I’m your learner, and I’m bored. I didn’t read the last three pages of text about lab safety procedures. As soon as the “Next” button appeared, I clicked it. By the way, did you really think I only needed one second to read each paragraph? You probably should have programmed the “Next” button to take longer to appear than just three seconds. I’m a fast reader, but I’m not that fast. Oh and when the inevitable quiz pops up at the end—I’m guessing on everything. This course has nothing to do with MY job.
Sound familiar? Stop throwing pages of text at your learners and try using a scenario in your next training course. A scenario can be as basic or as complex as you want it to be—depending on the information you need to cover. Here are a few tips for getting started with eLearning scenarios:
1. Map out your scenario.
Here’s a screenshot of an interesting flowchart that explores the Greek financial crisis. (Note: this is from 2012, but it’s interesting to see which of Lombard Street Research’s predictions came true and compare these scenarios to how the Greek economy actually turned out.) The interactive chart starts with just two branches, but each one explores the various scenarios that could play out depending on the two possible outcomes of the vote.
While this particular flowchart’s graphics don’t make for very exciting eLearning, you can use it as an example of how to map out your scenario. This action leads to these two options, which each have these two possibilities… and so on. That way, when you start building out the actual simulation in Lectora® eLearning authoring software, you already have an outline to reference.
2. Use real-life examples.
In my intro to this blog, I put myself in the shoes of a bored, disinterested learner and claimed your course was irrelevant to my job. To avoid this situation, ensure that your scenario is something that could happen in real life and that you are using images and characters that reasonably represent your learner’s workplace.
In research performed by psychologist Wendy Joung, firefighters were shown “best practices training” without negative consequences and a case study-based training where errors occurred and produced real-life negative consequences. The firefighters learned more, had higher retention, and were more satisfied with the “negative consequences” training. Remember—they’re performing their job in real life with real consequences and their training should reflect that!
Now, sometimes you want to keep a course very image neutral—if the course will be delivered globally to a diverse group of learners, for example. Or if you are creating a police training course and you want to avoid any appearance of profiling or discrimination, you might want to replace all your human characters with cartoon animals—Ranger Rick style.
(Image Source: National Wildlife Federation)
After all, who could be offended by a cute little raccoon wearing a hat?
In general, however, a realistic course is the most engaging. If you’re not familiar with the subject matter your course covers, find a subject matter expert (SME) who is. He or she can help you craft a scenario that feels real to your audience. Check out this blog for tips on working with subject matter experts: Getting to Know Your Subject Matter Experts.
3. Challenge your learners.
Have you ever taken a multiple choice test where it was very obvious which answer was right and which was just an absurd option the teacher put in because he was bored? Don’t insult your learners’ intelligence like that. Make each possible path in your scenario seem like it could be correct. Bill Gates said, “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” Don’t worry if your learners go down the wrong path in your scenario—they’re still learning!
If you use Lectora® Inspire 12, you have access to tons of great scenario templates in the eLearning Brothers Template Library. Even if those don’t fit your needs, Lectora makes it easy to create branching scenarios from scratch with actions and variables. The possibilities are only limited by your imagination!
Download a free trial of Lectora Inspire and see for yourself how easy it is to create interactive scenarios for your training program. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Everything eLearning Blog too, for weekly tips, free downloads, and resources to help you on your eLearning journey.
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