#Subject Matter Experts

[aestariiwilderness]

Question for which I have no stake and no real opinion -- just genuinely curious

[american-baidu-yandex-contact]

Dossiers

Subject Matter Experts

Postings

[maxlearnmicrolearningplatform]

The Three Big Blunders in E-learning Design and How to Avoid Them

E-learning has revolutionized education and training, making it accessible, flexible, and scalable. However, despite its numerous benefits, e-learning can sometimes fall short of its potential due to common design mistakes. These blunders can lead to disengaged learners, poor retention, and ultimately, ineffective training programs. To ensure your e-learning courses are impactful and successful, it’s crucial to recognize these pitfalls and know how to avoid them. Here are the three big blunders in e-learning design and strategies to circumvent them.

1. Overloading with Information

One of the most significant mistakes in e-learning design is overwhelming learners with too much information at once. This "information overload" can lead to cognitive fatigue, reduced retention, and disengagement.

Why It Happens

E-learning designers often aim to cover as much content as possible, thinking that more information equates to better learning. This is especially true when trying to accommodate comprehensive subjects within limited time frames.

The Impact

When learners are bombarded with excessive information, they struggle to process and retain it. This can result in a shallow understanding of the material and an inability to apply what they’ve learned in real-world situations.

How to Avoid It

Chunking Content: Break down information into smaller, manageable chunks. This helps learners process and retain information more effectively. Use modules or sections that focus on a single concept or skill at a time.

Focused Learning Objectives: Define clear and specific learning objectives for each module. Ensure that all content aligns with these objectives and avoid including extraneous information.

Progressive Disclosure: Introduce information gradually, revealing more complex details as the learner progresses. This method prevents cognitive overload and allows learners to build upon their knowledge incrementally.

Multimedia Balance: Use a mix of text, images, videos, and interactive elements to present information. This variety keeps learners engaged and caters to different learning styles, enhancing comprehension and retention.

2. Lack of Interactivity

Another major blunder in e-learning design is creating passive learning experiences. E-learning that lacks interactivity can result in disengaged learners who struggle to stay motivated and absorb the material.

Why It Happens

Designers sometimes prioritize content delivery over engagement, focusing on conveying information rather than involving learners in the learning process. Additionally, there might be constraints related to time, budget, or technical resources.

The Impact

Passive learning experiences can lead to boredom, disengagement, and lower retention rates. Learners are less likely to internalize and apply the material if they are not actively involved in the learning process.

How to Avoid It

Interactive Elements: Incorporate interactive elements such as quizzes, simulations, drag-and-drop activities, and scenario-based learning. These activities encourage active participation and help learners apply what they’ve learned.

Gamification: Use gamification techniques like points, badges, leaderboards, and challenges to make learning more engaging and fun. Gamification taps into learners’ competitive instincts and can increase motivation.

Real-World Scenarios: Design exercises and assessments that mimic real-world scenarios. This contextual learning helps learners understand the practical application of the content and enhances engagement.

Frequent Feedback: Provide immediate and constructive feedback on learners’ performance. This helps learners understand their progress, reinforces learning, and keeps them motivated.

3. Neglecting User Experience (UX) Design

Neglecting user experience (UX) design is a critical blunder that can undermine the effectiveness of an e-learning course. Poor UX design can lead to frustration, disengagement, and ultimately, a failed learning experience.

Why It Happens

E-learning designers might focus heavily on content creation and overlook the importance of intuitive and user-friendly design. Limited UX expertise and insufficient user testing can also contribute to this issue.

The Impact

A poorly designed user interface (UI) can confuse and frustrate learners, making it difficult for them to navigate the course, access content, and complete activities. This can lead to high dropout rates and poor learning outcomes.

How to Avoid It

Intuitive Navigation: Design a clear and intuitive navigation structure. Ensure that learners can easily find and access the content they need. Use consistent menus, buttons, and icons to guide learners through the course.

