Designing Effective E-learning: Guidelines for Practitioners Free

When designing e-learning, or any type of learning for that matter, it is imperative that the learning and performance outcomes are understood and agreed on by the instructional design team and the client from the very beginning of the project cycle. By understanding the specific learning requirements, instructional designers can then map out successfully how to best meet these learning and/or performance goals according to the requirements of the learners. Each type of performance or learning outcome will require a different instructional strategy (Gagne, 1985).

Information transfer is the most basic of learning tasks. During information transfer, learners are usually passive participants in the learning process. They are given information, either in verbal, written, graphic and/or pictorial forms. At the end of the transfer session, learners are then required to retrieving this stored information. Unfortunately, most of what passes as e-learning today is nothing more than the passive transfer of informational content from an electronic source to a learning population, regardless of the knowledge or performance outcomes expected. These learning modules usually have a fixed content and structure, offer no interaction or collaboration, and are usually not facilitated (eLearnity, 2001). There are instances, however, when this approach is logical and effective. These instances might include: teaching new policies, cultivating corporate culture, or giving directions.

Teaching basic skills can range from something as mundane as learning how to tie one’s shoe, to something as complicated as learning how to use a new telephone transfer system. When creating e-learning geared to basic skill acquisition, the structure of the course should be fixed, the content can be fixed or flexible depending on the learners, and there should be supportive cooperation and directed facilitation (eLearnity, 2001).

Advanced skills development requires that learners be able to do more than read information from a screen or projector. It requires them to build on current levels of knowledge and expertise. As instructional designers, when creating e-learning for this learning and performance outcome, it is important to go beyond just providing static content and standard assessments. Learners here need dynamic course structure and content—one that can adjust or be modified according the level of expertise or need. Learners will need to be in collaborative learning environments where they can share and learn from their peers. Also, these e-learning initiatives need to be virtually facilitated. At this level, it would be easy for learners to get lost (eLearnity, 2001).

Adaptive expertise encompasses a range of cognitive, motivational, and personalityrelated components. The thing that separates adaptive expertise from mere competency is the ability to apply knowledge effectively to novel or atypical problems. When creating e-learning for this learning and performance category, designers must provide dynamic structure and content as well collaborative and facilitated learning experiences (eLearnity, 2001).

These four preceding performance and learning categories lead nicely into the next section of this article, which addresses the issue of instructional methods. As an instructional design practitioner, when addressing a particular learning or performance outcome (category of instruction), one must match it effectively to corresponding instructional methods for learning to occur (Gagne, 1985)

According to Clark (2002) there are three distinct elements to any e-learning lesson: instructional methods, instructional media, and media elements. Unfortunately, for a long time, a lot of emphasis has been placed on the latter two categories, with less emphasis on the former. Despite the fact that several studies have concluded that there are no significant differences in achievement between students who take courses face-to-face or via e-learning (Chute, Thompson, & Hancock, 1999; Clark, 2002), designers and clients often get caught up in the tools at the expense of how to best utilize those tools to achieve the learning and performance outcomes desired. E-learning lessons that are jampacked with all the latest bells and whistles, but lack sound instructional design principles, will not maximize the effectives of information processing or learning (Shute, 2003). It is not the medium that causes learning to occur, but rather it is design and instructional methodology that make the difference (Clark, 2002).

Instructional methods are strategies, means, and ways to deliver new information in ways that foster learning. This could be through the use of examples, by providing opportunities for rehearsal and practice, and via simulations (Clark, 2002). When designing effective e-learning, the literature points most often to the following three instructional methods: learnercentered design, scenario-based learning, and problem-based learning. Learner-centered designs offer lots of practice with individualized feedback, while scenariobased and problem-based learning integrate self-study and collaboration, along with the use of simulation to accelerate learning (Clark & Mayer, 2003).

Learner-centered design is focused on the nature of the active learning process and the unique qualities of individual learners. A learner-centered approach builds the learning experience around the learners and not around the content. Don Norman states that, “The first step in learner-centric design is to understand how learning takes place…. It is very important that people learn not by reading a book and not by listening to a lecture, but by doing tasks that can engage the mind” (in Hsi & Gale, 2003, p. 7). Hsi and Gale also point out that learners need more “scaffolding” at the beginning of instruction. Scaffolding is an instructional technique in which the desired learning strategy or task is modeled by the instructor, then is gradually shifted to the students. This scaffolding serves as cognitive structural support, stepping stones and building blocks on which learners can comfortably constructs new knowledge and expertise. As learners grow in competency, this scaffolding should be faded out and then removed altogether (Hsi & Gale, 2003). Learner-centered design understands the need to offer learner support while at the same time encourages independent learning. Instructional methods should foster interest in the learning task and motivate further inquiry (Hsi & Gale, 2003).

