4 Basic Learning Methods In eLearning

There are many differences between learning children and learning adults. The Andragogy, the science of teaching adults, brings to the table principles of building competencies that are hard to implement in schools, such as self-motivation, goal orientation, ability to share experiences, and others. These differences were well described on Educational Technology and Mobile Learning website here.

I will not discuss these differences in this article. I would like, however, to share with you some ideas on using 4 learning methods, which are usually considered as basic in kids-related learning, in an eLearning environment.

Workbook is a space where activities are organized for practicing things. In each workbook you are given a structured material that helps you master a subject as you are usually guided from easy to difficult exercises deliberately, influencing your competencies. Workbook is an interactive tool - its main purpose is not to transfer knowledge, but to practice it through exercises. You are doing this in a kinesthetic way; you fill in the blanks, draw, erase, cut and paste, place stickers, etc. The workbook is also well-designed, with all golden rules of information architecture (contrast, flow, hierarchy, unity, proximity, whitespace, etc.) taken into account. It is not only educative, but also fun to use.

How we can transfer the workbook idea to eLearning courses taken by adults? Here are some tips:

• Create an eLearning course mostly based on exercises (limit plain knowledge transfer to minimum).
• Build an easy-to-difficult practicing path based on consequent steps of building competency.
• Propose highly interactive (yet easy to use and well explained) exercises.
• Make it visually appealing and fun - astonish trainees with every single screen!
• As an option - go outside of the eLearning environment:
  • Add to your eLearning course printable exercises,
  • Ask trainees to complete these exercises in a “pencil-and-paper” manner, and
  • Provide them with self-evaluation tools, as you won’t be able to check results automatically.