E-learning is a vast space and the types of content being developed are also varied – according to the needs of the learners. As developers of custom e-learning, one aspect of e-learning is critical – the e-learning course level. The level of an e-learning course is the measure of interaction that is included in it. For any e-learning services company, it is very important to create the right amount of engagement in the e-courses.
It is often a misconception that interacting in e-courses takes a lot of time, effort and money. On the contrary, it provides the learners with an opportunity to interact with the content more and learn effectively. Developers can also choose to create interactive courses using the quick authoring tools – to create interactivity in the e-course.
There are four levels of interaction in e-learning, in increasing order of sophistication and type of learning delivery. Level 1 courses have very little interaction and are called page breakers. They are suitable for intensive information courses. Interactive Level 2 courses have been developed further for corporate training. From slide transitions to simple animations, a lot can be done within this level to excite audiences. Level 3 courses offer more experiential learning, with multiple scenarios and outcomes. Level 4 provides the highest level of interactivity that e-learning has to offer – games and virtual environments are part of this level which can provide hands-on learning for diverse audiences.
The amount of interaction that needs to be put into a course depends on a number of factors –
• Learners should be able to benefit from and appreciate built-in interactions. If the course is too interactive, the learner will lose focus. If it has very few opportunities to interact, it will be bland and will not effectively capture the interest of the learners. The right balance must be found by understanding the needs of the learner.
• Not all content needs interaction in order to be effective. Some courses must rely heavily on text and graphics only. These are tutorials with a lot of information to share. Learners also realize that they need to retain a lot. So for these types of courses, a lot of interaction fails to make an impact. In fact, forced interaction is not only a waste of money and time, but also hinders learning effectiveness.
• Developers must also be mindful of the technology infrastructure available at the learners’ end. Electronic courses Useless if they fail to render well on user’s devices. If learners do not have the specific hosting environments and sophisticated technology support interactions, the course will not have a unifying effect.
Finally, available budgets must also be considered when determining the level of interaction in e-learning. Interactions such as simple animations, rolling effects, and slide transitions can be incorporated using readily available tools such as MS PowerPoint. But demo courses with sophisticated interactions definitely cost more. So make sure that the training budget includes provisions for the level of interaction that will be built in an online course.
It is a wise idea to make sure that the interaction built into the online course is in line with the above factors – only then can the online course be truly effective for the target audience.
