As instructional designers, how can we help learners acquire new understanding and retain it in long-term memory?  This is certainly a top priority when designing instructional materials.  Before moving on to some suggestions, let’s take a look at the theoretical foundations that support those tips.... [Read more]

Scenario-based e-learning immerses a learner in a workplace situation by asking them to make decisions and allowing them to experience the result of their choices.... Before building scenario-based training, it's important to begin with a plan.... [Read more]

... Gamification is not just child’s play.... It’s also a hot trend in corporate training. With all this popularity, what are the broader approaches to learning that support gamification? Furthermore, how can we apply tenets of those approaches to maximize the learning potential in game-based learning? ... [Read more]

... because it is so automatic and internalized in their minds, simply asking subject matter experts to explain how they accomplish a task may not elicit all the information that a novice would need to carry it out.... Fortunately, there are some proven strategies that can help unearth important information from subject matter experts.... [Read more]

... It was magical—like Dorothy in Oz.  The colorized material not only further improved my students’ affect (and my own), but also provided signals to cue important information. The fact that color can have a powerful learning effect is supported by research ... [Read more]

What is an artistic masterpiece if no one sees it?  What is the best business plan ever if it’s never implemented?  And what is an excellent training course if learners aren’t paying attention to it? There’s a reason that “gain attention” is the first of Gagne’s nine events of instruction.  And that “attention” is one of the pillars of Keller’s ARCS model.... [Read more]

It’s the mid-80s, and the process of sales forecasting has a group of third graders enthralled.  They clamor to be the next one to make mathematical calculations.  What could drive such enthusiasm?  Was it a top-notch teacher?  A promise of ice-cream or extra recess? Nope… It was a computer game called Lemonade Stand.... [Read more]

As an educator, understanding the cognitive processes that affect learning is of great importance to me. As someone who designs e-learning, it's important for me to be familiar with Richard Mayer's multimedia principles, which aim at reducing cognitive load in multimedia learning.What is cognitive load? ... [Read more]

... Who doesn’t love a metaphor to help scaffold an idea?  Slade (2018) compares storyboarding to creating a blueprint for a house. Setting the parameters before constructing an e-learning product (or a house) allows all interested parties to preview the design and minimizes the risk of someone wanting to start over after the resource-consuming work of building has begun.... [Read more]

“Tell me something good. Tell me that you like it.” ... When it comes to learning, the words of Stevie Wonder's 1970s hit song are only part of the story.  It is likely the feedback that corrects, even more so than the feedback that validates, that is useful. But what are the other features of feedback that make it useful for a particular learning situation? ... [Read more]