Traditional page-turner types of e-learning modules are increasingly being replaced by a more dynamic learning experience known as scenario-based e-learning. This approach does away with the telling and showing, and offers learners opportunities to learn by doing relevant tasks, making mistakes, and then redoing them until mastery is attained (Kindley, 2002). Scenario-based learning is learning that occurs in a contextual, situational, or social framework (Kindley, 2002). It springs from the concept of situated cognition, which proposes that knowledge cannot be fully understood outside of its context (Kindley, 2002). Knowledge then is constructed as a natural byproduct of doing natural tasks that are expected to be performed in the learners’ natural learning, working or social environments. In this way, scenario-based learning is very similar to the experiential learning model. Accordingly, both adhere to the notion that learning occurs as a result of performance. The outcome, therefore, is focused on improved performance, not on the acquisition of knowledge and skills (Kindley, 2002). Scenarios may be built around a story, a role play, or a simulation. The focus of the activity must be to help learners contextualize the learning content. The more “authentic” these scenarios, the more likely it is that learners will transfer new knowledge and skills back to their real-world environments (Brodsky, 2003).

Problem-based learning is centered on solving “real-world” problems. Learners are given ill-structured, authentic problems to solve by finding the necessary knowledge and applying it appropriately. This approach encourages higher critical thinking, analytical, and reasoning skills. As in the learner-centered approach, problem-based learning utilizes scaffolding to reduce cognitive load and improve learning outcomes (Merrill, 2002a). This scaffolding comes in the form of instructor guidance that is faded out as learners attain competency. It is important to provide this guidance early on in the instructional cycle, because novices may spend a lot of time looking for solutions without actually learning (Sweller, 1988). The key to successfully utilizing this methodology is to move from the simple to complex and from guidance to independence. As learners gain expertise and ownership over the learning process, make the problems more realistic to reflect real world conditions (Merrill, 2002a).

At the root of every decision about the design of e-learning courseware should be the sound understanding of what is learning, how it takes place, and what research tells us about what factors lead to learning (Clark, 2002). Learning theories attempt to explain how learning takes place. The two learning theories that will be discussed here are behaviorism and cognitivism. How can behaviorism and cognitivism be best utilized for designing effective e-learning courseware?

According to behaviorist learning theory, learning is the ability to perform new behaviors (Skinner, 1954). These changes in behavior are a result of constantly manipulating environmental conditions. Pleasant experiences (such as rewards or praise) are positive reinforcements. The goal of the behaviorist is to cause learners to make desired connections between stimuli and responses. Unpleasant experiences (such as punishment) are negative reinforcements. The introduction of negative reinforcements causes learners to avoid undesirable responses to stimuli. Continuous reinforcement increases the rate of learning, while intermittent reinforcement contributes to longer retention of what is learned. Both positive and negative reinforcement can shape behavior, and result in learning.

Behaviorist learning theory has great influences on e-learning. Basic tenets, such as individualized instruction, operant conditions, feedback, a linear approach to instruction, and instructional prompts all work well in the context of e-learning. E-learning relies on observable changes in behavior as the basis for instruction. Performance and/or behavioral objectives are used to describe learning outcomes. Assessments, evaluations, feedback, and reinforcements are all geared toward facilitating new learner behaviors. Most online instruction is built around this behaviorist framework. Learners are given information, solicited for a response, they receive feedback, and then are either positively or negatively reinforced.

Cognitive learning theories seek to explain how the brain processes and stores new information. Cognitive psychologists wanted to explain learning beyond the limitations of behaviorism and its focus only on observable behavior. Piaget (1985) suggested that the learning process is iterative. New information is shaped to fit with the learner ’s existing knowledge, and the existing knowledge is modified to accommodate new information. Interactive Webbased tools such as automatic feedback and interactive activities allow learners to modify their behavior by assimilating and accommodating new information from their peers and/or instructor.

This learning theory also has great impact on how e-learning is designed. One aspect in particular, cognitive load theory, is especially applicable in e-learning environments. Cognitive load theory revolves around manipulating intrinsic, extraneous and germane cognitive processes (Van Merrienboer & Ayres, 2005). The goal is to decrease extraneous cognitive load and to increase germane cognitive load. Strategies to accomplish this might include: taking learner expertise into consideration, moving from simple to more complex tasks, chunking information into easily assimilated chunks, presenting information bit by bit, and building on prior knowledge.

