Adding realistic scenarios, problem-based games, and tasks to eLearning will likely improve learning transfer. It prepares employees for situations they might encounter and for situations they have not yet experienced. Realism also adds credibility and trust to a training course, a key factor in motivation.
After you’ve completed an analysis, you should have a sense of:
- Your audience’s everyday tasks, as well as the challenges they must solve
- The specialized vocabulary of their field or workplace environment
- What goes on behind the scenes
- The audience’s attitudes about work
- What makes them laugh.
All of this is fodder for your creative brain. With lots of observations and anecdotes in hand, you’ll be ready to add realism to your online learning products. Here are some strategies for doing so. Some are simple, some are complex.
Simple Case Studies
A simple case study presents a realistic situation (modified to protect the innocent) that does not require interaction. It is a quick and cost-effective way to add a touch of realism. Present a common scenario relevant to the learning objective and simply ask learners to consider and reflect on what they would do in a similar situation. If the case study is dramatic, this can add interest and motivation.
During the instruction or exploration segments of a course, use case studies previously gleaned from participant interviews. Present situations and their outcomes as examples of what has or could happen. In addition, provide optional case studies for motivated participants. At an appropriate point in the course, allow the learner to delve a little deeper and read, watch, or listen to a case study (perhaps in a pop-up window) if they choose to do so.
Solve A Problem
Asking learners to think through a problem and solve a problem takes the case study a step further. When learners practice a variety of real-world skills in training, it will expand the repertoire of their problem-solving strategies at work.
The simplest form of problem-solving is the two-choice approach. Provide a scenario modified to fulfill a particular objective and give learners two choices. Each choice triggers appropriate feedback. Consider going beyond the right-wrong paradigm to surprise your audience. Provide situations where the outcomes are shades of gray (as life usually is). Consider using case studies where there is no correct answer. Instead, the result of each choice, presented as feedback, could be better but at least partially resolves the problem.This is an effective way to improve learning transfer.
Scenario-Based Simulations
Scenario-based simulations allow learners to explore lifelike situations that branch down multiple paths depending on the user’s actions. In Forklift Safety training, for example, each choice in the forklift simulation would result in a more dangerous or less dangerous situation. In a software simulation for new bank employees, the learner could add funds to the correct customer’s account and end there or add funds to the wrong account, causing negative repercussions in other parts of the system.
Scenario-based simulations with complex branching and multiple steps take more time to implement than the two approaches just described. The well-executed simulation, however, will be more effective at facilitating learning. See more ideas and ways to implement scenario-based eLearning.
Video Interviews
Consider recording a video-based interview with a customer, client, or employee to add riveting moments to an online course. The interview should showcase a realistic scenario related to the instructional goals. For example, if the course teaches how to handle angry customers, you might interview employees about the difficult situations they encounter and how they handle them.
You might interview an angry customer who received an inferior product but became a repeat customer because someone handled them with care. It’s important that these interviews do not come across as organizational propaganda—that’s a turn-off. Instead, they should focus on adding credibility, fulfilling the instructional purpose, and motivating the audience.
Side note: Be sure participants sign a consent form before the recording starts. For advice on producing videos, see How to Stop Making Boring Videos. Listen or download the transcript.
The purpose of adding realism to eLearning is to improve learning transfer. We want learners to gain sufficient skills, insight, and strategies through training that reflects their everyday world.
Leave a Reply