There is a simple way to design effective eLearning courses about any subject: brain-based learning. This instructional approach was defined by Hileman in 2006 and has since inspired many “brain-compatible designers” — those who seek to understand the principle and reasoning behind their teaching.

Adult Learning highlights that adult learners are fundamentally different in their methods of learning in comparison with children. As an L&D professional, you need to understand these differences and figure out the best ways to apply them to meet your learner's needs. With adult learners, you will encounter unique expectations, demands, and challenges. The key is to accommodate these and design training and eLearning courses in a manner that is most effective and engaging for them. While there are multiple methodologies to make this happen, there is a model proposed by Lila Davachi, Associate Professor of Psychology at New York University that is known to be effective. Known as AGES (Attention-Generation-Emotion-Spacing), this model highlights four key elements that are essential for effective adult learning to happen. 

The quality of instructional design is often gauged on three things: effectiveness, efficiency, and cost.  Effectiveness has to do with how well the instruction enables learners to achieve stated goals or expected outcomes. Efficiency deals with the energy and time invested to complete the instruction while cost covers all expenses incurred for its design and delivery.  These are good points, to begin with. It's equally important, however, to zero in on the details involving the design and development of quality instruction. As with any other good design principles, there are human characteristics deeply involved here.  Richard Buchanan, a professor of Design, Management, and Information Systems, said it best: “a good design can be defined not only to be creative, stylish with an extraordinary visual look, but it must consider human engagement in its activities.” Follow these five golden principles to help you achieve high-quality instructional design:

Take a moment to step back from your role as an eLearning designer, instructor, or course developer and focus on yourself as a learner. Answer these questions:  How do you learn best? What learning activities are the most motivational to you? How do you interact with other learners? What do you struggle with when learning new information or mastering a new skill?  Understanding your own learning preferences is an excellent place to start when considering the benefits of a learner-centered eLearning model.

With an infinite supply of content available on the Internet, how will you make your next eLearning course stand out? Beyond merely being informative, your content must be engaging as well. Here are eight techniques you can apply today to make your learners love your eLearning courses.

Perhaps you’ve been here: Amidst pressure from colleagues or employees, or after reading an online article about training trends, you took the plunge. You started an eLearning program at your organization — and then watched with dismay as it fell short of your goals. What went wrong? Chances are your program fell into at least a few of these five common mistakes:

As the workplace moves faster,  Learning & Development leaders must keep up to ensure employees can adapt. High-impact learning is the answer to this. It is not only fast-paced, but it also involves strategies to increase retention rates, so your students aren’t just learning quickly, they’re able to retain and apply that knowledge. A large part of a high-impact eLearning program’s success is that it involves people in leadership and management positions which help encourage and enforce learning. Results can be recorded and continual, leading to real changes in job performance.

eLearning may seem like the course delivery solution of the moment. Students love it because of the flexibility it offers while organizations like that it is cost-effective, customizable, and scalable. However, many companies try it and fail. Why? Often, it’s because they did not do enough audience or needed analysis before they deployed the training. It may also be because they weren’t sure of their organizational goals or they never spoke to workers before they required them to undergo training. If you are considering launching your first (or next) eLearning course, there are some things you need to do if you hope to succeed.