Category: Smart Learning

Smart Learning and Smart Technology

Why eLearning Is A Smart Option?

Leave a comment

Why eLearning Is A Smart Option?

Woman working on computer at home

eLearning, is becoming more and more with today’s technological advancements. It is considered one of the most practical, effective, and efficient methods for learning and education. It makes education easily available to a wider range of people from across the globe. eLearning can also help make learning a more fun, interactive, and interesting process.

While eLearning makes use of different forms of technology, the information is delivered to the target audience usually via the internet. The use of videos and voice-overs, for instance, is very popular because it humanizes the content and provides a more engaging atmosphere for the learners. Imagine having to go through an entire course by just reading concepts and ideas from a piece of paper, or even from your computer screen. Chances are your mind will begin to wander and you’ll likely lose interest on the topic before important points are discussed. With the usage of videos and voice-overs, eLearning becomes a more appealing — and sometimes, a more interactive — process. Being able to better visualize concepts through your computer/tablet screen will surely help in catching and holding your attention. Facts and ideas voiced out, rather than being printed on your screen for you to read and understand, will certainly help you better absorb information.

The use of videos could also aid in simplifying the learning process. Studies reveal that 12 minutes happens to be the maximum amount of time in which an individual’s attention could be effectively captured. An eCourse video effectively delivered within this given time frame will likely help ensure that all relevant information is conveyed.

One important technique in guaranteeing that eCourse videos and voice-overs are highly effective is through localization. A learner can better absorb information when it is delivered through means which are familiar to him/her. A learner will also better be able to apply his/her learnings if the circumstances or scenarios presented are those which he/she could associate with. For instance, an e-course using British or UK English will be much appreciated by an individual who is from, say, London, whereas this same eCourse may prove to be confusing for someone from the United States. The use of unfamiliar slang or phrases may make an individual instantly disengage or disassociate from the e-course if such language is not familiar or applicable to him/her. Similarly, choosing the right people to appear in an eLearning video is crucial in effectively getting your message across. For instance, a video aimed at learners from the Middle East or Arab Region would be better absorbed and appreciated if it would feature persons from that same region, rather than individuals from the Scandinavian region. This allows for the viewer to personally identify with the characters they are seeing, which can be more effective in learning, and this is what we call it; Contextualization and Humanization of the eContent.

Why We Need Gamification For Our Online Course Development

Leave a comment

Why We Need Gamification For Our Online Course Development

Flat design icons for web and mobile. Interaction hands using keyboard and mobile application.

Gamification is the use of game thinking and game mechanics in non-game contexts to engage users in solving problems and increase users’ self-contributions. In this article, I’ll highlight why we need gamification for our online course development.

Gamification is a process that incorporates game mechanics into learning and accelerates the learning process while improving retention.

Gamification has been around for as long as people have played learning games in class, rolled the dice in trivia games or even thrown spears through rolling hoops. But gamification, as terminology and in practice, is seeing a revolution with the advent of eLearning. Its introduction has meant big advances in classroom education and even bigger advances in workplace training.

Maybe it’s time that you incorporated gamification and took your safety training courses online!

Here are 4 reasons why you should.

  1. The game of life.
    Gamification has been improving performance for a lot longer than many people realize. Many jobs utilize the motivation of awards and gamification. A firefighter is motivated to save lives, certainly, but in many ways being a firefighter isn’t that different from any other job. Promotions and increased salary are all part of leveling up, and excellence in service is often recognized by awards. Firefighters take part in annual games to showcase talent and improve skill. It’s only logical that we incorporate motivation and natural drivers of behavior into learning and working environments. Humans of ages past learned from first-hand experience. Sitting in a classroom and staring at a blackboard is far from stimulating or natural to the way we learn effectively. Thanks to gamification, we can find ways to make learning fun.
  2. Serious learning can come from games.
    War games are called games for a reason. By practicing routines and tactics that may later save lives, soldiers ensure that muscle memory will kick, later, when the stakes are lethal. Some games, like the ancient Mesoamerican’s version of racquetballwere played with the highest stakes of all. Participants entered play knowing that if they lost, their lives would be forfeit to ritual sacrifice. These and many of life’s other activities display game-like qualities—it’s just natural human behavior.
  3. Traditional rewards don’t motivate people as well.
    It’s hard to motivate people. Sometimes traditional rewards don’t cut it. Pontification, gamification nasty little brother, is responsible for a lot of boredom and dissatisfaction in the workplace. Pontification is when rewards are applied to boring and disinteresting activities, like putting a gold sticker on a difficult essay. The gold sticker doesn’t make the essay anymore fun. Gamification incorporates game-like activities into the process of learning, like a child tracing fish to form letters. By making the activity fun, we improve the satisfaction of performing it. In psychology, this is called the Over Justification Effect—when external incentives that have nothing to do with an activity, like points for completion, can actually decrease a person’s motivation to participate.
  4. What’s wrong with winning?
    Learning to win and learning the behaviors associated with winning are important, whether we’re at work or in the classroom. Sometimes playing games, chasing promotions and incorporating a little fun into your learning can be exactly what helps to win out over boredom