Posted by Ashley White on Jul 1, 2015 10:27:00 AM

5 Out-of-the-Box Ideas from Instructional Design Consultants

Have you been craving a unique way to engage your learners? Are your courses blending together? It's time to take off the rose-colored glasses and see your training program for what it really is. Our top instructional design consultants have discovered 5 out-of-the-box ideas that will wake you up from training déjà vu.

1. Get Gamified!

The truth is, the use of gamification is everywhere. And it's growing - the gamification market is predicted to reach $2.8 billion in direct spending by 2016. Why? Because gamification really works. It encourages users to engage in desired behaviors by showing a path of mastering, and by taking advantage of our human psyche predisposition to engage in gaming. 

What do our instructional design consultants use to make their gamification unique and successful? They include items such as leader boards, badges, levels, challenges and the possibility to level up.  Incorporate those items with game-like dynamics such as competition, urgency, rewards, pride and status- building. Successful gamification can turn work into fun and make learning a joy. The potential is enormous.

Interested in implementing gamification within your organization? Download our checklist for evaluating gamification platforms!

Gamification Platform Checklist

Read more about the benefits of gamification...

2.  Unleash the Power of Unique Training Videosdreamstime_s_33551451

If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine how much you can communicate through the use of video! Research has shown that we remember visuals much easier than words. Specifically, after 3 days, we tend to remember 10% of the information we see in word format whereas we remember 65% of the information we see in both pictures and word. Use videos (as per title) as a transportation vehicle.

Use your imagination and envision transporting the learner to places where he or she could not physically travel. When you are asking the learner to “travel someplace else in their mind” and to visualize a concept, but you only describe that concept in words, it may be difficult for some learners to make the required leap. Videos will make concept visualization easier. Let’s end the death by PowerPoint once and for all.

 

3.  Personalize Your Training With Localization

What will help your learners perk up? Or make them feel special? Try making your learning course unique to them and their location.  Add in local flavor with phrases, photos, and slogans. This is especially important when you’re creating training for learners in another country, but try using those same techniques and ideas for learners in your city. 

Our instructional design consultants make localization a success by localizing spelling, adapting graphics to the target learning group, including visuals of their city, using learning examples that include a popular landmark, converting local currencies and units of measure, and by adding regional language. Localization will make the content relatable to the learner which will yield higher learner retention rates.

4.  Are you Wise to the Wiki?

A wiki is a collaborative website that collects and organizes content, and is created and revised by its users. Wikis are a way to grow a knowledge base around a particular content area, be it best practices in a particular field or how to use specific software. Our top instructional design consultants have uncovered the following benefits to using a wiki:

  • Information is easily accessible
  • Require basic programming skills for installation and maintenance
  • Develop a good sense of community
  • Can be effortlessly updated
  • Interchangeable and can be applied to just about any content area

Wikis can increase learner engagement and collaboration in your current learning initiatives. You may want to enlist the help of a team of instructional designers to implement a successful learning strategy to get your organization off to the right start. 

Read more about using wikis for learning initiatives…

5.  Get Them Moving!

Research has shown that movement can help learning occur by providing the learners brain with more oxygen and increasing blood flow throughout the body. Time to wake up those sleep-deprived employees! 

Even simple movement can have a big impact. Try having learners stand and find someone they don’t know well and introduce themselves, instruct participants to stand up when they answer yes to a question, role play a sales pitch, and/or provide morning and afternoon exercise breaks of at least 20 minutes. Get them moving and you will find participation will increase!

Whether you have 30 employees or 3,000, utilizing these out-of-the-box tips from our instructional design consultants will help you create a unique and effective learning experience for your employees.

Do you need to hire a top instuctional design consultant for your next training initiative? Download our "Top 5 Interview Questions for an Instructional Designer" today!

Interview Questions

 

Topics: instructional designer, Gamification, instructional design consultant, top instructional design consultants

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