For e-learning to be effective, it must be grounded in sound learning, teaching, and design theory. According to Bednar, Cunningham, Duffy, and Perry (1991), “effective design is possible only if the developer has a reflexive awareness of the theoretical basis underlying the design” (p. 90).

Designing effective e-learning requires that it be grounded in a sound design approach. The need for instructional design as a necessary component to effective e-learning design is now being realized (Siemens, 2002). The successful design of e-learning relies on the careful consideration of underlying pedagogy of how learning takes place online (Conrad, 2000). Instructional design, in this context, is “the act of combining the elements of content and display to effectively present the instructional content in a way that promotes learning through organized instructional resources and a user interface that is not confusing, dissatisfying, or cognitively taxing” (Mehlenbacher et al., 2005).

Instructional design models for e-learning closely follow those of traditional classroom learning. The steps of planning, implementation, and evaluation are present in most instances. From a design perspective, various models can be used, either alone or in tandem, during the design process (Siemens, 2002).

ADDIE is a generic model that is used by instructional designers as a guideline to building effective instructional materials. The acronym stands for analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate. The design phase deals with learning objectives, assessment instruments, exercises, content, subject matter analysis, lesson planning, and media selection. The design phase includes planning strategies for attaining the stated learning and performance outcomes. This process should be systematic and precise. It is this phase that instructional designers must apply instructional strategies that best fit the intended learning or performance outcome. The domain of learning must be considered, whether cognitive, affective, or psychomotor, for effective matches to be realized. The design phase then is focused on documenting specific learning objectives, assessment instruments, exercises, and content (Siemens, 2002). Many in recent years, however, have accused ADDIE of being too rigid, too systematic, and too linear, especially for use in online environments (Kruse, 2000). As an answer to this, many designers are modifying the traditional ADDIE model and utilizing rapid prototyping as a viable option.

Rapid prototyping … involves learners and/or subject matter experts (SMEs) interacting with prototypes and instructional designers in a continuous review/revision cycle. Developing a prototype is practically the first step, while front-end analysis is generally reduced or converted into an ongoing, interactive process between subject-matter, objectives, and materials. (Thiagi, in Siemens, 2002, p. 2)

Rapid prototyping borrows from the best systematic processes of the ADDIE model, and is usually an extension of the design phase. In its simplest form, a rapid prototype is a quickly assembled instructional module that can be tested with the student audience early in the ISD process (Kruse, 2000). Designers are typically looking for how learners respond to instructional strategies, learning activities, and how well the technology chosen fits the learning requirements. Based on feedback, designers can then go back and make necessary changes as required. This process continues until there is agreement and confidence in the prototype. Designers do not move to the development phase until this process is completed (Kruse, 2000).

Just as there are many models for designing traditional classroom instruction, there are now many models for designing e-learning instruction. Many build on the traditional ADDIE model, with some modifications. Although they are varied in their approach, all emphasize the following issues (Engelbrecht, 2003). Needs Analysis. A needs analysis is needed to answer questions related to the demand for instruction, the need for online delivery, and the cost of design, development and implementation.

Learner Analysis. A learner analysis seeks answers to questions about the learners. What are their ages, gender, culture, prior knowledge, learning patterns and styles, goal, and motivations?

Institutional Support. This investigates support structures related to the vision and the mission of the organization, implementation costs and sustainability, training for instructors, and technological infrastructure.

Pedagogical Choices. Pedagogy choices must meet the need of the learning outcome and the target audience. Key considerations include: learning models, delivery methods, interaction, and assessment (Engelbrecht, 2003).

Instructional design, when implemented correctly, serves the learning needs of students through effective presentation of content and the fostering of interaction (Siemens, 2002). Another component necessary in the designing of effective e-learning is the utilization of sound instructional theory.

What is instructional theory and why is it important to practitioners designing e-learning courseware? Well, as for the first, it depends on who you ask. According to Richey (1986), theory can either explain relationships among variables, or how to do a procedure. Seels (1997) describes theory as an explanation of phenomena that help us understand and deal with the world. Reigeluth (1997) says that design theory is goal-oriented and tries to offer means for accomplishing a given end. As for the second, Winn (1997) would argue that theory is important to practitioners because a lot of the things we design just don’t work. A discussion of the instructional theories of Gagne, Merrill, and Keller, and their application to designing effective e-learning courseware follows.

