With the increasing demands and time constraints of today’s property managers, companies are turning to on-demand learning for their employee training needs. It’s more important than ever that the online training they use is specially designed for the way adults learn best. In addition to having every course module able to be completed in just 15-20 minutes, here are the main adult learning principles we used to develop our new courseware.
- Learning objectives are clearly stated at the beginning. Knowing what skills they’re going to learn up front helps employees focus on what is most important when taking in new information.
- Assessments match objectives. Whatever you’re trying to teach, that’s what you should be testing on. You want to make sure learners will be able to apply the skills you want them to learn.
- Opportunities are provided for ungraded practice. Practice activities that provide feedback without being graded are very important for adult learning.
- Real-life examples are used. One of the most effective ways to teach a skill is through real-life examples from the industry you’re in.
- Information matches knowledge components. When it comes to job performance, adults only need to learn what they’re going to apply. “Nice to know” information should be minimized and important information highlighted.
- Courses use multimedia to illustrate learning principles. Multimedia is a major component of online learning. Whether it’s animation, video, or voice narration, courseware that includes multimedia is much more user-friendly than static courseware.
- Overviews explain the value of the content. Adult learners like to know what they can expect to learn, why it matters, and how long it will take. Most of our new courses include a video overview, which is especially effective for communicating value.
- Content promotes motivation. Adults are no different than any other learner when it comes to motivation. They need a positive tone, and they need to make sure their success is attributed to the effort they’ve put in. When content is challenging, it should be acknowledged. Mastering complex concepts is a source of pride for learners.
- Courseware is easy to navigate. Location and progress within a course should always be visible. Styles for format and functionality should be consistent. The number of clicks learners have to make should be minimized.
- Content, guidance and learner control are personalized. An important principle of adult learning is that learning is personalized. Once a learner has been evaluated on a subject, for example, they should only be offered more of the material they struggled with.
