Technology is a tool, not a solution. To bolster learner engagement and help with intrinsic motivation, learning theories and design must be taken into consideration. So, if you’re trying to figure out how to create engaging eLearning courses for online students, browse through our 5 helpful tips and keep reading to learn more about instructional design strategies.
What Are Instructional Design Strategies?
Following a clear drawn-out, step-by-step approach tends to be the best teaching method for any imaginable subject matter. Providing the necessary framework to assist you in structuring your teaching are instructional design strategies. These tested and results-driven models outline how you should formulate your eLearning courses.
Help your students achieve course learning objectives through instructional design strategies. These step-by-step approaches are more effective than simply dumping information in the laps of your students in hopes of their understanding and remembering it. Best of all, instructional design strategies can help to make your eLearning courses more fun and simple to follow along for online learners who struggle too.
Instructional Design vs. Learning Experience Design
You might have heard of learning experience design in the eLearning space, but it’s essential to differentiate the two. Learning experience design has a stronger student focus, with much effort on understanding how students learn course materials.
The primary difference between these two design theories is that while learning experience design puts into consideration how students are acquiring information, the instructional design focuses on how educators can maximize their efforts in relaying knowledge to their audience.
Why Instructional Design Strategies Are Beneficial in eLearning
As the goal is always to be providing a positive learning experience for learners, courses must be designed to maximize learning potential. Thankfully, instructional design strategies provide the necessary framework to accomplish this mission.
Benefits of instructional design strategies in eLearning include:
Enhancing knowledge retention
Improving learner engagement
Simplifying and expediting the learning process
Top Instructional Design Strategies Used in eLearning
Instructional design strategies will be your most trusted ally, especially for those building an online course for the first time. Here are some of the top instructional design strategies used in eLearning today.
ADDIE Design
One of the most traditionally used methods in instructional design is the five-step approach known as ADDIE. This course development model is linear, with each step piggybacking on the previous one.
The five-step developmental process of ADDIE is:
Analysis
Design
Development
Implementation
Evaluation
You can learn more about the ADDIE approach in eLearning here.
ARCS Motivational Design
The ARCS model of instructional design was developed by American educational psychologist John M. Keller. Since online students tend to face more difficulty with this motivation, it is the primary focus of this design approach.
The four elements that make up the ARCS motivational design include:
Attention
Relevance
Confidence
Satisfaction
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Named after the creator, Benjamin Bloom, Bloom’s Taxonomy is a six-step approach to instructional design. Similar to the ADDIE design, Bloom’s Taxonomy is education through the perspective of each stage, building on the one prior.
The six steps of Bloom’s Taxonomy include:
Remember
Understand
Apply
Analyze
Evaluate
Create
Many educators think of Bloom’s Taxonomy as a pyramid approach, with the sixth and final step, create, at the very top. Following this approach, your course should have a mapped-out structure, with the idea that educators help guide eLearners to the top of the pyramid.
Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction
Educational researcher Robert M. Gagné is responsible for developing one of the most commonly used instructional design theories known as the Nine Events of Instruction. Those events include:
Gain your students’ attention
Tell students the learning objective
Help students recall prior learning
Present the lesson content to students
Offer learning guidance to students
Encourage independent performance from students
Provide feedback to students
Assess students’ performance
Boost students’ knowledge retention
Mayer's Multimedia Principles
The theory of 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning was developed by a Professor of Psychology at UCSB and educational psychologist Richard E. Mayer. To help create the most effective multimedia learning experience possible, course developers can integrate these 12 principles:
The Coherence Principle
The Signaling Principle
The Redundancy Principle
The Spatial Contiguity Principle
The Temporal Contiguity Principle
The Segmenting Principle
The Pre-Training Principle
The Modality Principle
The Multimedia Principle
The Personalization Principle
The Voice Principle
The Image Principle
Today, Mayer’s 12 Principles of Multimedia Learning serve as a reference for the design and development of online learning courses. Each of the principles has been carefully thought out and researched, proving the science behind each.
How ryco Uses Instructional Design Strategies to Increase Engagement and Motivation with eLearning
To ensure completion of courses and continuity in moving between modules, ryco focuses on engagement and motivation. Amongst several learning theories, ryco.io is sure to back its courses up with the facts.
That’s why we rely heavily on instructional design strategies to provide a high-level approach to how a particular subject will be taught. To instruct learnings, instructional design strategies encompass all of the following:
Methods
Techniques
Devices
ryco always refers to several learning theories and design principles when creating digital content. We stay on top of all of the latest emerging learning theories that help develop online eLearning courses. For example, all of our courses follow the ARCS Motivational Design and Mayer's Multimedia Principles.
At ryco, we take the burden of developing learning materials off your shoulders using proven learning design strategies, best practices, and decades of collective experience. Our team can help develop course material for K - 12, college and post-graduate courses, and corporate training programs.
Final Thoughts
People have been studying behavior surrounding learning for over two centuries. The emergence of new learning theories naturally comes with the transformation of how students learn today.
Here at ryco, we are constantly prioritizing engagement and motivation, ensuring our eLearning courses provide the most effective form of education out there for both students and educators. We stay current on the latest instructional design strategies to ensure our course development follows these scientifically proven approaches to eLearning.