How To Create Engaging ELearning

By: Justin Ferriman • June 19, 2015
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Creating online courses today is easy. If you know how to work Microsoft PowerPoint, then you can slap together an elearning course pretty quickly.

Creating effective and engaging elearning content is a little more difficult. People pursue advanced degrees on the subject, attend workshops, and work for years in the field so as to become a better instructional designer.

In other words, just because you can drive a car doesn’t mean that you are a race car driver. 🙂

ELearning courses that engage the learner are often the most effective. Through interacting with the content, the learner is more likely to internalize the key points of the course. However, the trick is to make sure that any engagement included in the course is productive rather than a distraction.

If you are unsure on how to create more engaging courses for your elearning program, then the infographic below (created by TalentLMS) briefly outlines best-practice methodology.

This is by no means an all-encompassing document. In fact, each one of the rules listed could be expanded in quite a bit more detail.

By way of example, clearly identifying the audience and key stakeholders of a course (or entire elearning program) requires that you first have defined the overall objective for the training. Objective writing can be quite challenging.

Still, the rules listed are good reminders as you build out your courses. If you already have courses created, perhaps use these rules to “grade” how well your course satisfies each one. If you have a low score in any particular area, revisit the course and make the proper adjustments.

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter