5 Learning Aids That Make eLearning More Effective

For education to withstand the test of time and imbibe science, technology, humanity and humility in every human being, learning aids have played a major role. It could be  any tool or any ideology that enhances the experience of learning and helps one increase his/her learning abilities, intelligence and cognitive skills.

Books, charts, diagrams, graph and computers - these are some of the popular aids the traditional methods of teaching employ. However, eLearning is more advanced and backed with technology  and therefore has more innovative and effective learning aids to make learning more fun, immersive and effective. This article will list out 5 of those popular eLearning aids and explain how they are different from the traditional ones.

1.  WBT Courses

Probably the most popular and widely used (yet) learning aid in the list, web based training (WBT) courses, are used both in corporate and education sector. Using the immense power of internet applications which offer cheap and effective ways to communicate with another, eLearning companies and training institutes design their courses to be web-based. WBT courses are effective because these can be taken up by any person irrespective of age, race and interest and can be accessed by anyone who has a decent internet connection, anytime of the day. Thus, WBT courses make education and training more flexible and reachable.

2.  Gamification

Gamification is another popular learning aid used in the eLearning industry these days. Instructional materials are designed as immersive games. All the trainees are connected to a common learning management system (LMS) and a point tally is maintained to measure their progress. This makes them take the training very seriously since it is fun, collective, immersive and fiercely competitive.

3.  Mobile Phones

You, me and everyone we know have been educated formally, staring endlessly at a blackboard and taking notes in our books. But, gradually this trend is changing as blackboards are not the only medium of instruction anymore. Smartphones, which apparently dictate us to stare at the 5 inch screen all day, are being used as learning aids to deliver eLearning courses. Smartphones are seen as accessible, portable, cheap and immersive to serve as an effective medium of instruction.

4.  Virtual Classrooms

Though most of the existing eLearning courses are web-based and self-taught, the trend is gradually changing with virtual classrooms, one of the popular learning aids. Instructor led courses are being taught using virtual classrooms which are equipped with video, audio and other immersive tools. Virtual classrooms eliminate all the barriers that hinder education, such as borders, race and poverty by allowing everyone to learn as equals under one common platform.
 
5.  Simulation

This is another popular learning aid in the eLearning industry that we must look out for. Be it for pilot training, training doctors perform tricky operations or taking a driving test, simulations using virtual reality and augmented reality are considered to be very effective and safe as well.

Tesseract Learning Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading eLearning companies based in India, with extensive experience as an outsourcing partner offers custom eLearning development, mobile learning, rapid learning and localisation services using a variety of learning aids such as gamification, story-based learning etc.