Robert Gagne’s instructional theory was not rooted in any particular learning theory, although he was considered a behaviorist. Some of the major contributions of Gagne to the field of instructional technology are: cumulative learning theory and learning hierarchies, the domains of learning, the conditions of learning, the events of learning, and learning enterprises. Gagne is most famously known for his domain of learning, events of instruction, and conditions of learning.

The Domains of Learning. This theory illustrates Gagne’s views about the different categories of learning outcomes and their influence on instruction (Richey, 2000). According to Gagne, learning can be categorized under the following outcome headings: verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitude, and motor skills. Each learning outcome required a different instructional approach. Gagne felt this was a necessary component to the design of sound instruction because different parts of a content area are subject to different instructional treatments, similar parts can be found among different content areas, and different domains of learning require different techniques of assessment of learning outcomes. There can be no one way of measuring what has been learned (Richey, 2000). For example, in the cognitive domain, learners should be offered the opportunity to develop new solutions to problems; in the attitude domain, learners need be exposed to credible role models or persuasive arguments. Unfortunately, most e-learning concentrates on the basic level of learning, which is verbal information, and even skills that require changes in cognitive strategy or attitude are designed according to the verbal information domain. This explains a lot of why most e-learning is ineffective.

The Events of Instruction. Utilizing Gagne’s nine steps of instruction in e-learning will aid learners’ acquisition of the requisite knowledge presented (Gagne, Briggs, & Wager, 1992). These events of instruction are: gaining learner ’s attention, inform the learner of the objectives, stimulate recall of prior learning, present the learning stimulus, provide learning guidance, elicit appropriate performance, provide feedback, assess the learner’s performance, and enhance retention and transfer (Gagne et al., 1992). These steps are necessary to designing effective e-learning, while providing e-learning that is chock-full of the latest technology that is not grounded in sound instructional design will not produce the desired learning and/or performance outcomes.

The Conditions of Learning. Gagne distinguishes between two types of conditions: external and internal (Gagne, 1985). The internal conditions observe attention, motivation, and recall, while external conditions focus on the arrangement and timing of stimulus events. His phases of learning included: receiving the stimulus situation, acquisition, storage, and retrieval. For practitioners designing e-learning, this is extremely important. Instructional design practitioners must pay close attention to how instructional events are designed. Aligning internal and external conditions in the learning environment is critical for designing effective e-learning.

David Merrill has evaluated hundreds of instructional products and have found that an alarming number of them are ineffective and do not teach at all. While reviewing a number of instructional design theories and models he tried to find fundamental principles to which all of these various approaches agree. As a result, he called these principles the “first principles of instruction.” Merrill is also widely known for his component display theory and instruction transaction theory.

First Principle of Instruction. According to Merrill, in the instructional phase, the most effective learning environments are those that are based around a problem and offer learners four phases of learning: activation of prior knowledge, demonstration of skills, application of skills, and integration of these skills into the real world (Merrill, 2002b).

Component Display Theory. According to Merrill’s component display theory (CDT), learning is sorted into two categories: content and performance. Content includes such this as facts, concepts, procedures, and principles; while performance focuses on remembering, using, and generalities (Merrill, 1983). The theory specifies four primary presentation forms: rules, examples, recall, and practice Secondary presentation forms include: prerequisites, objectives, helps, mnemonics, and feedback (Merrill, 1983). The theory asserts that instruction that contain all primary and secondary forms will yield more effective learning results. By first deciding on what learning and/or performance outcomes are to achieved, choosing the most appropriate strategies to reach those outcomes will then become much easier. For designers of e-learning, Merrill’s CDT can be utilized effectively. One of the strengths of e-learning is the learner control. CDT stresses learner control. The theory propones that by giving learners control over the number of practices and examples they receive, this will result in more effective learning (Merrill, 1983).

Instruction Transaction Theory. According to Merrill, Li, and Jones, instructional transactions are patterns of learner interactions that are designed to facilitate the learning of a certain kind of knowledge or skill (Merrill, Li, & Jones, 1991). This theory asserts that different kinds of knowledge and skills require different kinds of transactions. A transaction shell is the structure of a transaction, which identifies the interactions parameters and knowledge representation needed for any given class of transactions (Merrill et al., 1991). The transaction configuration system provides instructional designers with a wide range of instructional parameters. These parameters control the nature of the interactions with the learner, and allow transaction shells to be tailored to a particular student population, learning environment, and learning task (Merrill et al., 1991). Transaction theory was created around the use of interactive technology, and thus is uniquely applicable to e-learning environments.