Responsive Design: Ensure that your e-learning course is accessible on various devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. A responsive design adapts to different screen sizes and orientations, providing a seamless learning experience.

Accessibility: Make your e-learning course accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities. Use alt text for images, provide transcripts for videos, and ensure that all interactive elements are keyboard navigable.

User Testing: Conduct user testing with a sample of your target audience before launching the course. Gather feedback on the design, navigation, and overall user experience, and make necessary adjustments based on this feedback.

Consistent Visual Design: Use a consistent visual design throughout the course. This includes fonts, colors, and layouts. Consistency helps learners focus on the content rather than getting distracted by varying design elements.

Implementing Best Practices

To ensure your e-learning courses avoid these common blunders and deliver effective learning experiences, consider the following best practices:

Start with the Learner in Mind: Understand your audience’s needs, preferences, and learning styles. Tailor your content and design to meet these needs.

Iterative Design Process: Use an iterative design process that incorporates feedback and continuous improvement. Regularly update and refine your course based on learner feedback and performance data.

Collaborate with Experts: Work with subject matter experts, instructional designers, and UX professionals to create a well-rounded and effective e-learning course.

Continuous Professional Development: Stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in e-learning design. Participate in professional development opportunities and communities of practice.

Conclusion

Effective e-learning design requires a balance of well-organized content, engaging interactivity, and a user-friendly experience. By avoiding the blunders of information overload, lack of interactivity, and poor UX design, you can create e-learning courses that not only capture learners' attention but also enhance their knowledge retention and application. Remember to focus on clear learning objectives, incorporate interactive elements, and prioritize intuitive design to deliver impactful and successful e-learning experiences.

[anjaliroongta]

How I Find and Utilize Subject-Matter Experts' Expertise for My Blogs: Sustainability Content Writing Tips

If you are a sustainability blogger looking to understand when to reach out to a Subject Matter Expert, how to pick one, and what questions to ask, well, here's what I have been doing in the past year.

Are you struggling with research for your blog on sustainable living? You have done your preliminary Google search, you have looked at a few books perhaps, and even read a few research papers on the topic. But your piece still isn’t speaking to the audience- despite the statistics and the internal and external links. It feels like it’s lacking lived experience. So, you do what any good content…

[acs-networks-and-technologies]

We are ACS Networks & Technologies, a leading EduTech Service Provider. Our seasoned Subject Matter Experts teams specialize in improving educational resources through content development, curriculum review, and consultation. We have successfully collaborated with international brands.

Our experienced SMEs cover a wide range of subjects, including Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Advanced Mathematics, Advanced Physics, Chemistry, and Business subjects like Accounts, Finance, Economics, Statistics, Probability, and Operations Management. Currently, we are actively engaged with clients in the United States.

We are excited about the potential to work together and would appreciate the opportunity to discuss this further with you. Please let us know if you're interested in connecting.

[rodspurethoughts]

NASA to Participate in Space Symposium, Discuss Moon to Mars Strategy Implementation Through Artemis

NASA is one of the most renowned organizations in the world, and it is known for its contributions to the scientific world. The organization has been at the forefront of space exploration for decades and has made significant strides in discovering more about the universe. Recently, NASA announced that it would be participating in the Space Foundation’s 38th Annual Space Symposium, where NASA…

[kingofthering]

Anxiety will truly be a nuisance whenever it can because like, I have to be up in less than 5 hours and a half so I can catch up a train in 7 hours and a half in order be ready in 10 hours to give a 3 hours learning presentation to a couple dozens of colleague and it’s something I’ve done twice already (successfully) and yet, heart is very much not enjoying the moment right now.

[dragonomatopoeia]

sick to bastard death of 'analysis' or commentary that takes on an authoritative tone when it's completely vibes based. especially when the author tries to claim that it's an objective assessment instead of a subjective perspective that lacks any basis in evidence or expertise

[01tsubomi]

cultural perspective being indispensible in media consumption but looking back i find it so funny that for years and years before teaching in japan i thought it was another suspension-of-disbelief surrealist kagepro thing that haruka and takane spent all their time in a homeroom class for just the two of them and now the maximum number of kids we've ever had in my special needs class is 3

[ftl-faster-than-life]

struck by a horrible need to make fake screenshots for a fake documentary from the 25th century ala History Channel where Eobard is being interviewed for the film. It no longer exists and neither do the people who edited and misquoted him to misrepresent the facts.

