Chunking of information is an important theory used to make a successful design of an e-Learning course. This is a great technique for successful curriculum and courseware development.
The human mind has the ability to hold a limited measure of information at once. Imparting knowledge in nuggets makes it easier to nibble and digest even the most difficult courseware.
This is where content chunking comes into picture and it is advisable to take professional assistance from a company like Stylus Solutions, one of the best elearning companies in Mumbai, as it can really change the way we learn and retain information.
Chunking content is nothing but breaking the information into small chunks or pieces, making it easier to remember.
Why do we need content of an online course to be chunked?
Chunking data allows the learner to better understand and maintain data, which would not only encourage effective learning but will also allow the organisation to convey the correct message through their online courses.
What tactics should an instructional designer perform to design effective courses?
Below mentioned are some of the strategies used to divide the content into pieces, which a designer should be aware of and should make good use of:
1. Prioritise information
Improve your content so that appropriate content is used and irrelevant content is disposed.
Being an instructional designer, one should be able to discard insignificant information, provided the implication of the content is not compromised. An instructional designer must avoid needless data as that may clog the learners’ minds.
Creating a courseware structure aids to estimate the flow and also identify the different ways it can appear on the screen. Enhance the fluidity of content, supported by appropriate information with the help of various resources like multimedia, images, videos, etc. establishes a good balance between exchanging and sustaining information.
2. Content Grouping
Chunking strategy can be used to determine the hierarchy of the course content. Course content needs to be separated into lessons, modules and then sub- topics. Maintaining a rational order as you do this is vital. This process of funnelling the content decides the hierarchy of the eLearning course content.
3. Organising in the Content
After you have drafted out a concrete structure for your course into sections, lessons, topics and modules, organize the content into slides, making sure you don’t present all the concepts and ideas in a same slide.
Remember that learners would not be interested in courses that are loaded with textual data as it is difficult to grasp and time-consuming too. Therefore, don’t just include all text; instead bring together engaging resources, such as videos, images, games and other multimedia that can allow learners to learn effectively without having to get their minds all worked up. Take advantage of bullets and numbered lists, to further enhance the learning experience.
Create a viable eLearning course by executing the content chunking strategy during development, and see how it benefits your learners!