eLearning has been around us for a while, growing with us, changing with our daily needs and becoming more sophisticated as time passes. Both young and old can benefit from good eLearning in their daily lives and it is important to target the approach in the best ways possible while maintaining good methodologies such as:
- ADDIE Model
- Bloom’s Taxonomy
- Gagne’s 9 Events of Instruction
- Merrill’s First Principles
When these methodologies are done well in conjunction with good retention and user engagement techniques such as Animation, User Interface Design and Gamification we can be used to meet the expected objectives.
Accessibility
When we think of eLearning, a lot of us immediately envision industry professionals taking on internal training and Formal education. The truth is, a lot of younger individuals are now making use of eLearning through mobile applications and gameswith software that is surprisingly refined – they sport intuitive analytics which can be sent on to educators in real time, with their own simplified versions of an LMS (Learning Management Systems).
eLearning has become more accessible than ever before – which aligns with a dire need for the vast majority of the country joining the job market. South Africans need this accessibility to ensure upskilling is taking place to close the skills gap and the ever looming unemployment rate.
A great way to go about these very real issues is through memorable learning journeys that provide a strong knowledge retention. When considering a memorable learning journey we need to consider the collaborative effort that must take place – not just from a teamwork perspective, but from a skills perspective in terms of mixed authoring tools and processes.
Never Stop Learning
It is essential that eLearning professionals keep learning themselves, this can be done in various ways:
- User Analytics – what works and what doesn’t and being open to constructive criticism
- Research – keeping up to date with industry thought leaders and methods
- Creating – ensuring their work is meaningful and memorable
- Upskilling – Maintaining a hunger for more knowledge
- Communicating – keeping up with messaging boards and forums
- Participating – taking part in events and upskill themselves in the field
eLearning’s tendency to be ever evolving and shifting it is best to be approached by finding better ways to facilitate learning and learners through research and developing the necessary skills to drive efficiency and successful processes of working.
