Why less is sometimes more when it comes to your e-learning course materials

Resisting the temptation to give your learners too much information when uploading e-learning course materials.

One of the top benefits of e-learning is that it has the potential to be a limitless learning resource for your organisation.

Whereas in a classroom or training room you might be limited by the size of the room or the amount of learning materials you or your learners are able to transport, an e-learning platform gives you scope to add as much depth, detail and variety to your course materials as you wish.

While that’s an exciting prospect, it’s not always a good thing.

It’s important to look past all the things you could upload in order to find those you should upload.

In our experience, the most effective — and in that respect, the best — learning technology follows a ‘less is more’ approach to course materials.

Your learners will already be confronted with a large amount of new information. That’s the nature of completing a course. By adding a range of optional extras you risk bombarding them with an information overload. The worst case scenario is that your learners struggle to absorb or even find the most important information as they attempt to wade through a raft of secondary materials.

To avoid this situation on your e-learning platform, we’d suggest asking two key questions when planning your course materials.

 

Does this need to be included?

Interrogate each item within your proposed course materials: are you uploading it because you need to or because you can? If it’s the latter, it probably doesn’t need to be included so try to avoid the temptation. Focus only on the materials that get to the heart of the course and its subject matter.

What would you like to see included?

Talk to your learners about which materials are going to be helpful to them. Find out which learning materials will enhance their learning experience and, equally, which are irrelevant or unimportant. Take that feedback onboard as you build your courses.

Cut back to what you really need

The answers to those two questions should help to focus your thoughts, cut away non-essential course materials and ensure that what remains is an engaging learning experience that is easy to access and easy to consume.

Chat to us about your e-learning course materials

If you’d like a chat about structuring your course materials to increase engagement among your learners, feel free to fill out the form below to arrange a call.

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