In an age where continuous learning is widely becoming a mutual goal for both employers and employees, it is vital for a company to supply learners with a structured eLearning environment. Part of what conveys a stable structure of the learning environment is the ability to optimize the learning time and efficiency. Workers, in general, work hard and are consistently busy people leading busy lives. Taking time to learn something new, either concerning their work or for self-improvement, may also be consuming time where the worker could be actively accomplishing a key task.

Anyone seeking to create meaningful and engaging eLearning courses can benefit by remembering what it is like to be on the other side. It is bad practice to subject learners to any training that you would not participate in yourself. It’s time you stop blaming the “boring” content and commit to stop tormenting the learners who are required to take your course! Our job as eLearning designers is to FASCINATE and DELIGHT the learner from beginning to end. In the excitement of launching a new course, it’s easy to overlook details. Therefore, it can be very useful to have a checklist for last-minute touches.

It's so easy to assume the content is all that matters in an eLearning course. But, how information is presented affects its effectiveness. The design, for instance, influences how students interact with information. Think about one of your existing eLearning course designs: Is it too cluttered? Or is it designed to properly guide learners toward clear goals?

Usability applies to any user interface, from a door handle to an airplane cockpit - or an eLearning course. It means, simply, how easy it is for users to get what they need out of the device. How usable your eLearning course is, is one of the most important factors that make or break your entire program. Usability is so critical in eLearning because every minute students spend learning to use the software is a minute out of their time spent learning the content. What is Usability? Usability is a measure of how well a specific user in a specific context can use a product/design to achieve a defined goal effectively, efficiently and satisfactorily. If you are in the middle or just starting an eLearning course, before you go any further, ask yourself if you have covered the 5 E's of usability. Use these as guidelines or standards to make sure your course is as easy to use as you can make it.

So, you’re at your desk, cruising the Internet, and suddenly a random ad flashes on your screen, totally catching your attention. So much that you’re inclined to click on it to learn more. It’s happened to all of us many times before. And despite continually blowing off ads, when they lure us in, most of us will admit, “That was good!” as we click for more. When was the last time someone caught your attention in a second? It’s not that easy nowadays, but creating attention-grabbing eLearning content can be an easy task by applying some proven tricks.

Though building an eLearning course isn’t necessarily an easy task the first time around, it doesn’t have to be a frustrating experience. Like most things in life, creating your first course simply requires structure and a little know-how. If you’re here, you are probably a beginner and eager to learn more about how to create effective eLearning courses. In an attempt to make your journey easier, we’ve compiled five essential tips to help diffuse the drama around successful eLearning development.

Understanding the target audience is one of the cardinal rules of effective eLearning development. Knowing your learners helps you to shape your message in a way that's most likely to resonate with them. Also, having a thorough knowledge of your audience before you prepare your course, will help you to choose the appropriate informational material, figure out the most effective instructional strategy, design an audience-sensitive message, select the right media to transmit the message, and create a learning environment where learners feel supported.

Learning has deep roots in our emotions. Plato knew this 2,000 years ago, but it is only recently that neuroscientists have discovered conclusive evidence to support this premise. Science all along knew that emotions are triggered after the brain processes the information it receives. (We knew this too, from experience.) Now a revolutionary study by Dr. Shlomo Wagner of the University of Haifa has proven that a person’s emotional state directly influences how his/her brain processes information. Emotions are either pleasant (positive) or unpleasant (negative). When a person experiences positive emotions, the person learns well. When the person experiences negative emotions, the learning is not so effective. According to Dr. Wagner, the brain responds differently to different emotions.