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Learners will first read this post, and then will interact with other students of the course in a discussion board on what hooks they would use and why for different courses to increase engagement.

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Catch The Attention Of Your Learner

It should come as no surprise that learner attention spans are getting shorter by the day. This is why recent eLearning trends such as microlearning and short and flexible training programs are gaining popularity.

What Is A Hook?

In Instructional Design, a hook is something that encourages learners to become fully engaged in a topic they are going to learn more about, or at the very least, pique their interest enough so that they stick around. Typically, a hook is a short but interesting and purposeful connection to the subject matter. A hook can be a surprising fact or statistic or something that elicits a personal connection to the material. A hook is meant to capture-or "catch"-attention. The consequence of gaining the learners' attention is that you have influenced their motivation to continue forward. A successful hook will transform the learners' motivation in such a way that it becomes underpinned by a renewed and genuine interest in the course material. This kind of motivation positively affects their ability to learn and apply their new knowledge in real-life scenarios. Note that a hook always has a meaningful and intentional link to the course material or themes.

How To Visually Design A Hook In An eLearning Course

Ideally, after a general course introduction, your hook will be the first content screen that learners see. The hook can take many forms-from a dialogue between two characters to a set of interactive buttons- but it must be visually appealing. You want to draw learners into the course immediately, so implementing visuals that they can identify with is critical. This can include incorporating the same office décor, posters, or company logos in your scene background, or giving characters the same badges and name tags used at your organization. You want to make sure you build the screen with elements that are familiar enough so that learners feel at ease but striking in a way that they become curious.

Consider your own personal preferences: what graphics or design advertisements have captured your attention lately? Then, think about what makes you more likely to be intrigued during an eLearning course (i.e., shapes, characters, colors, text). Chances are this is the same for your learners. Instructional Designers are in a unique position because we are both learners and User Experience designers; we have all participated in eLearning courses and we know what we liked and what we could have done without. This also makes it easier to place yourself in the shoes of your audience. There are not many times when we can be two people at once, so don't be shy to take advantage of this insight!

Colors are also significant. Colors evoke emotion, so pair your design with the appropriate colors. For instance, red is often associated with passion and/or wrath and should be used sparingly, whereas shades of yellow can signify happiness or light-heartedness. Every design feature must be intentional and thoughtful. Learners should be able to visualize themselves immersed in the scene. Moreover, the hook is an opportunity to strategically introduce learners to the course color palette.

There are so many elements to consider when designing each screen and these tips are not intended to be exhaustive. The purpose here is to prompt you to think about how to design your hook in a way that is compelling and stands out from the rest of your screen designs.

How To Write A Hook In An eLearning Course

Language is very important. This is especially true for eLearning because you must write in a manner that is clear, concise, and accessible. Instructional Designers do not have the luxury of space for lengthy written text or explanations (nor would that be pedagogically sound for an eLearning course). Learners come to your course with diverse educational backgrounds and life experiences, so your hook must cater to a wide audience. One effective way to write a hook is through a two-character dialogue. Though you are not limited to this technique, it's important to remember that less is more. How you write the hook is just as important as what you write.

What you write, although brief in length, needs to be profound in impression. You must prompt learners to pause and reflect on what they have just read. You can use traditional templates like sharing a fun fact or asking learners to make a personal connection to the content. No matter what you decide you want your wording to be, it should always do two things: build anticipation, and invite learners into the story. Storytelling is very powerful and should be leveraged in your hook. You want learners to be excited to proceed with the course, so engage them with something interesting while simultaneously leaving them wanting more. When they want to know more, this is a sign that you have successfully built up their anticipation for what's to come. At that point, learners are ready for the rest of the story. When writing your hook, consider concluding with an open-ended question for the learner to ponder, or a call to action. This weaves the learner into the fabric of the content which, with any luck, will make them advance to the next slide more willingly.

