An eLearning course is enhanced by intentional and targeted interactions. By including effective interactional pieces throughout an eLearning course or module, the learners’ attention is engaged and sustained, leading to better learning outcomes. As part of EDCI 569 – Introduction to eLearning, I designed and developed an eLearning course about effective communication strategies in a corporate context. This module represents my competency in the challenge area of “Apply appropriate interaction design and interactive learning principles.” From streamlined navigation and clickable items to interactive online practice activities, my module engages the learner and makes the content come alive.

Interactions provide a way for learners to engage with the learning content. Properly sequenced and intentionally designed interactions can promote sustained engagement with the content, not just the course itself. Engaged and attentive learners typically experience better learning outcomes. The eLearning course I designed and developed is aligned with these ideas and principles. Beginning with the overall theme and navigation, the images and colors gain the learners’ attention. Properly engaged, learners then can freely navigate the course. Instead of restricting movement to a specific order, I designed the course for learner-determined movement, thus keeping learners interacting with the content at their discretion and pace. Navigation in the module is intuitive, as the Articulate Rise platform features a very user-focused experience. Scroll bars indicate the need to scroll down, Continue buttons are placed at the end of each lesson indicated the conclusion of the lesson, and I used a left-oriented Menu column to show available lessons and the progress bar. Directions are included for all interactions, including the Start Course button and the concluding summative assessment. Additional interactive elements include flip cards, collapsible tabs, and an image with clickable markers. These click-to-reveal interactions are used pointedly so they strike a good balance between motivating the learner and feeling new and fresh, so the learner does not disengage. These interactive components are effective in this module because they deliver the appropriate content, but do not overwhelm the learner by creating a surplus of text that could otherwise cause the learner to disengage.

The most effective interactive elements in this course represent skill growth in how I design interactive eLearning modules. For these more robust elements, I chose to embed a Storyline block in the Articulate Rise course. Of note is the assessment block, which moved past memorization-level assessment items and instead focused on real-world application and relevant scenarios. These types of interactions, whether in an assessment or otherwise, require the learner to not just repeat knowledge presented in the course, but take that knowledge, apply it to a situation, and think critically about the outcomes or impacts. This idea is captured in the real-world branching scenario and scenario-based assessment questions. Considering previous projects in light of my current skill growth, I can identify a specific project that would have benefited from my deepened understanding of effective interaction. I worked on a project (in the leadership development area) that made heavy use of different kinds of click-to-reveal information. I used the interactions for much the same purpose as I did with this challenge artifact module. However, looking back, I believe I overused interactions and lacked purpose in how I selected them. If I ever had the opportunity to revise that project, I would apply different interaction strategies and a more meaningful summative assessment.

The streamlined and clear navigation, targeted interventions, and real-world interactive summative assessment capture and sustain the learners’ attention. The effectiveness of the design and development choices made in this module encouraged me to continue to critically assess my choices and application of instructional strategies. To continue my development as a designer, I plan to be a reflective practitioner of instructional design, never accepting “good enough.”