Ideas for Designing Rich and

Engaging e-Learning Experiences

www.EnablingDimensions.com

This presentation, with audio narration, is available at

http://atulpant.bogspot.com
 Learner Profile

Distracted learners:
- Blackberry and iPhones
- T.V., DS and X-Box for the kids

Concentration span is low

me t h i ng m y
“ email is so
dad uses 
“ Preference for bite-size info
n d s d on’t
“ if my f r
t
i e
i s n o t w o rth And if it is not on a screen it is hard to
‘DiggIt’ i
my while 
“ consume!
o l s earch
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eng ine 
“
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On the other hand
Expertise requires deep knowledge of a
discipline

- 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to

become a world-class expert

- This for a set of learners that would

ideally like to learn one tweet a day!

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Reducing the time to competence:

Is it possible to become an expert with less than 10,000

hours of practice?

Malcolm Gladwell -- it is possible, young tennis prodigies

prove this

You need:
- Enriched learning experiences
- Better Learning tools
- Appropriate feedback

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How to enrich the e-learning experience

learn best practices from all things ‘addictive’

1. Art of Story-telling:
- Panchtantra, Arabian Nights
- Characters, plot, language
- Frames, irony, suspense

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 2. Learn from Game-Design Principles

- When skill is low & Challenge

is high: Anxiety, Worry, Give-up

- When skill is high & Challenge

is low: Relax, Bored, Apathy

- Optimal level of Skill &

Challenge: State of FLOW

- Games are addictive, they are

designed to keep us in a state of
Prof Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Arousal or Flow
concept of ‘FLOW

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 Lessons for Pedagogy from Game-Design
Personalisation based on learning styles and type of
intelligence, and

Learning from games, personalisation based on

Skill-level or Prior Knowledge (PK)

- PK is low, Challenge is high = Anxiety, Worry,

Give-up
- Learner needs Scaffolding

- PK is high, Challenge is low = Boredom

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Game for Learning

Examples of Educational Games

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Using Games in Schools

Learning Teaching Scotland

www.ltscotland.org.uk

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3. Cool Form Factor

- Delivery of learning on devices like game

consoles, mobile or smart phones
also makes the learning experience more engaging

- Especially for young or distracted learners

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 4. Social and Collaborative Learning

Participation in knowledge networks, Communities

of Practice & Learning Conversation platforms

- To gain ‘prior knowledge’

- To deepen understanding

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 Sum-up
We need enriched, engaging and participative
learning experiences for today’s distracted learners

We should learn from all things addictive to create

such enriched learning experiences

Glean best practices from story-telling, game-

designing and collaboration

Cool and funky delivery vehicles like game consoles

& mobile phones further enhance engagement

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 About the Author
Co-founder, www.TimelessLifeskills.co.uk

Co-founder, www.EnablingDimensions.com

Blog: http://atulpant.blogspot.com

Email: atul.pant@timelesslifeskills.co.uk
re ad in g !
y o u f o r
Tha n k m e n t s.
y o u r c o m
om e
I welc
- Atul

www.EnablingDimensions.com