COM 125: Cont'd Entry #4 - Elearning

A few years back, many projected that eLearning will become the major
medium of adult learning, replacing conventional methods of classroom lectures. However, recent studies indicate that although eLearning has registered a substantial growth, its penetration among the organizations is far below the projected level. Many reasons are attributed for this resistance to adapt eLearning. Among them, the three important ones are:
1. Huge initial cost of implementation
2. Long lead-time for development of courseware
3. Skepticism about the effectiveness of eLearning
The first two reasons can be attributed to the problem of perception from the industry’s point of view. Although eLearning requires huge initial investment, organizations generally overlook the benefit of the long-term return on investment. Similarly, organizations do not seem to consider the huge time saving on a long run, although the
initial lead time for courseware creation may be high. These reasons make up the 3rd factor of skepticism.

A.The following are some of the reasons that might demotivate learners from using elearning technology:
· Unattractive presentation
· Boring style of writing
· Undefined / ambiguous learning objectives
· Irrelevant content
· Too simple or too complex content
· Too much to grasp in one go

B.Other elements that can create learning blocks:
1) Inappropriate use of media:
Use of irrelevant graphics, excessive animations, flashy banners and logos, inappropriate audio effects will distract the learners’ attention and even irritate them creating a block for
proceeding further.
2) Unexplained terms and concepts:
In a smooth flowing content, sudden occurrence of a new term or a concept, if not explained properly at its first occurrence may cause a block. It may be a good idea, to give hyperlinked
pop-up boxes to explain them briefly, in case the learners require assistance.
3) Content flow disconnect / unstructured content:
As discussed earlier, the logical flow of chunks of information is very important for making the content effective. If the learners do not see a structure or if they have to go back and forth to put some pieces of information to make some sense, it will discourage them to proceed further.
4) De-motivating feedback:
While it is a good idea to test the learners’ progress in between the course by using formative assessments, the feedback should always be positive. Prolonged negative feedback will demotivate the learners and reduce their confidence level, creating a major learning block.
I do not really agree with this fourth "learning block", it doesn't make sense to simply heap constant praises on students' progress simply for the sake of retaining the students' interest and attention to continue using the program or online course. This is unrealistic and would not serve in the student's best interest.

C.Ways to improve effectiveness of eLearning content:
1) Know you target audience and their learning preferences:
The better, one knows the target audience and their learning preferences, the more effective, he/she will be able to develop the content. It is very important to review and re-review the content at the development stage with an eye on the end users and make sure that it will work for them.
2) Define clear learning objectives and work the content around them:
You need to be very clear about the objectives and outcome of the learning content, and more significantly, you should be able to clearly communicate to your learners up front, before they take a plunge.
3) Use of Keller’s ARCS model and Gagne’s events of instruction:
John Keller (1987) created the ARCS model describing the factors for learners’ motivation. Keller’s synthesis recommends that the four important factors for keeping the learners motivated are:
· Attention
· Relevance
· Confidence
· Satisfaction
The content should create attention of the learner, be relevant to his requirements, give the learner confidence during the process of learning and finally offer a satisfactory learning experience. It is always better to remember ARCS while developing the content.
Gagne’s nine learning events are the most popular and effective model for creating eLearning contents. Gagne proposed that the content should have nine distinct instructional events to be effective. They are:
(1) Gaining attention (reception)
(2) Informing learners of the objective (expectancy)
(3) Stimulating recall of prior learning (retrieval)
(4) Presenting the stimulus (selective perception)
(5) Providing learning guidance (semantic encoding)
(6) Eliciting performance (responding)
(7) Providing feedback (reinforcement)
(8) Assessing performance (retrieval)
(9) Enhancing retention and transfer (generalization).
These events should serve as the basis for designing instruction and selecting
appropriate media (Gagne, Briggs & Wager, 1992).
4) Use of interactivity / Games / Simulations:
Using interactivity in eLearning contents has many benefits. It keeps the learners involved, breaks the monotony of a single way communication, enhances the learning experience by participation and facilitates active experimentation (a component of Colb’s Learning cycle). Many theories indicate that learning by doing improves the retention of knowledge. "Creative presentations afford the opportunity for students to reach their social,
artistic and emotional goals. But more importantly, in these contexts learning becomes more enjoyable. Learners exercise choice and creativity, and there is a minimum amount of negative pressure."– says Dan Yaman, President of LearningWare, Inc.
5) Use of real life scenarios:
Cognitive Theories say that any new information is compared to existing cognitive structures called ‘schema’. Meaningful information is easier to learn and remember. If a learner links relatively meaningless information with prior schema it will be easier to retain. (Wittrock, Marks, & Doctorow, 1975, in Good and Brophy,
1990). Hence, use of real life scenarios and examples helps the learner to relate the new information with already familiar situations, improving the effectiveness of knowledge transfer and retention.
6) Facilitated learning:
One of the draw backs of eLearning is that the learners are left to learn on their own. In case the learners need assistance, there is no one to guide them. But with the present technology, self-paced eLearning can be supplemented with facilitators, by way of Webminars, simple chat, voice chat, video conferencing, asynchronous and on-line tutoring and so on.
7) Setting up of ’Communities of Practice’:
It is a proven fact that the learners learn more effectively from peers than trainers. In order to encourage peer learning, some of the facilities, such as discussion board, blogs and groups can be used effectively.
8) Podcasting/ mobile audio contents as supplements:
With new media, such as i-pod, podcasting, blogs and wikis picking up, the content supplements in these media may be used for reinforcing knowledge.