Learning, as a process, comes with many emotions. It is partly up to the learners to manage their own, using resources, if necessary, that can help them achieve their learning goals. However, actors in the educational community have increased importance in the management of emotions in learning. This is all the more crucial in online training since it is a technological environment that could be perceived as being void of feelings and that needs to be infused with “emotional intelligence”. To meet this challenge, this type of training must first and foremost inspire confidence in those who follow it. Here are some ways to get there!
Guide the learners
- Make sure the training interface follows tested usability approaches and presents the course features (see The Basics of Ergonomics in Online Training).
- Greet the learners through a video presentation, for example, which will give them an idea of where they are going, what the learning goals are, and what resources are available.
- Integrate a guiding figure: be it a narrator, a character that the learner can identify with or an animated character. This reassuring figure could come back throughout the training, giving in the form of capsules explanations and relevant advice.
- Make sure the resources and tools built into the training are easy to find and use.
- Provide brief but clear explanations of future exercises, instructions to follow, and how assessments work.
- Warn the learners if something coming up requires more attention from them.
Give them control
- Let the learners choose certain elements of their training: the order in which they complete the modules, the possibility to access enriched training capsules or additional exercises to prepare for an exam, etc.
- Invite learners to temporarily set aside the training and take the time to deepen their thinking or to free their minds, and that is because integrating new knowledge requires moments of reflection and pause.
Inject pleasure into the course
- Add fun elements where the learner does not expect: give a humorous tone to a few questions or feedback, add a mimed sequence to indicate whether the answers are good or not, create playful performance indicators, and so on.
- Think about micro-interactions. For example, to fill in the downtime due to different resources being downloaded, present comical or surprising facts about the content, the course design, or even the learners who follow it.
Inspire confidence: the advantages of online training
Online training allows …
- The design of standardized training that rigorously applies the chosen pedagogical approaches. Learners are all entitled to the same experience!
- The presentation to the learners of various tools and paths to promote the emergence of pro-learning emotions.
- The cultivation in learner of a sense of control over their training.
- The creation of a friendly, engaging and interactive world that learners can embrace.
- The integration of various types of resources that are accessible at all times.
