AD | Having worked in education marketing for nearly 11 years, I’m no stranger to multimedia learning, interactive whiteboards, and e-learning. These are the modern methods that both schools and workers are turning to nowadays to educate and train in various fields. E-learning, in particular, puts emphasis on work-life skills, such as problem solving and communication skills, to get people ready for their chosen field of work.
So what exactly is e-learning?
Most e-learning trends are not new, and have already been popular for many years. The following methods were the top 10 e-learning trends in 2018.
01. User-generated content
User-generated content is online content created by web users and can include reviews, blogs, and forum posts. It’s usually written by people who have real-life experiences in their topics and it’s a valuable source of e-learning. Authors may also regularly add to the posted content to keep the information up to date.
02. Webinars
A webinar is an online workshop that features experts giving lectures on a certain subject and providing real-time interaction with the audience. Because the webinar is delivered online, people from anywhere in the world can watch it. The webinar is usually broadcast live but if you so wish, you can record it to pause and play back the video afterwards.
A tool like Movavi Screen Recorder makes it easy to learn how to record a webinar as it provides tool-tips to guide you. You just use the crosshair cursor to draw the recording frame on the webinar video player and then press the REC button to start recording. Once the webinar finishes you simply press the Stop button and then trim the unwanted sections of your video with the slider markers. I used Movavi software from time to time when I was editing supplied video footage, it was really easy to work with.
03. Content curation
Many businesses are beginning to invest content curation, ie, gathering relevant information for a targeted group of employees. Some reports claim employees spend around 9.5 hours searching for new information (something I can identify with every time I have to write an article on a subject I don’t know that much about). But with content curation, learners don’t have to spend time browsing irrelevant information to get what they need and want.
04. Chat-bots
Chat-bots can give you a personalised learning experience and allow you to learn things at your own pace. You can use a chat-bot to learn how to build a website, or learn a foreign language, for example. And they work for both individuals and groups of learners. The chat-bot can assign group work to increase the interaction among students, and perform basic tasks such as giving answers to daily queries, checking homework, spelling and grammar errors, providing basic information, and keeping track of your progress.
05. Social learning
Social learning involves learning through the ideas shared by others, such as through a forum. Employees can post questions and get answers from other colleagues using the forum. A company might also have a Wikipedia page that contains all the information their employees need to know in one convenient place. Different communication channels can then allow employees to access the knowledge they need from experts. And, believe it or not (!) gamification and rewards are also a type of social learning. As Flora is always trying to convince me where Minecraft is concerned…
06. Blended learning
Blended learning combines online learning and traditional learning, such as distance education courses, like those offered by the UK’s Open University. It involves attending classes on the campus and using an online medium to submit coursework, take a quiz, sit an exam and track progress. The instructor can provide feedback quickly on the homework submitted online. It’s a flexible method of self-paced learning and ideal for those who may have difficulty in absorbing information during the face to face classroom sessions, or who are already in work.
07. Interactive video
Interactive videos make learning fun. I edited education videos for schools for nearly 11 years and worked with a variety of clients including Disney, the PDSA, Rio Tinto, Tideway, the National Marine Aquarium and various Government departments. Interactive videos usually have a speaker or presenter, and plenty of action and background music to make it interesting to watch. These types of videos need to be short (no more than 3-4 minutes max) and they’re extremely effective for viewers with limited attention spans (eg, children). Various studies have shown that they’re up to 10 times more powerful than classic videos of a longer length. Interactive videos can also contain some interactive activities for the viewers to take part, for example, click on a link to reveal information, quizzes, and voting.
08. Adaptive learning
Adaptive learning involves delivering customised modules for a particular group’s needs. Learners will take a test in the first instance, to determine their level of understanding. Then the company will design a module to address the low-scoring area and knowledge gap. The learning activities are delivered in the best medium and correct sequence to help the students improve. And the company will gather data to fine tune and tweak the modules as the students progress through their learning.
09. Workplace enablement programme
Studies have shown that employees who attend an e-learning programme usually only retain 10% of the information. Which is not the greatest ROI, is it?! So, to increase memory retention, some companies are implementing a continuous training programme, or enablement. For example, employees can participate in virtual discussions and talk to lots of different people. Cross department discussions with other experts leads to better information exchanges and, in turn, a clearer understanding of the particular subject matter.
10. Virtual Reality (VR) headset
Virtual reality (VR) headsets allow people to learn by watching a simulation of real-life experiences. For example, firefighters can wear VR headsets to see a real fire scene and make decisions on what they’ll do during their training session. They’ll become immersed in watching the scenery displayed on the VR headset and not get distracted by outside influences. A VR headset can also be useful for helping a speaker to boost their confidence by practicing speaking in front of an audience of hundreds or even thousands of people in front of them. And VR headsets can be used to provide a virtual reality classroom for distance education students too – students can even use their own avatar in the virtual classroom.
So these are the top 10 e-learning methods that were popular last year. Have you ever tried or experienced any of them? Which one(s) do you think would help you learn best?
* This is a collaborative post.
Leave a Reply