John Keller ’s ARCS model is a problemsolving approach to designing the motivational aspects of learning environments to stimulate and sustain students’ motivation to learn (Keller, 1983, 1987). Motivation is a desire to reach a goal, and is divided into two parts: extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the learner, while intrinsic motivation comes from within the learner. The four components of the ARCS model are attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction. Motivation is an essential variable in the successful completion of any educational task (Briggs, 1980). Keller asserts that his model offers instructional designers systematic guidelines for designing the motivational components of instruction (Visser, Plomp, Amirault, & Kuiper, 2000). Even though technology offers a variety of ways to deliver effective learning opportunities, learners face the same motivational issues in e-learning environments as they do in traditional classroom environments (Visser et al., 2000). Therefore when attempting to design effective e-learning, it is imperative that the designer keep learner motivation and the use of motivational strategies in mind. Motivational strategies should be incorporated in the design of instructional materials, as well as in the steps that guide learners through the learning process to deliver the best outcomes (Visser et al., 2000).

E-learning involves the interplay of conceptual and procedural knowledge, in both the instructional content and the instructional environment. Care must be taken in the design phase to ensure that choices made are based on sound learning theory, instructional methods, instructional design practices, and instructional theory. E-learning is not about the technology, and should not be driven by the technology. Instead, effective e-learning is created only when the pedagogy of the course drives the design (Nichols, 2003). Therefore, instructional design practitioners should keep the following in mind as guidelines for effective e-learning design.

At the center of any e-learning environment is the learner. It is therefore imperative that e-learning courseware be learner-centered and not content-centered. By paying close attention during the learner analysis phase, will allow designers to create e-learning courses based on learner characteristics, and not based on the content and the technology.

Unfortunately, many e-learning courses fail to identify learning and performance goals (Clark & Mayer, 2003). If design practitioners do not know where their learners are going, how can they affectively map out the best route to get them there? By neglecting this step, the result is courseware that does not build knowledge or skills. The result is e-learning that does not foster learning at all.

A byproduct of knowing the learning and/or performance goal upfront is being able to select appropriate instructional methods. By selecting appropriate instructional methods, such as learner-centered design, scenario-based learning, and problem-based learning, learning is accommodated. E-learners will be more likely to reach the learning and performance goals more effectively and efficiently (Clark & Mayer, 2003).

At the root of every decision about the design of e-learning courseware should be the sound understanding of what is learning, how it takes place, and what research tells us about what factors lead to learning (Clark, 2002). Learning theories attempt to explain how learning takes place. Utilizing concepts of behaviorism and congitivism appropriately will influence the success rate of e-learning courseware.

Designing effective e-learning requires that it be grounded in a sound design approach. The need for instructional design as a necessary component to effective e-learning design is now being realized (Siemens, 2002). The successful design of e-learning relies on the careful consideration of underlying pedagogy of how learning takes place online (Conrad, 2000). In most instances, instructional design models for e-learning closely follow those of traditional classroom learning. The steps of planning, implementation, and evaluation must be present to increase effectiveness.

According to Richey (1986), theory can either explain relationships among variables, or how to do a procedure. Seels (1997) describes theory as an explanation of phenomena that help us understand and deal with the world. Reigeluth (1997) says that design theory is goal-oriented and tries to offer means for accomplishing a given end. It is important for practitioners to implement sound instructional theory into their everyday practice because a lot of the things we design just do not work (Winn, 1997).

By following these guidelines, e-learning designers will create learning courseware that delivers the learning and performance results wanted. They will also help to facilitate learning and build knowledge and skills that can be transferred back to the learner ’s real world environment (Clark & Mayer, 2003). Also, by following these guidelines, learning will be more effective and efficient for the learners. This will no doubt have a positive effect on learner motivation and decrease attrition rates (Clark & Mayer, 2003).

Emphasizing the systematic use and interaction between pedagogical models, instructional strategies, learning theories and instructional theories will produce a more grounded approach to design of effective e-learning. Practitioners must adopt a “theory-into-practice” design framework in order to craft effective elearning courseware. E-learning, like all other forms of learning, must be grounded in sound epistemological frameworks in order to be effective (Bednar et al., 1991). As practitioners, e-learning designers must develop an awareness of what theories underpin learning and instructional design. By developing this awareness, a true marriage between theory and practice can take place. It is only through the systematic blending of sound learning theory, instructional design theory, and instructional design practices, that effective e-learning courseware can be obtained.