As we mentioned in the blog, reinforcement activities in e-learning courses are a powerful tool, as they help us measure students’ learning. They also serve as a guide to ensure students are in line with key concepts while they advance.
The most common use of reinforcement activities is self-assessment. This implies placing them immediately following theory, so students can prove they have mastered key points and continue advancing in the course. However, we can also take advantage of reinforcement activities at other times during our courses. The creative use of reinforcement activities will amaze students, capture their attention, and avoid monotony. Do you want to see how? Let’s see!
Reinforcement activities to measure previous knowledge
Not all students have the same level of knowledge. For example, you can have a course in 10 sections, and some students that won’t master any will need to start from the beginning, while others will master basic concepts and will be able to start in sections 2 or 3.
Reinforcement activities can be extremely useful and deal with this variety of knowledge creatively. Place an activity at the start of the course and personalize the experience so more advanced students don’t repeat what they already know. Include a small questionnaire with key questions, or ask the students directly if they are familiar with determined concepts. According to their answer, you can direct them to the appropriate section in the course and they will start where they need to. Be sure that you remind students that the e-learning course final assessment will include all content, so if unsure of what they are skipping past, they should review it!
Tip: So this type of browsing works, configure your course to free browsing and with final testing so the course tests and grades the student when finished. If you are not sure about the type of browsing for your courses, we recommend this article.
ABC type exercises in isEazy Author are ideal for this, because they allow you to ask students questions using text and images.
Reinforcement activities to examine beliefs or habits
If your objective is breaking with previous knowledge or myths and provide totally new information, reinforcement activities can help students see for themselves what their current beliefs are, and how they match the knowledge they will receive in the course. A creative way to do this, for example, is including a True/False activity where students answer a series of questions and will be amazed by the results.
Remember that in isEazy Author you can create very visual True/False reinforcement activities with the Grouping activity:
Reinforcement activities to replace theory
Especially in long courses with various sections, theory can be tedious and very easy for students to tire of the rhythm of theory > activity > theory > activity. Here, you can use reinforcement activities to keep the attention focused, for example, to replace theory. Students interaction with theory implies much more to learning, and getting used to it.
A fun way to do this is using the fill the blanks resource (in isEazy Author, Fill the blanks activity). By providing students with an incomplete phrase and a word bank, we are encouraging students to think about and understand the content. This way, we avoid students to get bored and only “scan” through theory instead of working with it.
In addition to these exercises, in isEazy Author you have several games that you can use as a reinforcement activities: the Alphabet game, Swipe, Trivial or Memory.
Alphabet: The classic definition game to stimulate learning through fun. This game is ideal to replace theory with activity. List some questions (with images if needed) and ask students to think before answering.
Swipe: Compete against the timer to sort the cards between two options. It is a really addictive game.
- Trivial: Click on the wheel to randomly select a category and complete the whole circle by answering the questions of each of them. Try it as many times as you need until you win the category.
- Memory: With this interactive feature, you can create fun games where the learner will need to find pairs/related cards.
To make this more entertaining, you can add a timer and wild cards so your students concentrate fully to the game. These types of activities engage students to the content. Besides entertainment, they will be motivated and involved.
This helps learning and retaining key concepts as it is more fun and appealing. Are you ready to use it for your courses?
Tip: Combine games and activities with other resources, for example, an e-learning video before an activity, for a unique learning experience for students.
Let us know: Do you usually innovate with reinforcement activities in e-learning courses? Which one did you like the most? Discover how fast it is to include them in your online training with isEazy Author!
