7 Important prerequisites for successful e-learning

You have e-learning in all shapes and sizes, from a PowerPoint to a Web site with interactive assignments. The quality of these forms varies. At Précon, we think it is important that you actually learn and remember something in a fun way after taking an e-learning. The following conditions are important for an effective e-learning.

1. Connect with your target audience

A good e-learning connects with the intended audience. Put yourself in the target group's shoes: what language does the target group feel addressed by and what content is relevant? For example, you might appeal more to an operator from a food company by using short sentences and avoiding difficult words as much as possible. Make the content hands-on, so an operator quickly knows what information is important. With a higher audience, such as doctors, use different language and different examples to engage the target audience with the information.

2. Think carefully about what you want to achieve and how to achieve it

What do you want to achieve with the e-learning? By thinking carefully about the goal beforehand, you can also examine how best to achieve the desired end result. For example, Précon always prepares a didactic design that describes how content, exercises and images are provided and how the learner navigates through the training.

With good learning objectives, you know what you are working toward and what a student will be tested on. Provide a clear structure and good structure for the user by addressing the learning objectives in a logical order.

3. Provide an interactive e-learning

With a high degree of interactivity, you hold the student's attention and the student is actively processing the information. Because the brain is stimulated more with an interactive task, the information sticks better and longer. So make sure that working forms and activities in the e-learning alternate greatly. Consider, for example, videos, drag and drop assignments, multiple choice questions and linking assignments.

Be sure to create assignments that really help a student understand the material better. Do not ask for things that a student does not actually need to master at the end of the training. Start from the learning objectives that you have established in advance.

4. Secure the transfer

Secure transfer with practical examples and visuals of practice. Transfer is being able to apply what has been learned (the theory) in new situations in practice. Students themselves translate the theory from a training course to its application in their work situation. During this process a lot of knowledge is lost. Secure the transfer by responding in your training as much as possible to situations from your own work practice. Are you making a training about the metal detector? Then use examples and images of the metal detector in production to support the information.

5. Give practical examples

Really focus your training on practice, on information that the student uses or will use in his or her work environment. By giving practical examples, you ensure that the student can properly apply what he or she has learned in practice.

6. Make the e-learning user-friendly

Make sure users can fully focus on the learning objectives.

Use simple navigation.
A lot of learning capacity is lost if the learner has to search for buttons and the navigation is not clear. Provide a user-friendly e-learning that is intuitive for the learner to use.
Use clearly defined assignments.
Provide a modern design.
An old-fashioned look of the training distracts by potentially giving the user a negative experience.
Make sure the training is smooth to go through.
A stalled technology or slow e-learning does not work nicely and distracts from the information you want to convey.
Test the e-learning well and don't use large images or files.

For example, also make sure that the e-learning meets Clark & Mayer's 12 multimedia principles, such as the proximity principle . Put text close to the corresponding image. A learner should not have to search for the information, which costs your learning capacity. So these principles increase usability.

7. Think about the length of your e-learning

How much information do you want to convey and how long do you think trainees will need to go through all the content properly? Do not make the e-learning too long, as this will reduce the ability to hold attention. An e-learning can be completed in 45 to 60 minutes at most. Make sure that the user can stop the e-learning in between and continue it later at the same place.

Structure the topics in the e-learning and the learning process well, for example, by not covering too many different topics in one e-learning. Is the e-learning module about safety? Then focus only on this topic. Do you also want to add information on another topic such as food defense? By making this a small separate e-learning, you keep the user's focus.

Depending on your learning objective(s), it can also be very effective to divide content into several short 10- to 15-minute e-learnings. This way, users only need a short attention span. You can also choose to divide a 40-minute e-learning into several blocks. Learners become motivated when they can complete different sections in between. Completing a chapter activates the reward system in learners, releasing dopamine.