It’s no secret that the average eLearning course isn’t as good as it needs to be. Far too often, eLearning is boring, predictable, and unengaging, yet for some reason we’re still surprised when it’s ineffective. Instructional designers need to lose the “text and next” mindset—no more filling up the page with lots of text, only to have the learner click Next after they’ve “consumed” the material.
We tend to forget when designing eLearning that it’s not the information that is inherently important—it’s the application of that information that ultimately matters. For most learners, we only have about two minutes to draw them in before they begin to tune out. Once we lose them, it’s incredibly tough to win them back.
So why doesn't the learning & development industry develop better eLearning? To put it bluntly, boring eLearning is easier, quicker, and cheaper to make. You know the other objections: “My subject matter is too technical!” “I don’t have the fancy software!” “My company’s culture doesn’t go for that!” But these are all just excuses. We can and must do better.
You can start by giving your eLearning some character… more specifically, some instructional characters. Your characters are more than simply faces on the screen—they’re agents who provide instructional advice and guidance in support of the learning initiative.
There are five main types of instructional characters for eLearning:
- Talking head—This is a single person, often an executive, speaking directly at the learner.
- Video—A more complex version of the talking head, video might include multiple characters interacting and perhaps performing an activity.
- Cartoon or avatar—This is the often first thing most people picture when they think of instructional characters, and most of the major eLearning design platforms have no shortage of these characters.
- Stick figure—A silhouetted or very basic version of the cartoon or avatar, stick figures are more rudimentary in appearance but carry the inclusivity benefits of being gender-neutral, racially ambiguous, and ageless.
- Static image—Also known as stock photography, the static image provides more realism than cartoons or stick figures but often without the expense of talking heads or videos.
Developing Your eLearning Characters
Take care not to make your instructional character one-dimensional. Think about who they are, so that when it comes time to write their script, they have some personality and realness to them.
First off, you'll want to consider what kinds of characters will resonate with your audience, and that means conducting a basic audience analysis. What might they want to see from a character, personality-wise, and what is the kind of character they might connect with?
You should consider the characters' demographics—their gender, their age, their race—or, if you’d rather demographics not come into play at all, you may want to simply use stick figures. An eLearning that will be taken predominantly by Millennials might be more effective featuring young people as characters, for instance. Unless there is a compelling reason not to, mix up the use of male and female characters.
Likewise, take special care to aim for racial diversity among the characters; as the plurality in the United States, white characters are more prevalent in stock images and preloaded avatars, so make an effort to seek out other races. Also, consider the roles of the characters in relation to their races, as it could be perceived as condescending to consistently have characters of a given race in positions of authority or as subordinates.
Note that it’s not enough to come up with great instructional characters, though. We also need to consider the scenarios we put them in—without a situational simulation or learning experience that is engaging and allows the learner to make decisions along the way, the characters are little more than window dressing.
When designing ideal scenarios, make sure they are realistic, first and foremost. Beyond that, consider the types and range of decisions the characters would need to make, as well as the consequences if they get it wrong. If a lesson has life-or-death ramifications, the scenario needs to reflect that gravity and seriousness.
Whether you’re using audio narration, quote bubbles, or a basic transcript, the characters’ dialogue needs to be realistic. Have them speak like they would in a real-life setting—use contractions whenever possible, and don’t be afraid to use casual speech patterns, such as starting sentences with “so,” “and,” or “but.” Most importantly, read your dialogue aloud; if it sounds awkward to you, it will sound awkward to the learners.
When providing feedback, whether in the form of a character’s scenario or to the learner following an interactive event, make sure the feedback is realistic, meaningful, and helpful.
Above all, aim for authenticity in your characters, their speech, and the scenarios you put them through.
Ways to Use Your Characters
How you use your eLearning characters is ultimately limited only by your imagination, but here are a few common character usages:
- To open the course—Have the characters deliver a greeting, introduce the content and learning objectives, and establish the scenario or storyline of the course. Think about ways to be creative here; you can really pique the learner’s interest by diving into the scenario right off the bat, even before dabbling in the mundanities of course outlines and learning objectives.
- To conduct wrap-ups—Use the eLearning characters to summarize the instruction, allowing their personalities to come through. This is an opportunity to restate key points, not only for retention purposes, but also as a natural way to inject some laymen’s speak.
- As a guide or mentor—Characters can give advice and instruction, talking through difficult concepts using a conversational style.
- In a quiz—Place the characters in realistic scenarios and challenge the learner to help them solve the problem.
- To explain a specific concept—Let your characters speak in everyday language to clearly convey complex ideas.
Finally, the most effective way for your eLearning to be effective is to make it unexpected. Find ways to add creativity, ingenuity, and even a little humor into the course. Think about what the learner expects to see, and then come up with ways to twist those expectations into something more memorable and engaging.
Topics: Instructional Design, eLearning