What multimedia can be used to increase interactivity in eLearning?
When developing eLearning and digital training one of the most important things to focus on is ensuring your learners have an interactive and enjoyable experience. When designing eLearning it can be tempting to only focus on content for the course e.g. technical terms, core concepts etc. but you also have to ensure that your eLearning is interactive and interesting for the learner. If the learner is not engaged in your course it could result in them giving up and not focusing on what you are trying to teach them.
Below are some types of multimedia you can add to your eLearning course.
1. Whiteboard Animations
A whiteboard animation is one of the most popular types of animation you can include in your eLearning course. Whiteboard animations are created using specialised authoring tools and typically consist of a blank white background, an animation of a pen drawing then goes across the screen which creates the characters, words and backgrounds. Typically, this is used to set the scene and create a scenario which conveys some sort of message to the learner. For example if you are trying to teach people about workplace safety you might have a scenario where characters act out different situations. This type of animation can then be exported and place into an eLearning course.
2. Screen Recording
Another type of multimedia you could use in your eLearning is screen recording. Screen recording involves a developer of subject matter expert using an authoring tool to record their screen. Once the recording begins the user will perform actions and display things on their screen. This type of multimedia is typically used when we want to teach the learner how to use a specific tool of system. For example, you might have a new system that employees have to use, in this case the subject matter expert would start by opening up the system, begin recording and then act out the task. After the recording has finished editing can be performed to display and highlight the key parts. The benefit of this is that learners get to se an exact demonstration of the system they need to use.
3. Animated Infographics
Infographics is something that is common in modern eLearning, infographics are typically computer generated icons or images used to help convey a message to the learner. An info graphic might be something like a small icon or could be large and explains an entire process. One way to increase interactivity in your eLearning is to combine this with animations. For example you might add a zoom in, fly out or fade in animations to the icons that happen at certain points in time. The benefit of this is that it still has the benefit of conveying a concept to a learner but reduces the chances of the page becoming static.
