Six Highly Effective Strategies to Create Immersive eLearning

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Six Highly Effective Strategies to Create
Immersive eLearning
You might be intimidated by the concept of
immersive eLearning. It's often paired with
expensive-sounding initials like VR, AR, and XR
(virtual, augmented, and extended realities,
respectively). While that technology is becoming
more attainable with time, you don't have to lay
down 400k for expensive equipment that will be
old news by next year. Immersive learning isn't
the sole purview of VR technology. It's an
eLearning strategy that can be executed with the
right authoring tool.
What is Immersive Learning? At its root,
immersive learning is a purposeful replication of
the way humans learn most naturally by observing
and by doing. The best way to learn a language is
immersion in a culture that speaks it. It's how
babies learn to talk, too. As adults, we
primarily pick up new skills and
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knowledge "on the job," as they become relevant
to our lives. As an eLearning strategy, immersive
learning shakes up the passive way we often
interact with the digital world. It uses
simulation, storytelling, games, and branching
scenarios to make learning interactive -often
while remaining a one-person activity.
The Advantages of Immersive eLearning Immersive
eLearning has a few advantages over the "real
life" kind. It opens up possibilities for
immersion where the scenario is dangerous or hard
to replicate. It can be used to prepare learners
for stressful or precarious situations they'll
encounter later. They can think choices through
in a safe environment. They can learn
consequences without risk to themselves or
others. Immersive eLearning isn't exclusive to
life and death issues, of course. For more
mundane learning objectives, it facilitates the
practice of skills and decision-making with
experienced guidance.
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And as a bonus, it spares everyone the
awkwardness of roleplaying with fellow students
who are as clueless as you are! But how do you
build a successful and effective immersive
learning experience?
Effective eLearning Strategies for Immersive
Learning Even without the pricey VR gear,
immersive eLearning is interactive and complex,
which naturally makes its development more
time-consuming and expensive. You want to make
the most of that money. Below, you'll eLearning
strategies that increase engagement and improve
the learning experience.
eLearning Strategy 1 Go Back to the Basics Even
when you add bells and whistles, the basics of
course development remain know your learning
audience and establish clear objectives. Then
keep your eye on the ball.
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We know you know this. But there's a temptation
with immersive eLearning to add flourishes that
don't have any real purpose. Chasing the "wow"
can easily lead to some expensive detours. They
also decrease the effectiveness of the course.
Adult learners are goal-oriented, and they'll
lose interest if you insert unnecessary small
talk or move them from place to place without a
clear purpose. Every minute of instructional time
should help you achieve learning objectives and
connect to your audience.
eLearning Strategy 2 Tell a Story Whether you
have the learner "observing" or "doing" in a
simulation, immersive eLearning will involve
storytelling. The experience needs a narrative
flow. It needs characters, conflict, and a
logical resolution. Real life isn't always that
clear, but it doesn't matter. As an eLearning
strategy, storytelling is a highly successful way
to convey knowledge. Why? Because a story...
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. makes abstract concepts memorable. . helps
people understand the relevance of information in
their lives. . arranges a series of events (or
steps) into a logical order. . provides context
for knowledge, which triggers recall at the right
moment. . creates an emotional connection that
aids in the retention of knowledge. . makes
learning just a little bit more fun. Storytelling
literally changes how your brain reacts to
information. That's why it's such a fantastic
memory aid.
eLearning Strategy 3 Be Visual There are a lot
of ways to tell a story. You can present it as a
series of photos, make it a comic, play it out as
an animation, film a traditional narrative video,
or use a lapel camera to put learners in the
action. You can also tell a story in text. (We
call those novels!) That is certainly the most
cost-effective option.
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But let's face it, your immersive eLearning
narrative isn't Stephen King. In most cases, the
subject matter will be a lot drier. That's why
telling your story in a visual format is an
excellent eLearning strategy. Visual presentation
holds learners' attention more readily. Visuals
convey more information at a glance. They can
also provide a sense of place, which can help
trigger recall.
eLearning Strategy 4 Make It Realistic In order
to make immersive eLearning effective, it needs
to be realistic and relevant to your learners.
You should focus on scenarios they'll actually
encounter on the job. It can be tempting to
dramatize things for the sake of an exciting
story, but if you exaggerate the stakes or the
circumstances, your audience will have a harder
time connecting to the experience. They'll also
have a harder time applying what they've
learned. You should also avoid making the
scenario too mundane or easy. You'll lose your
audience. Plus, if your average learner can
identify a common sense
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solution immediately, there are probably better
uses for your instructional time. The key is
making scenarios challenging while sticking to
the realistic. To find scenarios that resonate,
you need to do your homework. Study your target
audience first-hand. Learn about their problems.
Ask what skills they weren't adequately prepared
in. Use online surveys and workplace
observations. Tap into focus groups of
experienced frontline employees to refine ideas
and details. You'll get far better engagement and
better results by ensuring that your immersive
eLearning activities are relevant to the learning
audience.
eLearning Strategy 5 Give Them
Choices Presenting the learner with a decision is
an excellent strategy for keeping them engaged in
the learning environment. It also appeals to the
trial-and-error method of learning that comes
naturally to most of us. Realism is still key
here - don't make the "right" answer too obvious.
The choices need to seem
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plausible to maintain the challenge and allow for
experiential learning. Likewise, the consequences
shouldn't be exaggerated. Use focus groups or
other research mechanisms here, as well. What are
the most common "wrong" solutions people apply to
a particular problem? You may also consider
providing some answers that aren't "right" or
"wrong." Perhaps there are three answers - one
with negative consequences, one that works but
could be better, and one that's optimal. That
model is not only very realistic, it may provide
learners with additional context or information.
eLearning Strategy 6 Provide Context for
Answers Out in the real world, experiential
learning can be a shot in the dark - you don't
always know why something worked or why it
didn't. But this isn't the real world, this is
eLearning! Here, you have the opportunity to make
the reasons behind every consequence clear.
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If learners are "observing," let them see the
characters' reasoning as they make decisions. If
they're "doing" by way of making choices, explain
why wrong answers are wrong and right answers are
right. The "why" can often make the difference
between the ability to apply knowledge correctly
and rote performance.
The Right Tools for Immersive Learning Immersive
eLearning doesn't have to be delivered with VR
goggles. It can be served up on desktop, tablet,
or mobile. But do you have the right authoring
tool to bring it to life? Our authoring platform,
dominKnow ONE, has the features you need to
create responsive, interactive scenario-based
learning. You can start with out-of-the-box
widgets like our Scenario Builder. With this
widget, you can easily create a multi-step
decision-tree-based scenario. You only need to
design the content, because the widget's wizard
steps you through the rest. To move beyond
wizard-based scenarios, you can combine advanced
actions, triggers, and conditions
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with variables, time-based conditions, a built-in
timeline, and more to design an immersive
experience that will pull your learners into
their training and prepare them to better handle
new and unique situations. Check out some
examples of eLearning scenarios we've made for a
taste. Interested in learning more? Contact us
today for a free trial or a demo with our experts.
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