Take advantage of behaviorism in Elearning development: advice for an effective course design
There are many theories on which pedagogical designers can base the design of their Elearning courses. And, as most of them are from the field of psychology, they do an excellent job by deepening the way people learn and the factors that influence their learning processes. The first of Learning theories We will enter this series of articles on the relationship between learning theories and Elearning behavior. We will start with a brief overview of the origins and basic principles of behaviorism and will continue to discuss 6 ways that you can take advantage of behavioralism in the development and conception of the Elation.
What are the origins of behaviorism?
Behavioralism is a theory of fundamental learning that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century by psychologists such as BF Skinner and John Watson. This theory emphasizes the important role that environmental stimuli play in the way people, especially children, learn. In other words, it supports the idea that new behaviors are developed by interacting with the environment, and their modification is possible by strengthening, positive or negative.
Although all of this seems a little too theoretical, behavioralism is the root of many common learning practices, such as structured learning, repetition, immediate feedback and rewards. Behavioralism is also particularly obvious in gamification in the form of levels, feedback and strengthening by rewards or consequences.
Based on this information, there are many things that connects behavioralism and the development of elations. Now let’s explore certain practical applications that you can implement in your online courses.
6 ways of implementing behavioralism in Elearning development
1. Establish measurable learning objectives
Behavioralism is based on measurable and observable results. In fact, it was created in reaction to introspective psychology, which focused only on subjective relationships. Therefore, if you will implement this theory in your Elearning lessons, you must set clear and measurable learning objectives from the start. More specifically, you should know exactly what you want learners have achieved by the end of the course and offer specific measures that will provide concrete data to monitor the effectiveness of your Elearning initiatives whenever necessary.
2. Use the rehearsal
Rehearsal is the mother of learning and also an important practice of behaviorism. Learners must be exposed to a new knowledge several times to be able to keep it and remind you in the future. Rehearsal, however, is an art alone; Seeing the same information over and over could benefit from retention but not from commitment. A technique that you can implement is spacedThis implies leaving gaps between exhibitions to new information. Rehearsal can be easily integrated into your online learning course thanks to quiz, interactive exercises and games.
3. Incorporate immediate comments
According to behaviorism, learners should receive immediate comments on their learning progress. The reasoning behind this is that it can improve learning by strengthening correct behavior and highlighting errors, thus reducing the chances of repeated errors. An effective way to implement this practice is through automated quiz. More specifically, when designing a quiz, make sure that it immediately indicates whether an answer is good or wrong rather than waiting for the learners. Explain why an answer is incorrect will further improve the learning experience, giving learners the information necessary to improve their performance.
4. Use Gamification -based reinforcement
Gamification includes various strengthening techniques rooted in behavioralism that can be used in the development of electrot. First, there are badges, achievements and certificates that serve extrinsic motivations to encourage learners to remain involved in the learning process. Then, the punctual systems and the rankings create a feeling of competition and motivate the learners to continue to progress and to collect points to maintain their classification in the ranking. Another element based on behaviorism is the use of progression bars and leveling systems. These visual representations of learning keep the learners committed and motivated by showing them how close they are to reach a new level.
5. Microlearning lever
The breach of information in smaller and more manageable pieces will lead to better results when implementing behavioralism in the development of electrot. In other words, you should keep in mind the basic principles of microlearning and provide your audience with the size of a bite which will be easier to understand and preserve. At the same time, Microlearning guarantees that learners receive immediate comments on their progress, thus improving the learning experience. This approach will allow you to create a better structured learning path, gradually leading learners of easier to more difficult concepts.
6. Ensure structured learning paths
The structure is an essential element of behaviorism, because it establishes a clear framework not only for learning but also to assess the effectiveness of learning. When creating a learning course based on behavioral theory, it is important that you have a clear structure in mind to make sure that learners receive stimuli, strengthening and coherent comments. There are many ways to maintain consistency throughout your Elearning raceAs to ensure that modules follow a logical progression, providing uniform navigation, offering clear instructions at each stage of the path and providing global feedback reports at predetermined intervals.
Conclusion
Behavioralism has a long -standing history and continues to be an important part of Elearning development and design. It is a precious tool for educational designers, which often integrate its principles into their port lessons, whether intentionally or not, whenever they set clear learning objectives or incorporate elements such as repetition, rewards and gamification. However, it is better to know more about the theory of behaviorism to better understand how and why it works, and further develop the advice we have shared in this article. In this way, you can successfully apply behavioralism in Elearning development and maximize the impact of your Elearning initiatives.
