March is a month wealthy with mythology: it’s named for the Roman god of conflict, incorporates the ill-fated Ides of March, and the final three days are mentioned to be further stormy as a result of they had been borrowed from April in a deal gone flawed.
We love myths as a result of, like attempting to catch a leprechaun and discover his pot of gold, they’re enjoyable. However there are some myths you shouldn’t tolerate. This month, Litmos is performing some myth-busting. First up: myths about creation — content material creation.
What’s content material creation?
Content material creation refers to any studying supplies you construct in-house. In the event you’re constructing a course, placing collectively a video, and even making handouts for an in-person lecture, that’s content material creation, and it’s invaluable to your group.
Growing customized studying in your group helps construct and retain the abilities you need your particular workforce to have. Sadly, there are a lot of misconceptions about content material authoring. Beneath are 5 of the most typical:
Fable 1: On-line studying is only a collection of quizzes
We’ve all sat although dull-as-dishwater on-line modules which can be simply slides and quizzes. They’re not terribly partaking, however that doesn’t imply your course must be something like that content material.
It’s essential to make use of the content material and the medium to create studying that works effectively for the abilities you’re attempting to show. Assume outdoors the field and study the parts accessible to you in your course authoring software. Sure, generally slides and quizzes may be the most effective match for the module you’re constructing, however study your choices to search out probably the most partaking instruments in your content material.
Fable 2: On-line programs can’t be used to show real-world expertise
On-line programs can’t be used to show hands-on expertise, like altering a tire or making ready meals, can they? Apparently, they will. There’s an inclination to consider on-line and in-person as two fully totally different realms, however that ignores the truth that folks be taught real-world expertise on-line on a regular basis. Anybody who has ever watched a cooking present or used YouTube to be taught yoga has discovered a hands-on ability on-line. You are able to do the identical along with your eLearning content material by utilizing the interactive parts in your course authoring software to digitally simulate a ability or course of.
Take the instance of a pizza chain. The chain wanted to show new workers precisely learn how to make a pizza utilizing on-line studying. Litmos’ group used particular educational instruments to show pizza-making:
- The sequence element was used so learners might observe the order during which pizza elements are added.
- The matching element was used so learners might observe recalling what ingredient measurements had been required for every pizza dimension.
Fable 3: There isn’t a teacher in a web-based course
A standard false impression is that every one on-line programs are lonely digital wastelands: it’s simply the learner and their gadget. There’s no interplay with an teacher or classmates. That’s not true. On-line content material may be interactive. Digital Teacher-Led Coaching (VILT), for instance, is a web-based, synchronous type of studying during which learners are in a position to work together with one another and the trainer.
Asynchronous studying may be interactive as effectively. Let’s return to the instance of the pizza chain. After studying about elements and recipes, the worker needed to reveal their capacity to truly make pizza.
Litmos’ group used the video evaluation software for this module. The worker recorded themselves making a medium pizza. The group’s studying group then reviewed the video and provided efficiency suggestions. This allowed the learner to observe in a low-risk setting, moderately than making their first pizza on the job.
To be taught extra concerning the pizza chain use case, try the course LitmosLabs Educational Design for Non-Designers Half 2.
Fable 4: You’ll be able to simply switch all of your ILT supplies to a web-based format
That is an previous delusion, one which harkens again to the early days of on-line and digital studying. At first, L&D professionals felt they may merely switch in-person course supplies and lectures to a web-based format. Though most L&D professionals know that doesn’t work, there are nonetheless some managers and firm leaders who should be satisfied that what works in individual doesn’t at all times work in a digital setting.
The reverse can be true. Some classes are higher on-line than in individual. Play to the power of the coaching modality you’re utilizing whenever you’re designing studying supplies. You need to use interactive instruments to extend engagement and learner retention.
Fable 5: On-line studying replaces all different kinds of studying
Look, we love an organization that goes all in on on-line studying, however it’s essential to appreciate that whenever you implement a web-based studying technique, you don’t have to interchange all your coaching with on-line modules. On-line studying is supposed to enhance your current coaching, and it’s not at all times suited to the kind of coaching you’re delivering.
What works finest is a blended studying expertise. Tie eLearning to ILT periods and real-life experiences. Usually, it’s finest to make use of eLearning content material as a prerequisite or primer, adopted by hands-on coaching and utility alternatives. Blended studying experiences have interaction learners in some ways, serving to them to retain the data you’re instructing them.
Subsequent up in our March myth-busting? The myths of content material curation. Keep tuned…
