Back in 2009, a study was published that revealed how 6 out of 10 students find lectures boring. There are many factors that can make learning boring. One could be the content itself. Sometimes, learners are mentally distracted and it compromises their ability to concentrate. When they cannot get the lesson, they immediately assume it is boring.
Regardless of the reason for the boredom, it is important for you to be prepared for that. Do not leave room for the learners to get bored. If the content itself is boring, you need to present it in such a way that will make it interesting. That way, even if there are distractions, the content will keep them focused on what they are learning.
So how can you create an elearning course that will not end up boring the learners?
Make it relevant
The relevance of the course will always pique their interest. No matter how boring the subject matter is, if the learners know that it is relevant, they will pay attention to it. That means you have to highlight the relevance. You need to tap into something that connects the lesson to the learners. One way to do this is to make characters in the lesson that can identify with the learners. Another thing that you can do is to use examples that tap into situations that the learners can relate to. It could be something about a current event that the learners have heard about. This can make the lesson seem more relevant.
Stick to the essentials
Sometimes, even the most interesting topic can turn boring when it is too long. Stick to the essentials to keep the course as short as possible. The attention span of learners today are getting shorter. Make sure they will have no reason to feel the boredom by keeping the fluff away. When you get down to the gist of the lesson, the learners pay attention immediately. In case their attention does go down over time, at least, the important facts have already been delivered. If there are other things that they need to expound on, give them the resource links that will allow them to explore it. This allows self-learning and will make them feel more in control of their learning experience.
Tap into their emotions
Another technique that you can use is to tap into the emotions of the learners. For instance, if you are discussing the law, you might want to start by discussing events that influenced the creation of those laws. Drawing out the humanity of the learners will make the elearning content relatable. Statistics, history, and other boring subjects can benefit from this technique.
Use stories
Finally, you want to make sure that you use stories. This is one of the most effective ways to avoid a boring lesson. There is something about stories that can tap into the emotions of the learners. If done correctly, stories can also connect to the right outcomes that they should be aiming for. Not only that, when the stories are able to draw out emotions, it makes the lesson more memorable. After all, you do not really rely on the concept but more on the emotions while you are learning them.
Try out these techniques to help make your elearning content interesting enough for learners. Keep things from being too boring because that can compromise the effectiveness of the course.
Image courtesy of Loe Moshkovska from Pexels