Action Mapping In eLearning: 7 Benefits For eLearning Professionals

Action Mapping In eLearning: 7 Benefits For eLearning Professionals
Summary: Action mapping in eLearning offers a wide range of benefits, very few eLearning professionals take advantage of, no matter how experienced they are. This is because it offers a different perspective to instructional design for eLearning; rather than just offering general knowledge employees should have in order to do their jobs properly, it is focused on meeting specific business goals. In this article, I'll highlight 7 benefits that an instructional design based on the action mapping approach can bring to your organization.

The Action Mapping Benefits In eLearning

As eLearning professionals, no matter how hard we try, there are just some eLearning projects that aren't as productive or streamlined as we may have hoped they would be. For one reason or another they become disorganized and chaotic, which leads to missed deadlines, miscommunications, and unmet client expectations. However, there is a technique that can help you to turn even the most challenging eLearning projects into efficient and effective professional experiences. In this article, I'll share the 7 top benefits of using action mapping in eLearning.

  1. It sets measurable goals.
    First and foremost, emplying action mapping in eLearning gives eLearning professionals the opportunity to create goals and objectives that can easily be tracked and measured. If a behavior needs to be changed, there is a measurement method in place that can track it and see if the online training is actually effective, or whether the current eLearning strategy employed needs to be modified in some way. Best of all, the goals created through action mapping in eLearning are very specific, which makes it easier to measure progress and determine whether the eLearning course is hitting its mark. For example, rather than monitoring if an online training course is helping employees to carry out better customer service, thanks to action mapping, an organization is able to see if a specific goal has been achieved, such as a 15% increase in the customer satisfaction rating of the company in the first quarter.
  2. It provides learners with a personalized and effective eLearning experience.
    Action mapping in eLearning is a thorough process that involves a great deal of communication and feedback. eLearning professionals are given the rare opportunity to find out exactly what a client wants or a learner needs before they even begin developing the eLearning course. Rather than trying to guess what goals or objectives need to be met, they have a clear idea of what learners need to achieve, instead of merely what information needs to be acquired. As a result, the eLearning courses that are developed using action mapping in eLearning are more enlightening, engaging, and effective, because eLearning professionals already have a firm grasp of what their audience needs to take away from the eLearning experience. Instead of including an abundance of information that is unnecessary, you can create an eLearning course that is custom tailored to achieve a specific goal.
  3. It stresses real world benefits.
    The learning materials and activities you develop by employing action mapping in eLearning are all about real world benefits and applications. They immerse your employees in a real world situation or challenge that must be overcome through critical thinking and problem solving. In essence, you give them the opportunity to immerse themselves in a real business problem, so that they can learn which key pieces of information must be acquired for later use. They are immediately able to see the real world benefits of the subject matter, which motivates and inspires them to become active participants.
  4. It reduces cognitive overload.
    Action mapping in eLearning focuses on the behaviors that need to be reinforced or modified in accordance to business objectives. Therefore, you can develop eLearning content that is centered around these key corporate objectives, which helps to prevent cognitive overload and boost knowledge retention. Your employees will get the most out of their eLearning experience as, after completing the online training, they will be able to actually apply what they have learned in practice.
  5. It allows learners to benefit from their mistakes.
    A vast majority of the eLearning activities you'll be creating during the design and development process are centered around interactivity and immersion. In fact, one of the most important benefits of applying action mapping in eLearning is that it gives learners the opportunity to grow and learn from their mistakes through the use of scenarios and simulations. As such, they can explore all of the outcomes of their decisions without having to take any real risks. This means that they can benefit from the errors they make and learn how to approach a problem in a different way in order to get better results.
  6. It creates an engaging and immersive learning environment for learners.
    The primary goal of an eLearning course that has been designed through the eLearning action mapping process is to accomplish a business goal. Instead of focusing on all of the information along the way, an instructional design that employees action mapping in eLearning encourages employees to concentrate on what needs to be achieved. In other words, rather than focusing on the path, they are asked to keep their eye on the finish line. This makes the marathon more engaging and enjoyable, because your learners are always aware of what they'll receive when they have completed the race.
  7. It identifies problems that are standing in the way of the eLearning process.
    Undeniably, one of the most significant benefits of using action mapping in eLearning is that you can easily identify the obstacles that are standing in the way of the eLearning process. Action mapping focuses on performance, not just the information that needs to be acquired. As such, you have the opportunity to carefully analyze the current learning gaps of your audience, as well as to figure out why they have existed in the first place. You are able to assess what employees already know, what they need to know, and how you can best deliver the information in order to achieve performance goals.

Action mapping in eLearning benefits both employees and organizations by taking an advantage of an eLearning design strategy that identifies performance gaps and narrows them by incorporating into the online training material immersive and interactive eLearning experiences. Consider using the action mapping technique for your next eLearning project, in order to successfully meet the goals of your organization and boost your employees knowledge retention.

Now that you know the many benefits that action mapping offers to your eLearning course, read the article How To Integrate Action Mapping in eLearning Courses to find out ways to improve your workflow and streamline the design and development process of your next eLearning deliverable.