Back to Basics: Avoid Assumptions in eLearning Design

Listen up, eLearningdesigners. Before you get started on the design for the new training, there’s ashort quiz. Answer these true-or-false questions:

1. Whenyou’re designing eLearning for your employees, it’s safe to assume that theyknow how to use these technologies:

• Smartphone
• Wordprocessing software (e.g., MS Word or Google Docs)
• Computermouse
• Multi-linedesk phone

2. Mostadults know how to search the Internet on a phone or tablet.
3. It’ssafe to assume that your employees are familiar with social networks and how touse them, including posting, tweeting, and chatting.

If you think thatany of the above statements is true, you’re in good company—and you’re wrong. Unlessyour employees are in jobs that require them to use technology daily, it’s notsafe to assume any knowledge. And even if they are, some assumptions might bemisplaced.

For instance, it’s “commonknowledge” that so-called digital natives, those born after about 1990, emergedfrom the womb texting and adroitly balancing a half-dozen social media accountswhile simultaneously watching a video and doing their homework. So of coursethe new marketing assistant, a woman in her late 20s, knows how to use MS Office,right? Wrong again.

“In the Millennialworld in particular, we see expectations that they know how to use thesoftware—Word and Excel and PowerPoint and all that—because they’retechno-literate in theory. In reality, they are mostly self-taught on thosethings; there’s a gap,” said eLearning pioneer, longtime educator, and Guild MasterJean Marrapodi. “When I taught in college, students would use their computerlike a typewriter—using spaces instead of tabs, for example. They didn’t know alot of things, but they didn’t know that they didn’t know: That’s how theythought it worked.”

When targetingtraining to adults in their 40s and older, eLearning designers cannot safelyassume any technical knowledge unless the training is specifically gearedtoward a technical audience. Learners who’ve spent their careers in medicine,retail, or trade or industrial jobs, for example, might have learned to use specifictools or instruments for their work, but that does not translate to ease withemail, social networks, or even a computer mouse. The starting line foreLearning really is teaching the most basic skills and knowledge:

• Whendesigning an eLearning kiosk that forklift operators can use to complete safetytraining while recharging the forklift battery, consider the wording ofinstructions—and any assumptions implicit in the training or instructions—carefully.If you are asking learners to “click on” or “highlight” text or buttons, ortelling them to “navigate to” a specific location, explain what those termsmean and how to do that.
• Ifyou’re designing simulation-based training for volunteers who staff anemergency hotline, take a look at the phone system—and include instructions forputting a call on hold, transferring a call, or any other action they mightneed to perform while staffing the call center. Let learners practice thesebasic tasks as the first level of training so that, when they get to the practicecall scenarios, they’re not flustered by the button combinations and can focuson the essential content.
• Whenyour hospital or clinic switches to electronic record-keeping and requires thenurse practitioners and physical and occupational therapists to do their record-keepingand enter patient notes on tablets, start with basic lessons on how to createand modify documents, how to use a touchscreen or mouse—even how to turn on thedevice and get to the right forms.

If employees’ jobshave not been technology-based, it is not reasonable to assume any, even themost basic, knowledge of technology.

For some learnersand some tasks, eLearning might not be the right solution. For employees on thefloor of a home-improvement store, for example, a “cheat sheet” on how toperform some customer transactions or transfer calls might be more appropriatethan an eLearning module, even one delivered to their mobile phones. Whenperforming occasional transactions, one manager says, she regularly asksanother employee for help; she’s also drawn up her own crude sketches as memoryaids. She’s probably not the only one. A simple diagram posted at everycheck-out terminal would save time and reduce employee frustration.

But for the manyareas of training where eLearning can be beneficial, it’s crucial to ensurethat all learners can engage fully in the training. To do that, they need to beable to turn on the machine and get to the first screen. They need instructionthat normalizes their lack of technical knowledge; if they become frustrated orfeel stupid because they don’t understand that the mouse moves the cursoraround the screen or know what a “double click” is, they will not engagewith—or retain—the eLearning. Adult learners also need the option to skip pastthe basic material if they do havesome technical savvy; wasting their time on info that they already know willsap their motivation.

Andragogy differsfrom pedagogy in key ways, one of which is granting adult learners greaterautonomy and control over their learning. Respect employees’ intelligence, lifeexperience, and autonomy by ensuring that eLearning is focused, clearly stateswhat they need to learn and why, and presents information clearly andengagingly—without assuming too much.

A tall order? Maybe. But when eLearning isdesigned with the widest variety of learners in mind, engagement will increaseand frustration will decrease. A well-designed eLearning module can help createreal change, but only if learners are willing and able to complete it.