Why you should use pictures in your corporate eLearning course

 

Organizations that spend time and money on their employees’ education want bang for their buck. The current best method to provide organization-wide up-to-date integrated learning environments is via the deployment of a Learning Management System (LMS) from where learners access content and undertake learning tasks. However, have we asked … how do we offer digital training that makes a positive impact on learning?

To help employees learn new skills and retain what they learn we need to rethink our eLearning methods. Visuals and pictures can play a big part in inspiring engagement. Pictures help us learn, but how can we use this knowledge in our corporate learning?

Research has shown us how people can improve their understanding of concepts and increase their engagement with teaching materials. To do this we can use pictures in a scenario (virtual simulation of real-world practices) where the learner can role-play and explore their environment whilst playing out the jobs of the professional they wish to become, or, already are. They can make mistakes (forget to administer medication, give false diagnosis, blow-up labs, etc.). This way they practice without actual real-world consequences getting in the way of their learning. 

The foundation is to use context-relevant pictures, as these help people understand concepts better. Doing this in a clever learner-centered manner, one where the technology and the content have been built around proven learning methods provides an optimal learning experience, key to learning.

Pictures can help act as ‘anchors’ to something we have already learned / been exposed to. They aid memory recall. We know that we remember things 65% better when they are attached to pictures. Pictures then provide powerful visual tools that facilitate learning. Technology opens a plethora of opportunities allowing us to integrate digital materials to aid learning. But, we need to change our teaching approach first. 

What we need to do to get our employees to learn

Research shows us practical ways of using eLearning that will give our learners great benefits in terms of their ability to learn new complex information at a much deeper level. Even for people who struggle to learn key concepts the use of eLearning scenarios (case studies where learners solve problems in a context they understand) embedded with pictures helps, as this puts more emphasis on a deeper conceptual understanding not just surface rote learning. 

We need, then, to design eLearning materials in a way that discourages learners from limiting themselves to surface learning but instead stimulates in-depth learning so that they can function effectively in the corporate environment as independent and proactive professionals.

The industry needs its workforce up-to-date with the latest skills to be productive, remain relevant and profitable. If you have been conditioned, through training, and you see the picture, a memory trigger (or anchor) is activated. You remember content that would not normally be immediately available for recall. Learning how to use pictures in training, then, could be valuable to business. So, we see that, indeed, a picture is at least worth a thousand words, as it can help us create meaningful, truly impactful eLearning experiences!

Source: www.elearningindustry.com