[mafaldaknows]

Someone should spam that email with all the articles pointing at 🦎 as the mastermind of armies smear campaign, i mean 🦎 is toxicity personified.

Hello, Anon:

Thanks for the suggestion. 😜😏💥📥🦎🤭

[columboscreens]

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

I feel like the post I just reblogged pointing out the all-or-nothing in how many people interact with their deconstruction of systems of oppression is resonating for me right now with so many different moments in my life where someone decides that because some part of myself has access to some of the levers of control/influence/etc that come with the relationship to power, and decides what that must mean about all the other parts of me that might be explicitly refused access to those same levers.

It has happened in so many spaces/aspects of my life, and it can be so hard to feel safe and seen and trusting of others when that's my chronic relationship to being perceived - half truths and obfuscation.

It doesn't really change regardless of who's doing the assuming either. Like, where they land in relation to systems of power may influence which direction they lean in their assumptions about me, but even that is often inconsistent. Both sides of the equation (those who share my marginalizations and those who exist in spaces of closer proximity to power) will still do it nonetheless.

When I was doing my liminal social identities work in undergrad, this was actually a big part of the conceptualization we explored of traumtic alienation of self as individual from self as collective, and what it can do to people to exist in this liminal relationship with your environment and the people in it. As I'm starting to gather my thoughts about my stress modeling, this conceptualization is bubbling back to the surface. I'm finding myself meandering through it on both a path specifically my own, and in an effort to better understand what other paths may be available to people during their version of the process/experience.

Selfhood is so fragile, and so in need of balance between self-construction and co-construction for us humans, and that gives us so many beautiful, even spiritual, experiences of meaning making and generativity of self. It also createa many pivot points where we may find room in our path for vulnerability or blurring of self. As much as these pivot points can be distressing, I think they also sometimes become our foundations of change/personal evolution, when we find that through the distress of existing in shift, something meaningful is occurring or observable in our experience of self-in-transition.

I think something I've valued especially about my own relationship with self is its transience. It doesn't always end up somewhere I would be happy to sustain, but it always allows me a degree of comfort in complexity that I think has made my body-mind a safer place for me overall.

[umbrellacam]

sure would be nice. if people could debunk a dumb exaggerated/incorrect fanon without people immediately turning it 180° and happily hauling ass right into another dumb exaggerated/incorrect fanon. while gleefully crowing about how canon and correct this opposite take is.

sure would be nice 🙃

[strugglinguist]

This is the best kind of place! I’m having so much fun!

[aeide-thea]

truly just SUCH a typical tumblr experience but like.

Familiar Tumblr Name makes a post that's like: 'you know how fast fashion perpetuates itself by selling us clothing that gets dingy and grody really fast, so we have to replace it yearly?'

me: uh, no, actually—historically i've found that the few fast fashion pieces i acquired long outstayed their welcome, and were perfectly wearable long after i was heartily sick of them! but go on, i guess

FTN: 'let me tell you about this traditional domestic wisdom (implied: that's been lost because of, uh, capitalism) that will fix this problem (that you, too, definitely have) for you!'

me, googling: okay so this residue that FTN said was somehow a Fast Fashion thing is apparently generally caused by like. fabric softener and/or hard water. using discount detergents that skimp on active ingredients. using too much detergent so it doesn't wash out. letting your bedding go too long between washes. letting your washer go too long between cleans. etc. anyway. lots of specific factors here, many of which may in fact not apply to you in particular!

but like. why get specific when instead we could assert You Know This Problem, Right? This Lost Traditional Wisdom Will Definitely Help You Personally!!