How To Create A Learning Story for eLearning
In ELearning Strategy a learning story can be defined as a complete (but fictional) sequence of actions undertaken by one or more characters in pursuit of goals that are set against the context of a situation or an environment.
Learning stories often involve other people including peers and mentors whose behavior influences that of the main character(s).
They typically start with some form of problem, task or challenge faced by the character then show how that character intends to deal with it before illustrating how they actually go about it to achieve their goal. What follows is either success or failure - where failure may lead to additional challenges and opportunities for learning.
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A learning story can take many different formats e.g it could be a straight-forward elearning scenario, a video clip, an interactive tool, a series of online learning activities, a learning activity/interactive tool in an eLearning platform / LMS or even a PowerPoint presentation.
Learning stories are often used where the elearning process is far more important than the learning outcomes because they provide participants with situations and scenarios that test their abilities e.g learners might need to learn how to make cocktails using cocktail making tools but they first need to master how to use these tools before getting access to real cocktails.
For eLearning the learning story is usually:
Purposeful - What's the purpose of including this in the learning; why is it important? What value will it add to them?
Clear - How do I know what I'm expected to achieve on this course/project/assignment etc.? What is my objective? How will I be evaluated or assessed? Will there be any feedback?
Relevant - Is this learning relevant to me, my job role, project? How will this improve me/my performance in real terms? Will it help me meet any key learning objectives for the course/project etc.?
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Characteristics of a learning story
A learning story has three main characteristics: A learning story has a beginning, middle and end. It also includes captions and epilogues.
The beginning: It should have a message or elearning objective at the beginning which sets up the situation for the learners. This could be an e-learning course starting with information about how important building sandcastles.
The middle: The 'middle' of the learning story could feature interactive scenarios that use different types of media e.g. text, graphics or animation to get participants involved in finding solutions to help them build sandcastles better and overcome challenges. The elearning story could also provide tools, tips and insights at this stage to help them do so e.g. a learning tool containing relevant information on screen while participants are learning how to build sandcastles using their web browser or ELearning platform LMS.
The end: The learning story should end with an evaluation that checks for learning e.g one-minute questions where learners highlight what they found out from the interactive scenarios that can be used as a final test before reaching the end of the learning experience . This allows you to check whether your learning objectives have been met and if not why not?
Captions: You may want to incorporate learning captions into learning stories which summarize learning tools e.g. learning captions could be used at the end of learning scenarios to check whether learning objectives have been met.
Epilogue: The learning story can also contain an "Epilogue" which is like a short review that provides feedback on the learning experience i.e participants can get actual useful information before they start participating in their next course, assignment or project.
A good epilogue should tell learners what they've learned and how it applies to them (through learning captions) while helping them reflect on what has taken place throughout the learning story's interactive scenarios e.g if your participants fail to build sandcastles using a certain tool you might want to highlight exactly why this happened so that they don't make the same mistakes again.
Benefits of learning stories
Useful for different types of learning: Learning stories are useful for different types of learning situations e.g training workshops, professional job shadowing or mentoring programs. Learning stories can also be used by teachers as part of formal lessons with groups of students if they are prepared well enough. It is important to remember that this type of learning activity should not replace conventional methods of teaching/learning but it is an opportunity for high-level participation within interactive scenarios that closely resemble real life examples.
Prepare learners for future challenges: Learning stories prepare learners for future challenges by showing them how to think critically during fictional contexts e.g learning characters can respond to their own actions/decisions using different phrases depending on what they do or say because this influences the direction in which the story unfolds . When properly facilitated, learning stories allow participants to formulate complex thoughts and ideas in a supportive environment while practicing skills and learning strategies that can be applied in future learning situations.
Perfect for a wide range of age groups: Learning stories are particularly effective when learning participants represent a wide range of age groups, learning levels or learning styles because it is capable of providing all learning objectives while incorporating the use of learning materials/tools, learning activities and learning strategies. Learning stories are also useful for encouraging collaborative learning between different learning characters e.g there are many interactive scenarios where more than one character needs to respond to their environment independently but they must work together to reach certain objectives.
Beneficial to professional development organizations: Professional development organizations could potentially benefit from this type of learning activity because they can use it as an incentive to encourage employees to participate in self-directed study by using virtual reality technology such as 3D graphics during its interactive scenarios e.g learning characters could be learning about job shadowing opportunities where mentors help them to develop learning plans during its learning activities e.g learning character 1 is learning to create elearning content while learning character 2 is learning how to use specific tools or learning resources .
Perfect for one-to one learning scenarios: Learning stories can also be used for one-to-one learning scenarios by pairing learners together, helping each other along the way using digital learning materials/tools such as virtual reality technology e.g learning character 1 could be an expert in online elearning course development who assists learning character 2 in becoming familiar with different types of storytelling techniques within virtual reality environments. This type of collaborative approach can help learners feel valued because they are mutually working towards a common goal which helps to boost their self-esteem and learning confidence within learning situations.
Used for educational purposes only: Learning stories should only be used for educational purposes and not for entertainment because it needs to maintain a high level of credibility in order for participants to suspend their disbelief while using creative approaches such as creative writing techniques. If learning characters do something ridiculous within its interactive scenario, learners may lose interest which could result in them feeling intimidated about participating in future learning activities that require meaningful participation from both parties.
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Conclusion
One of the best ways to stand out among competitors is by creating unique learning experiences for your customers.
We are here to help you find creative content strategies, create engaging stories and develop interactive exercises that will keep people coming back again and again.
Our team at TheLearning LAB wants nothing more than to see your brand succeed in this competitive digital world, so let’s get started! Leave us a comment below or reach out with any questions about how we can be helpful.