6 Tips To Create The Perfect Pervasive eLearning Experience

6 Tips To Create The Perfect Pervasive eLearning Experience
Summary: Pervasive eLearning experiences offer learners the chance to learn whenever, wherever, making it one of the most effective social learning approaches in use today. In this article, I'll share some tips that can help you integrate pervasive eLearning experiences into your eLearning course design.

Tips To Bring You Closer To The Perfect Pervasive eLearning Experience

Pervasive learning gives learners the opportunity to turn every moment of every day into an eLearning experience. Whether they are walking down the street or sitting in an office, they are able to expand their knowledge and build upon their skills without having to spend a minute in the traditional classroom. But how can you offer your learners the benefits associated with pervasive learning in a structured eLearning environment? This article will show you how!

  1. Create eLearning activities that encourage self study and online exploration.
    Pervasive learning is all about creating a complete and whole eLearning experience for your audience. This also involves a fair share of self study, requiring the learners to venture into unknown educational territory on their own in order to expand their comprehension. One of the best ways to achieve this is by designing eLearning activities centered around online exploration. Have them conduct research on Wikis and blogs to learn more about the subject matter, or watch online videos to master a particular task. You can even encourage them to go on social media sites, like LinkedIn, and reach out to experts in the field who are part of niche groups. Give them the opportunity to determine which Learning Management System will be most useful for them, and take full advantage of the resources that are available.
  2. Develop group collaboration exercises that are centered around online discussion.
    It has been proven that learners can learn a great deal from their peers. When they are encouraged to work together to achieve a common goal, they freely exchange information and insights that might not have been shared otherwise. Even if they don't realize they are benefiting from one another's experience and skills, they are, and this offers an amazing support system for all parties involved. Integrate group collaboration exercises into your eLearning course that involve online discussion and teamwork, such as designing a site centered around a lesson or creating a tutorial that walks through a process. This will help your learners to not only build their collaboration, teamwork, and communication skills, but also to get a healthy dose of all-important social learning.
  3. Integrate games and simulations that offer real world experience.
    The information and skill sets your learners acquire during their pervasive eLearning experience will not be of any real value unless they can put it to good use in the world outside the virtual classroom. Your learners must know the real world applications and benefits of what they are learning, or else they won't be engaged. They won't have the motivation to actually absorb the information since knowledge provided cannot be translated to real world situations or challenges. This is why it's essential to incorporate activities that stress mimic of the real world experience. Create eLearning scenarios and games that show them the importance of the subject matter in real world environments, without boring them with text-heavy real world examples or walkthroughs.
  4. Interact with learners on social media platforms.
    Social media sites, like Facebook  and Twitter, make it easy to create a rich and powerful pervasive eLearning experience for your audience. Post links to informative articles and videos on your page, or encourage your learners to instant message you when they have a question or concern that needs to be addressed. Share resources, such as news articles, that show how the information they are learning ties into the real world. Social media platforms offer you the opportunity to make eLearning interactive, collaborative, and convenient for your learners. You can also create a social media group and invite your learners, so that they can feel free to discuss topics and share their ideas in a safe and supportive online environment.
  5. Ask them to create blogs or websites that generate peer feedback.
    Creating blogs and websites is effective for a variety of different reasons. It gives learners the chance to boost their knowledge retention and comprehension of the subject matter, thanks to the fact that they must have a clear understanding of the ideas and concepts involved in order to develop the eLearning content. It also offers the chance to get feedback and support from their peers, who will be visiting the site and offering constructive criticism and praise. Last, but not least, learners can expand their tech knowledge, which is a necessity in today's tech-centric world. By completing the site or blog, they learn more about graphic design, eLearning content creation, and, most importantly, about the subject matter that they have had to put into their own words.
  6. Develop webinars or podcasts that can be accessed on-the-go.
    Learners need access to  information anytime, anywhere, and offering them podcasts and webinars that they can listen to when it's most convenient for them can enhance their pervasive eLearning experience. These are effective eLearning tools because they take the learning out of the classroom and make it available on-the-go. When learners need to know more about a specific topic, they can simply listen to the podcast and expand their comprehension, without having to make room in their schedule or put their life on hold. For more visual processes, you can also create videos that can be accessed via their mobile devices.

Use these pervasive eLearning Tips to bring informal and social learning into your virtual classroom. No matter the age, background, or learning needs of your learners, you can help them to get a more effective and enlightening eLearning experience by incorporating pervasive learning principles into your eLearning strategy.

Want to know more about the basics and benefits of pervasive eLearning experiences? The article Pervasive Learning in eLearning  explores the principles and ideas behind pervasive learning, and discusses the many benefits associated with using a pervasive eLearning design approach in eLearning.