Optimizing eLearning Content for Diverse Learning Styles
Learning doesn't look the same for everyone. In fact, many eLearning content developers don't recognize or acknowledge this important truth. Some learners prefer visuals and charts. Others want to jump right in and get hands-on experience. Some will always choose text and want to read everything out loud to themselves. The truth is, no one approach to eLearning content works for everyone. The better question is how to create an approach that does.
Fortunately, there are some tried and true strategies that can help you optimize your eLearning content to make sure every type of learner can benefit.
What you'll discover:
What are the 4 learning types?
Why does learning style optimization matter in eLearning development?
5 steps to diverse eLearning content creation
How to test and measure your approach
The 4 Key Learner Types
The first step in creating learning style-optimized content is to recognize the main types of learning preferences. While a variety of models attempt to categorize different types of learners, most learning preference frameworks fall into one of the following four general categories.
Visual learners prefer and retain information best when it's displayed to them in visual format. Charts, infographics, diagrams, videos, images, and other visual cues help these learners engage and process new content.
Auditory learners benefit from listening to information, whether it's a teacher's explanation or even the sound of the visual learner reading to themselves.
Reading/Writing learners are similar to visual learners except their content is optimized for being read in written text format.
Kinesthetic learners, also called tactile or experiential learners, prefer a hands-on approach. These learners get the most from simulations, interactive modules, and activities that engage them in more "active" learning.
The Value of Learning Style Optimized Content
Consider this for a moment about eLearning course development. When you publish training materials that only one type of learner can access or engage with, how does that affect your reach and value? The research and data support this fact too.
A comprehensive review of studies on personalized adaptive learning from 2012 to 2024 shows students who received learning content adapted to their personal needs performed better in 59% of studies examined. Student engagement was also shown to increase in 36% of studies that demonstrated learning outcomes in the adaptive group.
Quality elearning content development that takes different types of learners into account ensures that your materials will be effective for a wider audience. Learners will stay engaged, remember more, and complete courses at higher rates.
The 5 Best Strategies for Diverse eLearning Development
Now for the good part. Here are the most impactful techniques you can deploy to improve the diversity of your eLearning development approach.
Blend Multiple Content Types
There's no one-size-fits-all content type, so the key to making sure you reach all learners is to offer multiple content experiences for every piece of information. For example, each lesson or module should have a video introduction to help visual and auditory learners engage with the topic. It should then be supported by additional written content that reinforces key takeaways for reading/writing learners. Finally, every module should have interactive elements to reach kinesthetic learners.
While it may seem redundant, including multiple content types and experiences within your eLearning development approach is how you ensure every learner has a chance to engage with materials in their preferred way.
Build Interactive Elements Into All Lessons
Passive content is also forgotten content. Learners of all styles benefit from having to actively engage with information as part of the training process.
Kinesthetic learners clearly benefit from elements like quizzes, simulations, drag-and-drop activities, branching scenarios, and other interactive elements, but even visual and auditory learners will benefit from interactivity. For example, animated graphics, interactive infographics, or embedded question and answer quizzes can also add value for visual and kinesthetic learners.
Auditory learners also benefit from interactive elements by engaging with voice-enabled question and answer or interactive scenario applications.
Reading/Writing learners also appreciate having the ability to self-assess their knowledge within eLearning courses by taking interactive quizzes.
Give Learners Flexible Paths
Not every learner has to engage with every content type for every module. Flexibility within your eLearning courses and training modules also benefits different types of learners. For example, some learners might be highly visual learners and prefer to go through every video before looking at any other information.
Other learners might prefer to jump straight to interactive elements after getting a written overview from the text copy. The more flexibility you can incorporate into your eLearning development process, the more likely learners are to engage in a way that benefits their personal preferences.
Incorporate Microlearning Elements
Attention spans vary, so it's not just about including different types of content but also different module sizes. Microlearning modules are generally shorter, ranging from three minutes to seven minutes, and focus on a single topic or lesson. These shorter modules also offer the added benefit of being flexible in format and are especially easy to break out into multiple content types and formats.
Visual learners might prefer a three-minute video. Reading/writing learners can focus on consuming a short written micro-article. Auditory learners can focus on consuming a corresponding audio podcast.
Apply Accessibility Principles
Accessibility and learning optimization are highly related, as many of the same principles apply to both. Voice-enabled content is a boon to auditory learners. Captions for video content improve accessibility while also benefiting those that prefer to read content. Offering transcripts also helps with both accessibility and catering to reading/writing learners.
Test and Iterate Your Methods
Creating content is only part of the battle in optimizing eLearning courses for different types of learners. You also have to test your approach and measure for success. Metrics like completion rates for different content types within modules can give you a sense of what formats your specific audience likes best and which are underutilized.
You can also survey learners directly through the feedback and assessment tools built into most LMS platforms and eLearning content to learn more about which formats they found most useful and which they found least useful.
Alternately, you can run A/B testing trials for different combinations of content types and formats and discover firsthand which approaches perform best with your audience.
Review Analytics
The key to this stage is being flexible in your approach and willing to make changes if certain content types and approaches don't perform as well as you expected. Go back and review your analytics at regular intervals to see what content formats are working and which are falling short.
Wrapping Up
Diversifying your eLearning content development to account for all the different learning types is no longer optional. Every type of learner will always exist, and the only question is which types your specific audience prefers. The steps above can be summarized in just a few core ideas.
First, recognize the different learning preferences and needs of your audience. Next, create content that serves as many different types as possible within each lesson or module. Allow for flexibility in the learning experience for every learner, and be sure to include interactive elements within all lessons. Test your approach, measure success, and be willing to make significant changes to your content development process if certain content formats just don't resonate with your learners.
The data is clear. Personalized, adaptive learning that meets learners where they are results in better outcomes, higher completion rates, and deeper knowledge transfer. Organizations and content developers that take a one-size-fits-all approach will quickly find themselves left behind by the competition.