Overview

Some interactivities that are generally used to present custom eLearning content or assess the learning include clicking tabs, clicking images, hotspots, rollovers, timeline, graphs and charts, interactive videos, flipbooks, flip cards, dragging and dropping moving objects (images/text) into bins or a drop area and so on.

In one of our previous blogs “Creating Great Custom eLearning Courses Using Varied Interactivities“, we reviewed interesting interactivities such as myths and facts, rhetorical questions, min-cases and others.

In this blog, I will share some unique custom eLearning interactivities that can be used to engage the learners better. Let’s look at them.

Puzzles

Puzzles can be used to present the content or assess the understanding of learners. Some puzzles that can be used for interactivities are word games, crosswords and jigsaw puzzles. While word games and crosswords can be used to assess the learning, jigsaw puzzles can be used for teaching purpose.

You can give some hint or clues to the learner and ask them to round up the word in the word game which consists of combination of letters. In crosswords, you can ask the learner to type the letter containing key for a given clue.

In case of jigsaw puzzles, you can use the image of related concept, and make it into puzzle pieces. These pieces are then jumbled up. Next, the learner is asked to drag and drop correct pieces into a drop area. On dropping each piece, the content can be presented. For example, to present the content related to the traits of an aggressive personality, you can use an image of an aggressive looking person. Divide the image into the number of pieces as per the traits. The interactivity allows the learner to drag and drop each piece in its correct place and show content.

You can even mention traits on each piece of the puzzle. Another example of using puzzles is to jumble up parts of equipment or a machine such as a motor bike or a car and ask the learner to assemble them correctly. Such an interactivity can be used for both teaching content and assessing the learning. This is a good example of using unique interactivity in custom eLearning courses.

Branched Scenarios

Another example of using a unique interactivity in custom eLearning courses is branched scenario. We all know about the quizzes and scenarios-based questions. These are linear in nature. But branched scenarios are quite different from them. These scenarios are built up basis the responses given by learner for each scenario. Response to one scenario leads to another unless the learner reaches the desired outcome. So, while developing branched scenarios you must first consider all possible outcomes. In other words, you need to start from end.

In custom eLearning courses, Branched scenarios can be used for presenting content related to sales of a product or service, customer complaints/satisfaction and so on. Such interactivities are great for learning as learner has to perform an action and see the consequences of his choices too. However, developing branching scenarios in custom eLearning courses require more time, is complex and a costly affair.

Jumbled or Missed Steps

These interactivities are good ways to assess the understanding of learners of a process or procedure. If there are linear steps in a process, they can be jumbled up and learner is asked to place them in correct sequence. You can also remove some steps from a flowchart and ask the learner to fill in the missed parts.

Conclusion

To conclude, whatever custom eLearning interactivity you use to present the content, it should engage the learners. They should remember the learning and apply it real-life situations. The clue is to keep the custom elearning courses interesting by having good interactivities that keep the learners engaged and interested in their learning journey.

Source: https://tesseractlearning.com/blog/unique-interactivities-for-engaging-custom-elearning-courses.html