4 innovative ways to learn interactively

Here's how to do interactive learning!

When we think of interactive learning, we often think of watching videos, chuckling at a funny GIF, or taking a multiple-choice quiz. Of course, these techniques are dozens of times better than only offering learning material to read. Still, truly interactive learning goes beyond this.

What is interactive learning?

Interactivity should enable learners to apply what they have learned in realistic scenarios, together with colleagues and experts, and to immediately evaluate the impact of their decisions.

Interactive learning consists of material that appeals to higher-order thinking skills, going beyond just remembering information and passive participation (believe it or not, even watching a video can be called fairly passive). Simply moving the mouse or clicking a button, unfortunately, isn't necessarily interactive.

Out of fear of being boring, e-learnings are often loaded with animations, GIFs, special effects, and endless PowerPoint presentations to supposedly increase interactivity. Of course, this makes the e-learning (visually) more interesting, but it can also be very distracting from the actual message, which doesn't contribute to effective learning.  

4 ways to create an interactive training

1. Doing, not watching.

Many people learn by doing, rather than by being shown how to do something. To truly make what they have learned their own, learners want to get started right away with what they have learned. And not by guessing the answers on a multiple-choice quiz, but through meaningful activities such as interactive scenarios, case studies, virtual reality environments, etc.  

2. Make it as real and relevant as possible.

The more learners can put themselves in what they're learning, the greater the chance that the learning will be meaningful to them. How does the learning material relate to their daily lives? To their daily work practice? What is this e-learning going to concretely deliver for the learner? Why should they invest time and energy in it? Make this as clear as possible from the very beginning and make this connection wherever you can. Virtual reality can play an important role here. In virtual reality, a person interacts with a 3D computer-generated environment. The learner feels like they are part of a 3D world and is immersed in this virtual world, which might represent a certain workplace, a certain process, or a certain situation.

Using virtual reality in e-learning: 

• Offers an active learning experience instead of just passively receiving information;
• Helps to understand complex concepts, topics, or theories;
• Increases learners' creativity;
• Increases interest in “boring/dry” subjects;
• Improves information retention by connecting feelings to what is learned;
• It takes learners relatively little time to understand very complex topics;
• Learners experience more fun (in learning);
• Ideal for applying gamification;
• Contributes to learners' imagination.

3. Appeal to emotion.

Use real-life news, quotes from events, real images, voices, and videos actually made at the company itself. This not only contributes to interactivity, but also personalizes the learner's learning experience, making it more relevant. It can also trigger an emotional response in the learner, which increases the level of engagement. The more real, the better. The more learners can picture themselves in a certain situation, surrounded by opportunities to put what they have learned into practice, and feel good about it, the more effective and relevant the learning experience.

“I achieved something, I contributed something, I learned something!”

4. Make it social.

Research has shown that experiencing connection while learning leads to higher intrinsic motivation.

By making online learning social, you add many benefits to your e-learning:

• It promotes collaboration and collegiality;
• It fosters connection between employees (including those who wouldn't otherwise cross paths at the coffee machine);
• It engages employees who might be skeptical of 'traditional learning';
• It offers flexibility;
• It encourages employees to take ownership of their own learning process and pursue it in a way that suits them;
• It stimulates intrinsic motivation.

How great is it to be able to brainstorm with your colleagues about what you've learned? To challenge each other to discuss the material? To remind one another how important what you're learning really is? This online connection can be established in various ways. Think, for example, of a discussion forum on an online learning platform (like Pluvo), on social media (such as a Facebook group), in an online community, and so on.

Bonus tip

Do you want to measure whether optimizing your training has led to better performance? Evaluate the results! Want to know more about this? Read our blog on evaluation in your online training.

As you can see, it is definitely possible to make e-learning highly interactive! Pluvo offers many features to support and facilitate interaction in your e-learning. Curious about the possibilities? Contact us via the chat!