Engaging Interactions For eLearning

Here’s the Using an Agent or Character learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Here’s the Teach-back (a.k.a. Train the New Person) learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Here’s the Before and After or Old Way vs. New Way learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Here’s the What’s Wrong With This Picture? learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Here’s the Incomplete Stories learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Here’s the A Customer’s Perspective learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Here’s the Exploring a Complex Process or Procedure learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Here’s the Simple Game-based Interactions learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Let’s discuss this further…

Simple games can be used to help learners review and assess their factual knowledge. Think of these games as a 21st-century version of flash cards. Initially, give the learner an opportunity to play when using these games. Allow them to learn how the game works and then become comfortable with it. Let them get questions wrong without penalty. At that point, you may consider using the game to assess their knowledge. You don’t want to throw them into a game and then have them miss questions because they don’t understand how the game works, even though they’ve mastered the knowledge.

There are several products on the market that allow you to quickly create these games. Respondus has a product called StudyMate that creates several of these games; I’ve used it and had very good luck with it. Below are some other great references for using simple games in eLearning:

• Online Training Games Starter Kit (PDF)
• Game-Based Learning
• Learning Circuits: Online Games

Here’s the Story-Based Questions learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

Who doesn’t like a good story? Story-based questions do a better job of putting the learner in a real-world situation. They let the learner make a decision based on the context of a scenario, instead of just answering a boring question that is overly-academic. People remember stories, and stories help them understand what to do if they encounter a similar scenario. This is known as knowledge transfer: Can the learner translate what they learned to the real-world? Consider using story-based questions when and where appropriate. You may also sequence several of them together to create a choose your own adventure-type scenario.

Here’s the Find the Mismatched / Stand-out Item learning interaction from my eBook, Engaging Interactions For eLearning:

This is a quick-and-easy interaction that can be used as a knowledge-check or as an assessment item. As with any interaction, it’s important to provide plenty of feedback to the learner based on their actions. You may also consider having the learner justify their selection before providing them with feedback. Have them relate their selection back to the material they learned earlier in the lesson. For example, "Why did you select this item?" If they selected incorrectly, it may not be a bad idea to review common misconceptions to make sure they have a clear understanding of what is correct and why.

An extended version of this interaction would be an investigation scenario, where the learner has to study one or more objects, people, etc., to arrive at a conclusion. For example, if teaching ways to identify flu symptoms versus symptoms of a common cold, you may have the learner "examine" several virtual patients to learn about the symptoms and when they occur.