Motivating Your Learners through Learning Design
In this post, I will address the importance of Creativity and innovation in instructional design. These elements are particularly important to eLearning. When a learner is taking an eLearning course, they are often required to have the training, but the degree to which they are focused, engaged, and motivated depends on whether you have designed something that is engrossing to them!
Instructional Design is a science and not exactly a precise skill. The necessity for creativity in instructional design introduces the components of both art and psychology. Good design requires an understanding of how to utilize these mysterious tools of creativity and innovation while problem solving, using critical thinking, not to mention the skill of project management.
Creativy and Innovation are crucial to your project because these elements are the bibbity-bobbity-boo techniques that spark the magic of engaging your learners.
Try this:
1. Put yourself in the learners’ place when planning your project.
2. Ask yourself this question:
Is your design the same tired, boring predictable format they’ve slogged through before? (Hopefully you’re not using a template where you change nothing).
3. What techniques would lead the learner into an experience so engaging and enjoyable that they will be left motivated and wanting to know even more?
If your project fails to spark a sense of excitement for you, you can bet that your learners will be bored too!
I suggest thinking about ways to introduce new and innovative elements that will engage and motivate the learner! In addition to the technical tricks that are available for use in your authoring tool, you must also consider engaging ways to use color, text, font, graphics, video, and audio media together to create and reinforce a dynamic learning experience. My next blog will examine some of these elements in what's known as the *Modality Principle. . Until then, enjoy the process!
*Modality Principle: People learn more deeply from pictures and spoken words than from pictures and printed words. More later!
Melissa M