Winning eLearning courses come in different types and packages, each of which perfectly suits the learner. All of them, however, share notable similarities—universal traits that explain why they are effective and what makes them better than the average. Below is a quick list of traits you definitely should consider for your next project.

What works better is usually obvious. But we as humans fall for what’s easy and what’s readily available. This is especially true when it comes to designing learning materials. Course designers and developers continue doing what they’re doing because it’s convenient, not because it’s effective. Below are what we consider the four top trumps or elements that work better in eLearning.

Certainly, most of us have once attended a long and boring training session (virtual or face-to-face), where the students are merely passive observers and are given little or no opportunities to participate. The truth is, this type of instruction hardly makes an impact on the audience. For effective learning and retention you need interaction. This is what makes the experience more worthwhile and valuable for the learner.

In the world of education theory, writers and researchers talk a great deal about learning dispositions, those tendecies of great thinkers and learning that help them learn more effectively. In essence, a learner disposition is the attitude or mindset the student brings to an educational environment to make him or her more likely to retain the new information. Kratz defines dispositions as “relatively enduring habits of mind or characteristic ways of responding to experience across types of situations.”

Boring eLearning is a huge problem for learners and instructors alike. Most of students, quite understandably, avoid them like plague. Everyone in the teaching and training profession knows this. The problem is, why are people still creating boring courses?

Effective eLearning, or learning itself, is a process. It’s made of stages and a set of interrelated principles, all of which completes the learning process. This means you can’t skip a stage or miss a principle if you want learners to make the most out of your content. When they're properly applied in a course, student learning increases.

When it comes to eLearning, quality definitely matters. eLearning professionals are not only tasked with creating useful, relevant and meaningul content, but they are also responsible for addressing learner motivation and making sure the learning experience has a lasting impact.

It’s no secret that students learn best when they can set their own goals. But did you know that you can help students find effective learning strategies? That you can actually help them get the most out of their lessons?