Conclusion

There are many ways to write an effective hook for your eLearning course. Hopefully, you have walked away from this article with some ideas or guidelines that will help you achieve learner buy-in. As a blanket recommendation, most Instructional Designers will say that starting your eLearning course with a hook is best practice. It sets the tone for the rest of the course and can facilitate the difference between knowledge acquisition and passive learning.

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Mikaila (De Sousa) Da Silva, B.Ed, OCT, PME

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How To Hook Your Learners With The First Screen

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It should come as no surprise that learner attention spans are getting shorter by the day. This is why recent eLearning trends such as microlearning and short and flexible training programs are gaining popularity.

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Students in the module will read this article as part of their process in creating their own example lessons at the end of the module, because it has tips on how to find solutions to common problems that will be discussed throughout, including engagement and knowledge retention.

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I Was Guilty Of Making Some Rookie Mistakes

As a new and eager Instructional Designer (ID) I admit that I was guilty of making some rookie mistakes. While my practice is constantly being refined, my excitement and enthusiasm for creating new courses, though honorable, led me to create some questionable designs.

Pitfall 1: Content Overload

It is very tempting to want to share all the information at once. This is especially compounded when your SME also wants you to include all of the things. The hazard with content overload is twofold. First, it's the opposite of Instructional Design best practice. Our goal is to make the information accessible. We have to chunk it down so that learners can digest it. You must avoid the fire hose of text at all costs. Second, content overload is so distracting that learners will most definitely be overwhelmed. This will affect their motivation to continue with the course. Fortunately, there is an easy way to solve this problem: use layers, and lots of them!

Solution: Layering

All reputable eLearning authoring software will have the ability for users to create layers. Layers are a great way of hiding and/or embedding content onto one screen. You can conceal content behind objects and buttons. Each layer should contain short pieces of information that are related to the button label or object image. Depending on how you design your screen, you may be able to fit up to six buttons. This also encourages learners to interact with the content on the screen without being overloaded with text. In order to use layers effectively, you need to be thoughtful about what you are asking your learners to reveal when they click a button-make it worth their while!

Pitfall 2: Unattractive Composition

In eLearning, first impressions are everything. Within 10-15 seconds, learners decide whether or not they like a course, based on its appearance. You don't want to lose them because you threw a bunch of cool but distracting elements on the screen. You must considerately arrange each screen and design them carefully. The general rule of thumb is that one eLearning screen is equal to at least one hour's worth of labor. It's no secret that learners visually consume content first so screen composition is of paramount importance. An artful or well-constructed design can mean the difference between learner engagement and disengagement. Instructional Designers are not synonymous with graphic designers, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be developing your craft in this area. More on this next!

Solution: Graphic Design

You don't need to go to graphic design school to design a course, but you should be investing in your own professional development in this area. Prioritize your own learning by immersing yourself in material that speaks to the basic principles of graphic design like alignment, hierarchy, color, space, and contrast. There are plenty of free options out there to help you combat any "imposter syndrome," especially if you feel that you want something more concrete like a certificate or micro-credential. We all have natural instincts, so you'll know when a design is good and when it misses the mark. Put yourself in the shoes of your learner-if what you've designed doesn't make you want to see the rest of the course, then that's a sign your learner will have the same experience. Remember, as an ID, you are creating a learning experience for someone, so make sure the ride is as enjoyable as it is attractive.

Pitfall 3: Repetitive Content

I'm all for reinforcing content but there's a fine line between reinforcement and repetition. Repetition, as the name implies, occurs when information is repeated to a learner on multiple occasions. To reinforce the learning in a way that is not repetitive, you may want to consider a formative assessment activity or incorporate a key concept in the summative assessment. The other risk of repeating content in an unhelpful way is that it becomes redundant and overwhelms the user. Either way, you need to trust that once you've said it, you've said it well.

Solution: Variety

Make sure you have the right amount of content and variety for your eLearning course. If you don't, then maybe an eLearning course isn't what you need. Perhaps a job aid or one-hour webinar will suffice. The other way you can integrate variety into your course is by mixing up the course design. For example, if you've already implemented click and reveal buttons, consider employing other techniques like drag and drop or matching. This is also a good way to embed content that needs to be repeated to reinforce learning as opposed to hiding redundancies.

