How To Jazz Up Dry eLearning Topics
Online training is no longer a spectator sport. Employees want to be able to dive into online training and make it a full-fledged experience. However, there is one hurdle that you must overcome in order to create a truly memorable online training course: boredom. Certain ideas or concepts are more popular and attention-grabbing than others. But even the blandest and most boring eLearning topics deserve their time in the spotlight. It’s all a matter of delivery and timing. Below are 9 unconventional ideas you can use to turn dry eLearning topics into memorable online training experiences.
1. Tell A Compelling Story
Stories help employees relate to the eLearning topic and see how it ties to their real-world problems or job responsibilities. Especially when it’s a personal anecdote that features memorable characters and evokes emotion. For example, a dry health & safety compliance topic is transformed into a story about the time you prevented a work-related accident. Explain what you did to mitigate risk and ensure the safety of your co-workers. Your corporate learners will not only relate to the story on a personal level but understand the negative repercussions of non-compliance.
2. Host A Live Learner-Hosted Event
Invite a corporate learner to guest host an event that centers on a notoriously bland eLearning topic. The host must read up on the subject to teach it to their peers and the event attendees will be more engaged because the speaker is at their level. They’re more likely to connect with the content and enjoy the online training experience, which leads to better knowledge retention. You can even invite a different host every week and assign topics based on the employees’ areas of expertise. For example, someone who is adept at interpersonal skills might be the ideal host for your upcoming customer service webinar.
3. Create A Concise Infographic
Sum up the main concepts or noteworthy statistics with a concise infographic. By concise, I mean that it should be clutter-free and feature a simplistic layout. Only include the basics so that corporate learners can absorb the information and apply it. Stick to just a few key points and create a clear divide between each section to avoid confusion. Infographics can feature images, graphs, charts, and creative fonts to catch the eye.
4. Produce An Animated Demo Video
Instead of having a live actor demonstrate the product or task, use animation software to make it more interactive and entertaining. The cartoon character shows the desired behaviors or walks employees through each step of the process. They can even have quirky personality traits to make it more interesting. There are plenty of rapid eLearning authoring tools that can help you produce animated video demos with no prior experience.
5. Immerse Corporate Learners In Online Training Simulations
Sometimes the best cure for boredom is immersing your corporate learners in realistic situations so that they can put everything into practice. An online training simulation gives them the chance to apply their skills, test their performance, and see how the online training course ties into workplace productivity. You can also use simulations for non-task related topics, as well, such as teaching employees how to successfully resolve a co-worker conflict or deal with a COI breach.
6. Add Vibrant (But Relevant) Visuals
Text blocks don’t do bland eLearning topics any favors. In fact, they tend to make the online training course even more unappealing and cause cognitive overload. Something as simple as a carefully chosen image has the power to connect with employees and improve memory retention. The caveat is that the visuals must be relevant to the subject matter and support the learning objectives. Otherwise, corporate learners might misinterpret the information and/or you’ll diminish the value of your online training course.
7. Incorporate Game Mechanics
Badges, leaderboards, levels, and points increase employee engagement and prompt them to keep training even when the subject matter gets a bit dry or dull. Choose rewards and game mechanics that align with corporate learner preferences and your online training objectives. Another great way to jazz up dry eLearning topics is to turn them into serious games. In either case, it’s crucial to research your audience to identify their primary motivators, then use the data to customize your online training strategy.
8. Use Visual Representations To Illustrate The Point
Charts, graphs, and other visual representations help corporate learners understand the eLearning topic more effectively and the relationship between concepts. They are particularly useful for compliance stats that are more difficult to remember. However, you can also create visualizations for tasks, company policies, or product knowledge. For example, a colorful diagram that depicts the components within your latest product so that employees understand how it functions.
9. Add Humor In Small Doses
A good laugh is always welcome in online training, as long as it doesn’t come at the expense of someone else. Use humor in moderation to jazz up dry eLearning topics and lighten the mood. Just don’t overdo it or create controversy. For example, incorporate a joke that might make certain members of your organization feel uncomfortable or alienated. Don’t try to force it by adding cliched puns or outdated jokes that seem out of place. The best way to incorporate humor is to keep it organic and aligned with corporate learners’ backgrounds.
The thing to remember is that when you jazz up dry eLearning topics, you should never compromise the subject matter. The key takeaways must always come first, and entertainment value second. Otherwise, your corporate learners will have an enjoyable online training experience, but they won’t reap any practical rewards. Another golden rule to follow is that everything must serve a purpose. Cluttering your online training course with extraneous images and activities will only lead to cognitive overwhelm.
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. Read the article 9 Creative Ways To Reinforce Key Concepts In Online Training to find out 9 innovative ways to reinforce key concepts in online training, battle memory lapses and improve knowledge retention.
