How To Reinforce Key Concepts In Online Training
Employees are dealing with mass amounts of information on a daily basis, which leaves little room in their short-term memory for online training topics. Unfortunately, the forgetting curve can strike at any time to wreak havoc on your online training efforts. You can battle memory lapses and improve knowledge retention by calling in the reinforcements. Here are 9 creative ways to reinforce key concepts in online training.
1. Adventure-Packed Serious Games
Who can pass up an action-packed serious game filled with adventure and dangerous obstacles? Serious games are quick, engaging, and entertaining, which makes them ideal for key concept reinforcement. Employees have the ability to advance through the levels by displaying their knowledge and skills. Thus, they have the opportunity to review the information they just learned and apply it immediately, or revisit the topic at a later time by playing another round of the suspense-filled serious game. Just make certain that the gaming doesn't overshadow the key takeaways of the online training course.
2. Online Group Collaboration Mysteries
Online group collaboration activities are already engaging and interactive. You can add an extra level of excitement and intrigue by transforming them into mystery-solving adventures. Assign each group a problem, real-world case study, or sleuth story. Then invite them to play the role of detectives in order to deduce the outcome. Each mystery features the key concepts and ideas from the previous online training course or module. Once again, they can participate in the online group collaboration mystery right away to deepen their understanding and reinforce key concepts or access it later on to refresh their knowledge.
3. Developing Bite-Size Online Training Resources
Instead of providing your employees with a microlearning online training library, encourage them to create their own. This allows them to summarize the online training content by putting it into their own words, thereby improving knowledge retention and comprehension. They must have a firm grasp on the key concepts in order to create their own online training materials. Then you can compile the learner-generated online training content to develop a unique microlearning online training repository. Every member of your team is able to share feedback and use the microlearning online training library during their "moment of need".
4. Emotional And Engaging Storytelling
It's been proven that emotions make experiences more memorable. Thus, creating emotional and engaging stories for your online training program helps reinforce key concepts. For example, a story contains relatable characters, settings, and struggles. Employees form a connection with the protagonist's plight and get emotionally invested in the tale. Their minds assimilate the information because it's tied to this notable event, thereby they're able to recall the key concepts in the real world.
5. Podcast Knowledge Refreshers
Podcasts are ideal for audio learners who need quick and convenient key concept reinforcement. Try to focus on one topic or issue for each episode, and invite experts to host the podcast from time to time. To keep things organized, create an upload schedule that features the host's name, online training topic, and associated online training activities. For example, you can suggest an interactive online training simulation or branching scenario to go along with the compliance podcast scheduled for next week.
6. Employee-Hosted Webinars
Webinars appeal to virtually all learning preferences. Some learners benefit from the images and online presentations, while others can listen to the recorded event to reinforce key concepts. Once again, you should consider employee guest-hosts to get them actively involved. This also allows them to recap the topics to reinforce their own knowledge and share expertise with their peers. You can even encourage employees to host follow-up Q&As via social media or develop complementary online training activities.
7. Social Media Debates
Break employees into teams and assign opposing viewpoints of the online training topic. Then use social media tools to host a lively debate. This approach is ideally suited for more controversial online training concepts or those that involve personal opinions. For example, a company policy that employees feel strongly about, or a compliance issue that has received mixed reactions within your organization. The caveat to social media debates is that you must set some ground rules. Otherwise, the debate may turn into a heated argument that spirals out of control.
8. Mentorship Online Training Programs
Mentorship online training programs offer employees one-on-one support. The mentor is able to share their experience and insight for the benefit of the mentee. The mentee also has their own skills and knowledge to offer the mentor. Both participants have the opportunity to reinforce key concepts by summarizing the information and re-teaching it to their co-worker. For example, the mentor can clarify a company policy in order to help the mentee. However, they are also actively recalling and remembering the information in the process.
9. Character-Based Branching Scenarios
Character-rich branching scenarios allow employees to put their knowledge and skills to the test. They must use what they've learned to achieve a successful outcome. If not, the LMS automatically displays areas for improvement after the fact. This gives them the ability to access supplemental online training materials that enhance their understanding. The secret to creating an effective branching scenario is to plan ahead. Develop an eLearning storyboard that maps out every path and outcome, then design interesting eLearning characters, complete with personality traits and realistic dialogues. After you have the details ironed out, it's time to find images, sound effects, layouts, and background audio to foster immersion.
Reinforcing key concepts improves online training ROI and employee satisfaction. Your staff is able to remember the important facts, tasks, and compliance topics, which means they can do their jobs more effectively and be more productive. As a result, they are happier in the workplace and less likely to call it quits, saving you the time and the trouble of training new hires.
Do you want to make sure that your online learners will remember the key takeaways of your eLearning course for a long time? Read the article 9 Knowledge Retention Techniques For eLearning to discover 9 knowledge retention techniques that make eLearning content memorable.