Pitfall 4: Unclear Instruction

I am convinced that there is nothing worse than ambiguous course navigation. Since eLearning courses are completed independently by the learner, IDs need to be mindful of this fact. While certain things may be clear to you as the designer, you have to remember that not everyone thinks or functions in the same way. Therefore, you need to explicitly state what learners need to do. Unclear instructions can contribute to a learner's frustration, defeat them, and even affect their ability to complete the course.

Solution: Clarity

You can never be too clear when it comes to course navigation or slide instruction. Even if it seems against your nature, counterproductive, or just plain obvious, it's good practice to err on the side of caution. Take time to thoughtfully explain instructions. This might mean creating job aids or instructional sheets for learners to use that will help navigate the course and are available for download at the beginning. This definitely means that you will need to tell learners what to click, when to click it, and even at what point they can click "next" to move forward. In eLearning, you can underexplain, but you can't overexplain. Think of your instructions as guideposts that help the learner toward the finish line.

Pitfall 5: Illogical Flow

Instructional Designers are storytellers. Stories are what create engagement. All good stories follow the same template with a beginning, middle, and end. This same principle applies to eLearning courses. Your content should flow in a way that is logical and coherent. If it doesn't, you should suggest potential changes or present a content arrangement scheme to your SME. If it's hard for you to follow as an ID, it will certainly be hard for the learner. It's our job to make the content come alive and be easier to digest, but it will be difficult to do that if it doesn't flow.

Solution: Storyboard

A sure-fire way to combat illogical flow before you even start designing is with a storyboard. Mapping out your course content in this way will help you see any flow or logical issues right away. This will also help your SME see the composition of content. Of course, once you are immersed in actually building your course, moments of inspiration might come that force you to make additional adjustments to the flow. The bottom line is that a storyboard will help mitigate any concerns about content flow early on while ensuring that you and your SME are, quite literally, on the same page!

Conclusion

You are going to make mistakes as an ID-in fact, you can't avoid it because it's part of the human condition. Okay, I've met my philosophical quota for the day. The most important thing to remember is that for every ID blunder, there is a solution. Some design flaws are more common than others (see above) but it's true what they say: practice makes perfect! As you become more familiar with the craft of Instructional Design, you'll slowly notice that you give in to the pitfalls less and less. With experience comes wisdom, and once you have graduated from rookie designer to expert, it'll be your turn to write an article for your younger ID self.

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Mikaila (De Sousa) Da Silva, B.Ed, OCT, PME

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To My Younger Instructional Designer Self: 5 Common Instructional Design Pitfalls And How To Avoid Them

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As a new and eager Instructional Designer (ID) I admit that I was guilty of making some rookie mistakes. While my practice is constantly being refined, my excitement and enthusiasm for creating new courses, though honorable, led me to create some questionable designs. It is very tempting to want to share all the information at once.

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Students will watch this EdPuzzle video and answer the questions to show participation and engagement.

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Asynchronous Online Learning Workshop Part 1 Engaging Students Online

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Easily create beautiful interactive video lessons for your students you can integrate right into your LMS. Track students' progress with hassle-free analytics as you flip your classroom!

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Learners will watch video and give a reflection on any connections or ideas from the video they can use in their own lessons.

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Keeping Students Engaged in Digital Learning

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This article discusses the effects of both outside actors who support students and on the community of the classroom and how it supports students' learning in online settings. Students of this module will need to engage in the article through annotations, questions, and discussion on how to support students with communities of engagement or inquiry. Students can also discuss how to support students in other ways, and the ways we cannot control outside influences and actors.

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Students will read this article on how attitude affects engagement and motivation in online learning. Students will annotate, question, and discuss ways that the article points out and tests that we can motivate and create engagement with students. Students will create ideas for ways to create community and ideas for engagement in their own online communities.