Let me start by talking about what the term “interaction” really means. In case you don’t know, interaction is a two- or more-way action that happens between objects, with one of them affecting the other. Now, let’s make it more relevant to the topic of this post. In the learning space, the term interaction has a lot to do with an active learning approach. According to Christopher Pappas, an eLearning interactivity is more of a “dialogue” that happens between learners and the digital learning tools. In this case, the learners become engaged and actively involved in the entire online learning process.
Are you still wondering whether or not interactive learning content plays an important role in the success of an eLearning course? If yes, you might have to stop worrying too much about it. In the rest of this post, I’ll further share everything that you need to know about interactive learning content, including exactly how it can impact your training course. So, without further ado, let’s get straight down to business.
Digital learning: Here’s why you should make your learning content interactive
Let’s go back to our unaddressed burning question; how effective is interactive learning content in eLearning? To answer the question, I’ll start by saying that the importance of creating interactive learning content for your digital learners cannot be overstressed.
Bring the best out of your learners
By creating interactive training content, one of the things that you’ll get to achieve is the ability to trigger your learners’ emotions. That’s pretty much possible because interactivity has a way of replicating the real world through various options. Some of them include the use of digital learning course scenario questions, as well as simulations. One of the benefits of this option is that eLearning interactivity is capable of providing your learners with the ability to make various decisions without having to worry about taking real-life risks.
Boost your learners’ engagement
Another way interactive learning content will affect your learning course is this – it’ll help to boost your learner’s engagement. With eLearning interactivity, learners will tend to focus more of their attention on the eLearning content, rather than on other things. Of course, the benefit of that is they’ll be able to better grab the main objective of the course, leading to better outcomes for them.
Improve your learners’ knowledge retention ability
Apart from helping to boost engagement levels, interactive learning content is also effective in the sense that it can help you improve your learners’ retention ability. According to a study by Uwaterloo, as cited by Work-Learning, learners tend to forget about 50 to 80% of what they’ve learned after one day. This can increase to about 97-98% within a month of learning. However, with interactive learning content, you’ll be able to improve your learner’s knowledge retention ability.
Interactive activities have a way of creating curiosity among learners. The good side of this experience is that it can lead to active knowledge acquisition. That said, for you to create interactive training content that’ll help you improve your learners’ retention ability, here are some of the elements that you should incorporate into your course:
- scenario-based elements
- Multimedia elements, such as video
- Gamified elements
How to create interactive learning content in eLearning
Now that you’ve seen some of the benefits of making your digital learning content interactive, it’s time to start creating your course. However, before you go ahead to do that, here’s a burning question; how exactly do you create effective interactive training content? To create your interactive learning content, all you need is to follow the steps below:
1. Utilize interactive learning templates
One of the best approaches to create your interactive content is by making use of templates. If you don’t know, interactive learning templates are pretty much effective for creating various content that can help you boost your learners’ engagement and improve their retention ability. Interestingly, they do not require you to have any programming skills to get your course done.
2. Use tools
Apart from using templates, you can also create interactive content by using different tools. You can always opt for reliable authoring tools, like Wizcabin, to create your content. Although there are several different authoring tools out there, you need to understand that no two twos can perform the same function. All of them have their strengths and weaknesses. Irrespective of the tool you’re opting for, one thing is important and that is – you need to choose the one that has an interactivity builder.
3. Make it real
Another way to make your content interactive is by using multimedia elements like video, animation, and audio, when necessary. However, when doing that, ensure you make it as real as possible. Also, try and avoid overusing unnecessary interactive elements.
