I am within a week of wrapping up 2 of the 3 courses from my 10 credit semester.

Yes, you read that right. 10. Credit. Semester.

The last 10 weeks have been full of learning discoveries and connections between rapid eLearning, quantitative research methods, and adult learning theories. More than once have I noticed distinct parallels between the three courses I dove into at the end of August.

Some of my favorite topics from this intense semester:

Cognitive Load

What is it?
How can you used it in the future?

C.R.A.P

What is it?
Ah, yes, CRAP. I remember the first time I heard this topic and design principle come up. Initially I did a double take and giggled a little. C.R.A.P are graphic design principles that actually stands for Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity. These principles are foundational to designing graphics that are not overwhelming while also being aesthetically pleasing.

How can you use it in the future?
As adapted from C.R.A.P Principles of Graphic Design:
Contrast is a way in which you can focus learner attention to highlight the important points they need to take away from your learning. If they needed to recall your learning in a week, what is the most important thing they should take? Make the takeaway bold and distinguishable.

Repetition connects objects with one another. Using the same font style, and size is a way to use repetition in your design to connect images to what your learners need to know.

Alignment is used to organize your design. A nicely aligned learning object conveys strength and confidence in the topic. Text is easier for the learner to digest and put in sequential order.

Proximity establishes relationship between objects. The closer the proximity, the more the learner connects the two objects.

Six Principles of Effective eLearning

What is it?
Do you really think I would go a week without mentioning our eLearning queen, Ruth Clark?

Think again.

In Clark’s 2002 Learning Solution’s article, our eLearning guru eloquently describes six elemental principles designed based on Richard Mayer’s studies on using multimedia in learning design. These principles are Multimedia, Contiguity, Modality, Redundancy, Coherence, and Personalization.

How can you use it in the future?
When designing instructional materials, consider the graphics in which you are applying to the learner’s experience. Use graphics that learners associate with the topic (Multimedia), align your graphics and text on screen (Contiguity), and explain what learners are seeing with audio to improve learning outcomes (Modality). BUT explaining graphics with both audio and text hurts learning (Redundancy) and too many things on screen is overwhelming (Coherence). Finally, make your materials conversational and engage the learner on a personal level throughout the experience (Personalization).

Ok, off to work ReLly hard.

References:

Clark, R. (2002). Six principles of effective e-Learning: What works and why. The e-learning developer’s Journal, 6(2), 1-10

C.R.A.P. principles of graphic design. Retrieved October 23, 2020, from https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_business-information-systems-design-an-app-for-that/s07-01-c-r-a-p-principles-of-graphic-.html