As we are now solidly in the 21^st century and the Technology Age, there are increased discussions about the use and integration of audio and video technology into learning plans. Should you? When? Where? How? I think it’s time to take a different perspective.

In the 2020s the use of a conversational tone is encouraged, and generally preferred, in both written and oral presentations. Over the last 30 years or so these norms have shifted significantly and presenting in a formal tone now would likely be uncomfortable for the learners (and presenters). It would feel “old fashioned” and that could lead to the belief that your content is also out-of-date.

It is now commonplace for some degree of technology to be integrated into learning experiences. Companies are making all kinds of content interactive – online, in training or education, and interactions with customers and employees on all kinds of social media. The year 2020 was a crash course on how to provide distance learning at a moment’s notice. A transition to technology which might have taken 10-15 years to become widely adopted, occurred within just a few months, not just across the country but across the world. As we move forward, it’s important to incorporate basic instructional method as most appropriate to your specific audience (Fiorella, L. & Mayer, R., (2018); Merrill, M. D. (2012); van der Meij, H., et al. (2018)).

The subject of when, where, and how to perform knowledge checks is also under discussion – make sure questions/activities are structured so that they actually test the information being presented. (Brame, C. J. (2015); Merrill, M. D. (2012)). An area getting a deeper looking-at is learner control over course pace – within individual sessions and in the bigger learning program. (Brame, C. J. (2015); Fiorella, L. & Mayer, R., (2018)).

While there have been some changes to learning theories and methodologies, the biggest change that's occurred is in the tools available to transmit content. The larger cultural shift that’s been taking place is encouraging people to be the individuals that we are in all aspects of our lives. In acknowledging the individual comes the acknowledgement of individual learning styles. This is the core of recent eLearning studies and reports (Fiorella, L. & Mayer, R., (2018); Merrill, M. D. (2012)).

It’s not so much that human beings have evolved or that how people inherently learn has changed. The cultures of humans that have shifted as technology is being integrated into everything from vehicles to vacuums to toothbrushes. eLearning is here to stay. Let’s focus on how we can maximize the technology for the learners without overwhelming them. That means understanding your audience. More to come…check in again next week!

References

Bétrancourt, M., & Benetos, K. (2018). Why and when does instructional video facilitate learning? A commentary to the special issue “developments and trends in learning with instructional video.”

Brame, C. (2015). Effective educational videos. Vanderbilt University. Retrieved August 31, 2021, from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/effective-educational-videos/.

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2016). E-learning and the science of instruction: proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. John Wiley & Sons.

Fiorella, L., & Mayer, R. E. (2018). What works and doesn’t work with instructional video. Computers in Human Behavior, 89, 465–470.

Li, E. (2021). Virtual reality photo by Eren Li from Pexels.

Merrill, M. D. (2012). First principles of instruction. John Wiley & Sons.

Spiske, M. (2021). Computer code photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels.

van der Meij, H., Rensink, I., & van der Meij, J. (2018). Effects of practice with videos for software training. Computers in Human Behavior, 89, 439–445.

Venita, O. (2017). Pencil drawing of male image by Oberholster Venita from Pixabay.