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ToggleA few years ago, online learning consisted of the user sitting in front of the computer reading flat and dull courses. There was no room for interaction, clarifying doubts, or sharing opinions. As content continues to evolve, so does how we approach training. Now, training managers have to seek solutions that engage their users. This is where interactivity makes its triumphant entry.
Adding interactive content to an online course is one of the keys to guaranteeing its effectiveness—motivation, critical thinking, and engagement increase when your audience feels actively participating in your training.
If you want to know more about how to incorporate it effectively into your training and the types of interactive content you can use, keep reading!
What is interactivity in e-learning?
Imagine you’re trying to learn something new online, and all the training content you find is just a bunch of long, boring text. It would be pretty hard to stay interested, wouldn’t it? That’s where interactivity comes in!
Interactivity refers to the different ways of accessing and navigating through training content. In other words, content can respond to specific actions the user performs. Instead of just reading texts, interactivity transforms learning into a dynamic and collaborative experience where the learner can interact with the content, play games, exchange ideas, and watch videos.
Types of interactive content to make your interactive training engaging
Our brain is configured to relate through visual elements. These are more easily assimilated than text, even more so if they are interactive. With isEazy Author, you can add the following types of interactive content to your courses:
Infographics, graphics, and images
- Cards
This interactive content lets the user discover what is hidden behind each card. It’s effortless; you can fill each card with content on both sides so that the learner interacts with them to discover more. It’s the perfect way to offer question-and-answer or cause-and-effect content.
In isEazy Author, you count with the new interactive slider, so the user can reveal the content by simply dragging the tab. It’s great to show a ‘before and after’ or to compare two images.
- Linked scenes
Linked scenes allow you to simulate a large number of situations or exercises. With isEazy Author, you can create simple linked scenes as didactic maps with different levels where you can discover each concept and expand the information, or even more complex decision trees where the student is the protagonist. In this way, each user will create their learning path, which based on their decisions, will help them to move between the contents they’re most interested in to learn while having fun.
- Hot spot
Hot spots are interactive content that highlights essential parts of an image or provides supplementary information. They place relevant information on specific aspects of images for learners to discover by clicking on each of them. You can use them as a gamified learning activity consisting of a question that must be answered by selecting a specific area of an image.
- Infographics
Infographics are visual representations of text, data, or graphics with which you can summarize topics so that they can be understood more simply. Use them to convey your content in an entertaining and visually appealing way. Displaying the information in this fresher way will make it more attractive and user-friendly. Try it, you’ll love it!
- Graphics
Graphs allow you to represent different percentage values on a single image. They’re perfect for learning because percentages and figures are usually an excellent hook for the audience. Incorporate them in the most visual way possible, and you will get the information to sink in much faster while providing dynamism by presenting the data differently.
Multimedia content
- Audio
How about creating interactive training with a podcast? Audio multimedia resources are perfect for conveying relevant or complementary information in e-learning courses. You can play with the content, even adding interviews, to integrate different points of view that your audience will love.
- Video
Videos are agile and entertaining formats that connect with the audience instantly, providing context and facilitating storytelling. They’re one of the most valued resources for modern learners, who are 75% more likely to consume a video than read a text.
Offer your audience more information in a user-friendly and entertaining format, explain complex topics using visual aids, and include webinars to expand your training content – with isEazy Author, you can have a video of up to 1 GB!
- Interactive video
Interactive videos allow you to take e-learning training to another level. It’s even better than the traditional format because it requires active participation. With isEazy Author’s interactive video functionality, you can create them in just a few steps, adding questions or supplementary information at the point you want to reinforce ideas effortlessly – a real vice!
Exercises
- ABC
It’s no secret that we love the questions and answers exercises! And when it comes to reinforcing learning, ABC exercises are amazing interactive content.
Users must test their knowledge through a series of questions by selecting the correct answer from a series of options. It’s probably one of the most effective formats for ensuring (and assessing) whether knowledge is being acquired correctly.
- Sort
The grouping exercises are self-training activities very similar to the ABC exercise. They also test knowledge by challenging the learner to drag each answer or concept corresponding to each group. It’s elementary: one image, several answer choices. Drag & drop dynamics make your content much more agile and fun. Engage them through these exercises, and you’ll instantly hook your audience.
- Match
Connect concepts from one group to another through this interactive that reinforces learning dynamically and entertainingly. Students must click on a concept from the first group and then select another idea from the opposite group that they think is related, and as they complete the exercise, pairs of concepts will be formed.
- Order
The sorting exercises are perfect for learning processes. The students will have a list of answers that they’ll have to select and order correctly, clicking on the arrows to place them in the correct position.
- Fill in the blanks
Other exercises that you can add to your interactive online training are completion exercises. Test their ability to memorize and connect new concepts through incomplete texts, which the learner has to fill in by choosing the correct answer. This format is perfect for providing more context to the exercise.
Games
- The alphabet game
The classic game of definitions is excellent for reinforcing essential concepts in a short time. It’s a way for your audience to learn without realizing it. The game uses the alphabet to discover words or concepts. To play, users will answer questions about the training content corresponding to each letter until they complete the circle. Once completed, they can play several times to improve their score.
- Trivia
Like going back to your childhood! Your audience must answer questions from the categories you have entered and get at least one right from each category to continue advancing. Click on the wheel and answer the questions until you complete the circle.
- Swipe
In this addictive game, your students can classify cards according to the option that corresponds to them, competing against the timer!
- Memory
Memory is an interactive game consisting of finding each card’s pair. The important thing is to find as many pairs as possible in the shortest amount of time! It’s a fun way to memorize and associate concepts, and you can create several games with different themes for students to play as many times as they want.
- Words
Letter by letter, users must find as many hidden words as possible. To do so, they will have 6 or fewer attempts and an initial clue to help them guess and learn. “Words” is the educational version of Wordle and one of the most entertaining and addictive ways to internalize concepts during education.
Why is it essential to offer interactive online training?
Interactive content makes learning much more fun because the learner can experiment with the information instead of just reading and memorizing concepts. In addition, interactive online courses allow users to receive immediate feedback and comments, which significantly helps to improve.
Offering interactive online training to your employees allows them to participate actively in their learning. It facilitates meaningful learning and improves autonomy. It increases learners’ motivation, concentration, attention, and engagement, which will help them advance in training and improve their retention level.
Best practices to ensure the effectiveness of interactive content
For this type of content to be helpful, there are specific techniques and tips you can follow. Introduce questions about your content. With these, encourage active learning, facilitate the assimilation of concepts, and achieve your training objectives faster. They can be included in various formats, such as fill-in-blanks or matching exercises.
On the other hand, if you want to save time creating interactive training and promoting social learning, add content generated by your users. This way, they can contribute with their expertise to improve the quality of your interactive course, reinforcing your corporate culture.
As a last practice, make virtual activities available to your audience. These will make the learning process smoother and more enjoyable. For example, you can conduct Q&A sessions or assessments to encourage your users to interact with you, the content, and each other, thus increasing their collaboration and involvement.
You know that what can’t be measured can’t be improved, so include quizzes and final evaluations in your interactive courses to ensure how concepts are being assimilated. With isEazy Author, you can create them in minutes and add as many attempts as you want. You can even set a passing score and have a question bank so they won’t be repeated if your users complete them in several attempts – all advantages!
Hey! One last thing: apart from choosing the type of interactive content that best suits your audience’s needs, simplify the process with a content creation tool that offers these ready-made, ready-to-use resources. And if it allows you to incorporate external content from other platforms, even better. Start maximizing your time, work, and knowledge with isEazy Author!