Simulations in E-Learning

Video games and simulations can enhance the learning process in e-learning environments, when the content in the simulation directly relates to the lesson and provides practice. In my story board on how to make gluten free brownies a simulation or video game may add fun but would not add to the lesson. If you add a simulation that does not enhance the content, it distracts from the learning. 

In school my daughter does a lot of online learning and at times her lessons there is a game or simulation, in her science lessons she has simulations that show how to create an experiment and she does it in a virtual lab. These simulations allow learners to experience activities or learning that they would not otherwise be able to experience.Video games and simulations have several benefits to learners, they allow for real time decision- making, and eye-hand coordination. In every e-learning experience there needs to be a balance between the text, narration, graphics and multimedia.

Design Considerations

When designing a presentation it is important to remember to not overload the learning with to much input, so when I designed my storyboard I relied on the multimedia principle, this principal helped to to selected the correct words and graphic that allow the learner to connect with the material, but not to overload them. I choose graphics that were relevant to the text and not so they are not a distraction to the materials being taught. My graphics were simple clean images that added to and did not deter from the content.

I also utilized the Contiguity Principle, by placing the graphics next to the text they relate to the learner does not have to process the information separately, the reconnect them. By placing the graphics in close proximity to text it brings relevance to the text and allows the learner to quickly process the material and apply it in context quickly without cognitive overload.

Critical Thinking Skills with e-learning

Over the course of the last six weeks I have embarked on a journey to create a storyboard that demonstrates the principles of e-learning. While my storyboard was about a specific topic the foundation of it was to demonstrate my understanding of e-learning principals and techniques. These principals include pretraining which allows participants to understand and analyze the information they will need to have to be able to process the remaining of the presentation. I used segmentation in my presentation; segmentation allows the learners to control the speed and timing in which learning takes place. Personalization is an important aspect in e-learning, personalization can take on several forms, in my storyboard I used a more conversational tone, using a conversational tone allows the learner to engage in the materials and apply the information to a real world application. I also used worked examples, for my storyboard my worked examples were pictures that showed my process each step of the way.

All of the these techniques are designed to enhance the presentation, and assist the learners in maintaining the balance between learning and cognitive overload. 

Working on this project I really learned to think about the needs of my learners and adjust and adapt my presentation to meet the needs of the learner.