past.
Animation is a great way to create interactive lessons that interest and excite students. Animation software such as PowToon or Vyond offers highly engaging features with several benefits, assisting student progression.
Benefits of Animation Software:
- Ability to create animated videos within minutes
- Simple to use
- Library of templates
- Vast content library or videos, characters, soundtracks, characters
- Collaboration tools
Read more about the power of animation here.
Video
Video can not only be used by the teacher to deliver information and skills through an online class, but students can also be encouraged to create videos to share with their peers.
One benefit of video in eLearning is appealing to all learning styles, assisting with success rates amongst students. Video is most effective when used as a short, sharp burst of information. This receives the highest engagement rates and maximises information retention.
- Enriching text
- Introduction to a new topic
- Digital lectures
- Interview and documentary skills
- Instructional clips
Video comprehension can be applied as a tool to test student’s knowledge and understanding. Research shows that such repeated quizzing can improve student outcomes.
Examples of video-based learning are:
Linkedin Learning
LinkedIn Learning is an American online learning provider. It provides video courses taught by industry experts in software, creative, and business skills. It is a subsidiary of LinkedIn. All the courses on LinkedIn fall into four categories: Business, Creative, Technology and Certifications. (Wikipedia)
Skillshare
Skillshare is an online learning community for creators. We’re on a mission to unlock universal access to learning. You can choose from thousands of classes in design, photography, business and more — and take them anywhere, anytime. Learn, collaborate, and even teach a class of your own. (Youtube)
Cambly
Cambly gives you instant access to native English speakers over video chat, so you can learn and gain confidence! Practice English conversation, take an English course, or learn to ace the IELTS or TOEFL. Cambly tutors are dynamic native speakers from the United States, Canada, UK and Australia, etc. Connect with your perfect tutor in under 5 seconds by simply pressing a button. (Youtube)
Interactivity
A student becoming disengaged or uninterested after an hour of listening or reading isn’t just a ‘difficult’ or ‘únmotivated’ student. Scientists say that the average attention span of an older school student is 10 to 15 minutes, yet most classes last nearly five times longer.
Making classes interactive is essential for involving students and gaining their interest in the subject. There are several methods to make your eLearning course interactive:
- Quizzes
- Educational games
- Problem-solving
- Group work
- Forced debate
Examples of learning via interactivity are:
Amplify
Teaching is always challenging, often exhausting, and sometimes exhilarating. At Amplify, we want teachers to experience more exhilaration—more great classroom moments, more great days when you are reminded of why you became a teacher. We create high-quality programs that make it easier for you to teach inspiring, impactful lessons that celebrate and develop the brilliance of your students. A pioneer in K–12 education since 2000, Amplify is leading the way in next-generation curriculum and assessment. All of our programs provide teachers with powerful tools that help them understand and respond to the needs of every student. Today, Amplify serves 15,000,000 students in all 50 states and D.C. (Youtube)
Brilliant
Brilliant.org is the best place on Earth to learn math and science. We help you master concepts by solving fun, challenging problems on everything from logical reasoning to artificial neural networks. Join our community of 8+ million members to solve and discuss fascinating problems with math and science enthusiasts around the world. (Youtube)
Chegg
Chegg’s mission is to put students first and make higher education more affordable and attainable. We’re a leader in digital learning products aimed at improving student outcomes. These products include cheap textbook rentals, affordable on-demand online tutors, and personalized studying tools. Basically, we’re everything you wanted when you were in school — cheaper textbooks & 24/7 homework help. Since 2005, we’ve helped millions of students save money and save their GPAs. (Youtube)
PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS believes the world is full of possibilities, and so is every child. As the number one educational media brand for kids, PBS KIDS helps children ages 2-8 learn lessons that last a lifetime. Through television, digital media, and community-based programs, PBS KIDS wants children to see themselves uniquely reflected and celebrated in lovable, diverse characters who serve as positive role models, and to explore their feelings and discover new adventures along the way. (Youtube)
Lifeliqe
Lifeliqe is presenting the first K-12 science curriculum with thousands of interactive 3D models, hundreds of lessons and 6 year-long curricula. Available in augmented virtual and mixed reality, integrated with the productivity tools such G Suite and Office 365. (Youtube)
Collaborative projects
Collaboration projects are an excellent way for students with different strengths to work together to complete individually designated tasks. Without each student’s part, the project is incomplete. In-person collaboration projects may be challenging right now, but this doesn’t mean that they can’t be completed online.
Some digital tools that support collaborative projects:
- Google Hangouts – Webchat platform with screen sharing ability.
- Zoom Breakout Tooms – The meeting host can split the group into up to 50 separate sessions and switch between sessions as they please.
- GooseChase Edu – Digital scavenger hunts with different missions. Great for reviewing previous topics.
- Explain Everything – An interactive whiteboard and presentation app.
Some edtech providers built on collaboration are:
Learn at Noon
Noon is India’s first social learning platform making education a more joyful, collaborative, and innovative experience. We believe technology and great people make Noon Academy successful and a unique platform for social learning. We have 8 million students studying from 25k teachers globally for free. Join the app to experience holistic learning with the best educators in the country. (Youtube)
Code Mentor
We’re making videos to help your programming journey: from explaining basic programming concepts, answering frequently asked coding questions, to mock technical interviews and office hours with experienced developers. Codementor is a platform where users can connect with vetted mentors for 1:1 live mentorship, debugging, code review, or even for project-based work. With over 12,000 experienced developers, our mentors are fluent in just about every tech stack you can think of. (Youtube)
Brainly
Brainly is the online learning platform where 350 million students and parents go from questioning to understanding. Learn your way with assistance from experts in over 20 subjects on brainly.com or the Brainly app. Gain understanding through the help of thousands of experts and students eager to answer any question in our Community Q&A. Get instant, step-by-step solutions to math problems with hard-to-type symbols by using Math Solver. Get one-on-one attention from our live tutors when you need more personalized support on Brainly Tutor. And, uncover more from your textbook by browsing expert explanations for practice questions straight from the book on Textbook Solutions. (Youtube)
Sharing Academy
We have the tutor you need. Contact with more than 1,500 tutors who have studied the same as you and know how to help you.
There is no one-size-fits-all answer
Every student is different, and what works for one may not work for another. That’s why it’s important to find a learning method that fits your individual needs.
One way to find a learning method that works for your students is to experiment with different techniques and see what works best. Some students prefer hands-on learning, while others prefer more traditional methods such as lectures and books. There is no right or wrong way to learn, so try out different methods and see what works best for you.
If you’re a learner yourself, talk to other students and see what they recommend. Ask your friends or classmates what methods they use to learn, and see if any of them might work for you. Ask your teachers or professors for advice on finding a learning method that works for you.
There are no archetypes. Creating engaging eLearning experiences takes empathy, expertise and lots of testing. Make sure to work with people who can help you throughout the whole process.
We are Strawberry Solutions
We are Australia’s leading content creators for the education industry. We can help your business develop innovative new learning experiences to inspire minds like never before.
We’ll help bring your lessons to life. We work with a range of clients from K-12, RTOs, higher education, corporate learning and development to the government.
Our team consists of a talented crew of graphic designers, instructional designers, animators, video editors, voiceover artists and eLearning developers who create sophisticated, multimedia SCORM output.
Let’s talk.