In the eLearning space, a phrase that I see used a lot by designers and developers is their ability to ‘create engaging eLearning experiences’. But what does that really mean? Well, according to dictionary.com the word “engage” is defined as:
“To occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons)”
Sounds reasonable and definitely something we should be doing but if engaging eLearning is being created by so many, why is there still so much poor eLearning around? (Sidenote: I realise that an eLearning module isn’t always the solution to a performance problem so I’m coming from the instance of when it is).
Authoring tools alone don’t create engaging eLearning, not without human intervention consisting of design and adding objects into them. So I suggest that perhaps there’s different ‘types’ of engagement in eLearning experiences used by designers and developers.
Visual
Visual engagement comes from the appearance or look-and-feel of the eLearning. It’s about the colours, fonts, images and layout used. It’s how these elements are connected and how well they support the message and content. But while a visually appealing module can draw you in (and occupy your attention), looks are superficial and will wear off on long, dry, content driven eLearning experiences because boring is still boring even if it looks pretty.
Physical
Physical engagement comes from having to actually do something during the module and in many cases this will probably involve a combination of clicking, dragging and hovering (requiring some attention and effort). Now I’m all for doing in eLearning but I do question whether clicking/dragging/hovering does anything for real engagement, I mean if there’s some information and instead of just displaying it, users need to click some buttons to reveal the same content but in small pieces, is that any better? I wrestle with this sometimes – is more clickable/dragable and hoverable more engaging?
Mental
This type of engagement is about using the mind. It’s about provoking thinking, providing a challenge or challenges. It’s about applying information to situations, making decisions and dealing with the consequences. It’s using stories. It’s making you feel something. It’s also about creating an experience that’s relevant and useful to people that will ultimately improve their performance. For me personally, these things are what really makes an eLearning experience engaging.
In creating an eLearning module, all these types of engagement are needed (maybe there’s more?) but often the mental engagement is left out and what’s left is just beautiful, interactive content that’s quickly forgotten.
So, what are your thoughts on engagement in eLearning? What about measuring engagement? Do you do it and if so how?
Image source: Shutterstock
Comments
6 responses to “Rules of Engagement”
All those three things combined – visual, physical and mental (perhaps also other possible sensory modes, like audial) are an object of study as well as practice usually called “UX”, but for eLearning designer what should be most important is LX – learner experience which should be placed at the center of course design as well as tool-making (like LMS).
Thanks for your comments Nikos, so how is LX different from UX?
Hey!
Thanks for a question! The difference is certainly not radical. LX would not be a category entirely different than UX, but rather a subcategory of it.
A learner is still a program user. But leaners’ aims are specific and so is their experience. For instance, questions like these should sound familiar to LX designers: does the learner feel that using the software means actual learning? Does he or she know instantly the value of what is taught? Does he or she stay motivated in the process?
So the whole endeavor to identify the qualities and aspects of any experience valuable in the context of learning and finding ways of designing the interfaces in such a way that the whole process of learning would be enhanced – this is how I would describe the essence of LX.
A bit ad hoc nature of the notion as well as cross-disciplinarity of it are obvious. But the term “LX” has already made quite a career
Regards!
Thanks for the reply Nikos, interesting stuff! I think LX is something that gets forgotten sometimes when designing online learning in that it goes beyond the material and focuses on the experience itself contributing to the learning process (if I’m understanding you correctly).
I really enjoyed your article and the tips – easy to read and helpful.
There are a lot of different ways to make eLearning interactive and a learner engaged, however, when only applied thoughtlessly, because otherwise they can also distract the learner, annoy by the movements, and even cause the “information overload”.
Courses can be highly engaging and still leave the learner wondering what they were supposed to learn.
Thanks for stopping by Ilona and yes if you go overboard it can take away from the goal of the module.