Create Learning Experience that Works

With rapid pace of technology, human nature and needs have also changed a lot. No longer the age old concepts and ways of teaching are effective. The science and arts of education has moved from a teacher-centric to learner-centric design. The latest development in this regard is Learning Experience Design (LXD).

Learning experience primarily refers to any course, interaction, program, or other experience that facilitates learning. It may be traditional academic settings such as schools or classrooms; it may also be non-traditional settings such as outside-of-school locations and outdoor environments. It can include both traditional educational interactions where students learn from teachers and mentors; and non-traditional interactions where students learn through E-Learning, games and interactive software applications.

Why learning experience design is getting so high importance?

Researchers have found that human beings respond to experiences and the best learning comes from them. As E-Learning course designers, it’s time we need to think beyond just a few modules and training sessions; instead we need to create lasting and meaningful “experiences” for the learners.

Designing a Learning Experience

Learning experience design is focused on creating an experience that would lead to a desired learning outcome. Hence, the most reliable way to design an effective learning experience is to work backwards from the desired outcome. What do we want the learner to be able to do? What is the intended outcome?

These questions form the basis of our design thinking for the learning experience. We also ask:

• What does someone need to know in order to be able to do this?
• What do they need to be able to do in order to complete this?
• What equipment or resources must they have in order to deliver the objective?

Types of learning experience:

America’s Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) has categorised learning experiences in to three categories:

• Group: Here, learners engage as a group, interacting with each other, an instructor, and the material. Courses include various formats such as lectures, sessions, workshops, presentations, study material, E-Learning, games, etc.
• Individual: Here, learners engage individually, with no interaction with other learners. Typical self-study courses may include journals, newsletters, and audio and video recordings.
• Blended: here, learners engage using elements of both Group and Individual formats. The course materials may be provided in online/distance learning or in-person settings and group sessions.

E-Learning and LXD

Elearning is an integral part of learning experience design. Today’s hyper connected world demands learners also be connected to their learning content. What can better connect learners than E-Learning? E-Learning gives learning experience designer a platform for creating an immersive experience. Elearning websites and also offer different types of E-Learning which can be utilized to create a better learning experience.

How To Create Learning Experiences That Work?

As an E-Learning service provider, our focus is on how to create a learning experience that works. Here are some of our focus areas to create an effective learning experience.

1. Be Adaptive: Experience is personal, so is learning. An effective learning experience design should take into consideration the adaptability of content and delivery mechanism to suit the learners’ diverse learning styles and personal choices. A good experience is the one that connects personally and learning experience cannot be different. Adaptability is a key component in a great learning experience.
2. Encourage Social Learning: Collaboration and sharing always improves learning and also helps in motivation and engagement. A robust learning experience design should facilitate social and collaborative learning elements to enhance the overall learning effectiveness and experience.
3. Make Learning Visual: Vision perhaps trumps all other senses in learning. We are naturally attracted towards something that appeals visually. Various types of E-Learning gives us the ability to create stunning visual learning materials.
4. Learn Towards A Goal: Having a clear goal in mind help learners focus and stay motivated.
5. Heart, Head and Hands: A learning experience design should be based on the principle of Heart, Head and Hand. Learners need to first be motivated and believe learning can happen (heart). They need to understand what is happening, and why (head). And they need to know how to make it happen (hands).

Conclusion:

Designing learning experiences is an evolving and adaptive process. There are no set rules to create a great learning experience. One has to master it by learning, experiencing, experimenting what works and what does not, adapting new changes, adapting to requirements of learners as well as the intended learning outcome. One needs to consider every aspect of learning design to be able to create a lasting learning experience. And if done properly, learning experience design can bring massive improvement to the way we learn in schools, at the office and at home.