When you have a block of information to pass onto learners, you want to be sure that they absorb every word. While locking navigation and forcing all users to have the same experience might be thorough, it can also backfire. Users who are ahead in learning and skill might become bored and disengage from the material. Slower learners might get frustrated when they can’t keep up. Open navigation becomes a necessity for instructional design! Allow each learner to go at their own pace. See why.
Let Each eLearner Go At Their Own Pace
No two learners are exactly the same. Forcing them through the same navigation can leave them feeling frustrated. By unlocking navigation and allowing a learner-led pace, everyone gets what they need. Slower learners can take their time on new concepts, while been-there-done-that users can skip through the parts they know and spend more time on newer topics and concepts for better engagement and absorption.
Quizzes Raise ROI With Real Engagement
Want to turn your learners off? Force them to spend time re-learning concepts they already know. Forcing each user through the same experience can cause boredom and user disengagement, which slows the learning process, depletes your ROI and makes your course less effective. By trusting your users to engage and then demonstrate their level of learning – through an end-of-chapter quiz, for example – you invite them to engage with the material.
Use Instructional Design to Spotlight Standalone Chapters
Facilitators love open navigation in instructional design because it allows them to spotlight standalone chapters. If a class is having trouble with a specific concept, it’s simpler for the facilitator to locate the standalone chapter for review, instead of forcing the entire group to go through the preceding chapters or concepts. It makes for more effective learning that respects the knowledge and skill level of all users.
