Developing Immersive eLearning: 7 Quintessential Traits
Are your eLearning courses delivering on the promises of your L&D strategy? The chances are that you are more focused on delivering on time, than on user experience. That is a false economy. If you aim for speed rather than quality, you will miss the target; an online training environment that genuinely enables a highly-skilled workforce. More than that, your eLearning course should reinforce brand messages, upskill and increase employee engagement all at once. How is this possible? Through immersive eLearning. Taking the corporate learner on a journey; extracting them from their daily tasks and rewarding them with new knowledge and experience.
What Is Immersive eLearning ?
Immersive eLearning is all about making your online learners more engaged with the eLearning experience. The world is incredibly distracting and demanding of our attention. We need to feel immersed in something to truly focus, especially where eLearning is concerned. That’s especially true if you are designing responsive eLearning, to be completed anywhere, anytime. How do you stop your corporate learners from finding something else on their device, more urgent, more interesting? Design an immersive eLearning experience, using interaction as well as stories and games. It will make online training rewarding for corporate learners, leaders and L&D strategic targets. Below are the 7 essential traits of an immersive eLearning course.
1. Emotional Connectivity
Use language, visual aids and stories to appeal to the online learner’s emotions. These could include relating the eLearning course to a better customer experience—something that would improve their working life. Create a link to the learner’s inquisitive nature and individual emotions by putting them at the center of the story. You could even try building them into a branching scenario or simulation within the online training course if you have the appropriate eLearning authoring tools. The key is to make them feel for the characters and relate to the subject matter. This brings them into the eLearning experience and allows them to retain the information more effectively, as it’s tied to positive emotions.
2. Self-Paced Study
Avoid the pitfalls of losing your audience because of their lack of existing knowledge. Include links to further reading for self-guided exploration. These might include TED talk videos on YouTube or case studies relating to a similar organization. Another way to enhance the immersion is to include a microlearning online training library they can explore on their own. They’re more likely to lose themselves in the online training content if they control when, where, and how they access the information.
3. Social Interactivity
Create a relevant online discussion within your organization’s social tools. The corporate learner can then actively participate in the online discussion if they have questions and comments. This will cement their learning and continue the immersion outside of the eLearning course itself. You could also try setting up a corporate eLearning blog or releasing intranet articles with comment functionality. All these communication methods will help build an immersive eLearning experience. The corporate learner is thinking about the training outside of the Learning Management System.
4. Multi-Sensory
Use real-world visuals and sounds to bring eLearning to life. Integrate videos of genuine employees guiding the corporate learner through specific or complex sections. Use music to create an emotional connection and aid knowledge retention. Different visual and audio elements entice the corporate learner back into the learning far better than text can. In addition, consider adding serious games into the mix to appeal to various learning preferences. Kinesthetic learners can explore the content in a more tactile format, while audio learners can immerse themselves in the background music and character dialogue.
5. Story-Driven
There is a proven link between storytelling and memory building. Create stories around your subject matter wherever possible. Provide fun and stimulating challenges aligned with the story to cement the memory. Stories help your corporate learners relate to the online training content and form a powerful personal connection. You might also include anecdotes that show them they’re not alone in their everyday work struggles. Such as a personal story of when you used your skills and experience to secure a major deal for the company.
6. Taps Into Intrinsic Motivation
Add in gamification elements to your eLearning course, such as badges, points, and quizzes. Go further and create levels aligned with the learning objectives. These alternative challenges will appeal to a range of corporate learners who are not satisfied with text-based content. Corporate learners are more likely to immerse if they’re motivated to succeed and achieve their goals. Just make sure the rewards reinforce desirable behaviors. For example, corporate learners should not be solely focused on moving up the leaderboard but also acquiring the skills and knowledge that go along with it.
7. Real World Centered
If you are able to make an investment in the future through VR technology, you have the power to transform the learning experience. VR is the future of immersive eLearning. The cheapest and most accessible version of VR right now is via smartphone with a cardboard viewer. However, you can start small by simply incorporating more real-world activities into your current eLearning course design. For example, online training simulations that allow employees to perfect their work practices and apply new skills.
Truly immersive eLearning has the potential to transform your eLearning environment. If L&D teams deliver online training that is content-driven and focused on completion statistics, then that is all corporate learners will come to expect. Not something that will transform their understanding or fulfill their personal development goals. Surprise everyone and build online training courses that command attention. Make corporate learners relate the online training content to their own individual roles. Help them understand how the online training course will change their job for the better. Stretch your eLearning development team and design online training courses that live up to expectations of excellent eLearning. Your L&D team, senior leaders, management, and corporate learners will all see the benefit.
Are you thinking about using VR/AR in your next eLearning course to enhance immersion? Read the article 5 Benefits Of Using Augmented And Virtual Reality Technologies In eLearning to explore the top benefits of using cutting-edge tech in eLearning.
