Practical Tips to Create a Robust and Effective eLearning Strategy

Robust eLearning that engages learners is the foundation of any successful learning and development program, given the rapid need for upskilling and reskilling today. However, when an eLearning strategy is not executed properly, it can affect the overall learning culture of the organization.

With that said, this blog will look at practical tips to implement effective online learning strategies for learners that can help bolster your eLearning program.

Spend Time on Strategizing

Let’s start from the start! It’s never a good idea to come up with a temporary approach to L&D. In the absence of a strong eLearning strategy, it’s tough to foster learner engagement, encourage learning outcomes, or even onboard new hires.

A strong L&D strategy should be the starting point of all learning initiatives. And this calls for the involvement of stakeholders from various concerned departments including L&D, HR and even IT. An L&D strategy that is brainstormed by a cross-functional team will prove be much more effective and impactful.

Focus on Learner Experience

Although said often, it’s never enough: learner experience is seminal in eLearning. To ensure that the learning and development initiatives are interesting enough for your learners, you can try and put yourself in their shoes before designing them. Also, your LMS should be user-friendly and effortless to engage your learners.

After all, the key to offering employees a successful and rewarding career in your organization lies in providing them with continuous learning opportunities with the help of a good learner experience. For this, you will need to focus on a holistic, learner-centric approach when designing those opportunities.

Go Mobile

The importance of Mobile Learning especially in this disrupted corporate learning space cannot be overstated. Learners today are immensely dependent on their mobile devices. They prefer to take their learning anytime, anywhere, as per their convenience. So the best thing to do is harness the power of mobile and make it an important element in your L&D strategy.

A good mobile learning solution provides learners with the opportunity to learn on the go through their mobile devices. They can access content, complete learning activities, and share their thoughts with their peers by just pressing a few keys.

Inculcate the Social Element

While formal learning has and will always remain a cornerstone of learning, the value of Informal Learning has increased especially during the pandemic. At a time when formal and in-person learning activities have been impossible, social learning has been a savior for organizations. In general too, a lot of effective learning often takes place outside of the classroom.

So, if you haven’t already incorporated Social Learning in your L&D strategy, now is a good time to start. An eLearning solution that includes social learning components helps drive learner engagement by helping knowledge retention and encouraging peer-to-peer interaction.

Include Micro

We know it’s been said often, but it’s true. Attention spans of modern learners are small and they have probably grown smaller in the pandemic considering most have spent months on end at home watching content online. With the wide variety of choices for content and so much knowledge at their finger-tips, millennial and Gen Z learners do not prefer learning content that takes up a lot of time to absorb.

This is where microlearning fits perfectly. It’s all about providing learning content in small, bite sized portions that are easy to consume, digest and retain. This includes short videos, audios, and visuals that can provide basic instructional snippets in under 1 or 1.5 minutes. These content pieces connect better with learners in direct ways, and ultimately ensure knowledge is absorbed and retained.