Crafting the Total Learner Experience

I design a lot of eLearning... but I also am a learner myself, and find myself taking quite a few online classes (especially since I'm pursuing a graduate degree online).

One of the reasons I think your eLearning probably sucks is because you may have not considered the "total learner experience" when you designed it.

Recently I had a moment of epiphany. You know what I mean, I’m sure you’ve had them as well. For me it led to what you’re reading now. I was in line at Starbucks, closing in on being late to a meeting, trying to beat the clock and get a jolt of caffeine before having to commence with my standard dog and pony show, when it hit me: Too often during my busy day, while I grind out deliverables, get content written, check off to-dos... somewhere along this busy road of work life that I travel every day, I lost a sense of purpose.  

As I left Starbucks with my venti, non-fat, triple shot, it became so clear to me: where was the learner? Did he or she even matter anymore? I had lost the sole purpose of what I should be doing: making sure I create the type of learning intervention that would not only transfer knowledge to improve performance, but also engage and motivate to action. It really should be all about the learner!

As you consider for yourself what a "total learner experience" may mean, keep your focus on the learner. Put the brakes on just a bit, slow down, and ponder what you’re doing to them. You may be causing more harm than good.

The bottom line is: until organizations synchronize their business goals with practical, usable employee training focused on engaging and motivating learners, business will continue to suffer compromised performance.

After my insightful Starbucks moment, I began to ponder what a learning experience should mean for the learner. Many instructional designers are focused only on the course content, and not on the Total Learner Experience, or TLE. The learner's experience with a course begins the moment that student starts to access the course. I formulated this definition for the Total Learner Experience:

A successful Total Learner Experience should promote the cohesive integration of informational resources into the overall structure of a course delivery system. A course delivery system contains every component designed to facilitate a learning intervention, including the interface access point for the course, which could be a learning management system, corporate intranet, or a simple web page.

Successful consideration and application of the Total Learner Experience enables the learner to:

• easily find, access, and consume the appropriate learning intervention.
• be engaged, motivated, and enthusiastic throughout the learning intervention.
• transfer understanding into action after the learning intervention is completed.

The critical aspect in implementing a successful TLE involves crafting a non-corrupt, pure, instructional message that meets the objectives for both the organization and the learner.

I'm surprised how often I'm asked to create "shovelware"... just take manuals or slides, add some narration, and then throw them online. On the other extreme, I've seen considerable resources put into high-resolution, non-interactive "video-based" learning that may be pretty, but still perpetuates the "learn by listening" nonsense that has become the buzz of the day.

When you begin your design, be sure to try and keep the total learner experience in mind. It may help you formulate more relevant learning interventions.

Sharp content or content that remains focused on the learner should pass these Six Rules of Design Simplicity:

Six Rules of Design Simplicity
Show meaningful context	Is the information relatable to the learner’s real-world or on-the-job experience?
Present evidence and credibility	Are you able to demonstrate subject matter expertise and relevance to the learner? Will they trust your message?
Remove invasive user interface clutter	Is navigation intuitive? Is the user interface closing in on your content?
Remove irrelevant visuals	Do the visual media support the instruction?
Strip out jargon and corporate-speak	Do acronyms, marketing language, and industry buzzwords run rampant in your content?
Remove barriers to content	Can the learner easily access the content without unnecessary log-ins, restrictive or confusing LMS design, intrusive pop-ups, and uninstalled plug-ins?