Achieving impact through Online Learning in 2020
One of the many bi-products of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a more rapid movement to the avenue of online learning. A memorable e-learning course or experience is not as simple as taking a PowerPoint deck of slides and uploading it to a learning management system. Here are a few lessons which we at RCA have learnt over the 7 years of digital content creation and online experience management.
1. Start with the Purpose
There is no simpler way to build online content than to know WHY it is being built in the first place. In other words, what purpose is this module or course serving? The mistake that many make when deciding on the objectives or outcomes of the course is that they are trying to achieve too much. By having too many objectives or outcomes, one essentially just dilutes the focus of the content. Go narrow and deep rather than wide.
2. Less is More
It is no secret that people's inclination today to sit for hours trying to digest subject matter is not what it used to be. There are distractions everywhere and focus has never been a more scarce commodity. Building online content is about getting your message across in the most succinct manner possible with the opportunity for the learner to link to additional readings or videos if the inclination exists.
3. Variety is the spice of life
Tony Robbins, amongst others, has taught us that a degree of variety in everything we do keeps us fresh and eliminates monotony. There is nothing worse than paragraphs and paragraphs of text without any variation in sight. The same can be said for 40 page PDF's which are uploaded with the expectation that the learner must digest every element of the content without any audio or video to improve the learner experience. The best rule of thumb is to view the content as if you were the learner having to endure the module. Is there a sufficient amount of