The Power Of Personalization In eLearning

by Ruby Spencer, CTDP

Ask 10 people to order a pizza and you’ll see just how individual we all are and that there are endless ways to create personal savory perfection. Thin base or thick? Order in or take out? More mozzarella… but hold the anchovies, thanks! Personalization allows us to add a touch of the pizza experience to eLearning through customizing content and features to the learner’s individual needs, preferences, and learning style.
Through applying personalization in eLearning, learning content can be presented to the individual rather than the group… and allow everyone to choose their own toppings!

6 Tips For Personalization In eLearning  

At PulseLearning we’ve taken a look at how personalization can create individualized, relatable learning to satisfy a healthy learner appetite:

1. Allow for personal content customization.
   It’s not just pizza we’re particular about. Personalization allows the learner to customize their learning experience by offering choices as to how content is displayed. This could include selecting a chosen avatar character or guide to appear throughout the course, or providing a choice of visual themes. But it’s not just about appearance; personalization can allow for individual comfort and accessibility through enabling the learner to control volume and screen text font sizes.
2. Offer device choices.
   Let’s face it: We are creatures of habit. Most people have a personal preference (or tech comfort zone) when it comes to the device they enjoy using, whether it’s a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone. The learning experience can be further personalized by developing content that will allow learners to use their chosen device to access the course.
3. Use the learner’s name.
   I’m sure you’ve felt that disappointment when receiving an email only to find it has been addressed to a group. Convenient, yes; heartwarming, no. We like to feel important and being addressed personally does just this. Make eLearning an individual experience by capturing the learner’s name during the registration process and dynamically populating it in a personalized welcome message or at appropriate moments throughout the course.
4. Stream content to the individual.
   eLearning offers exciting opportunities for streaming content to create unique learner pathways. For example, the eLearning could begin with a short pre-test where questions are aligned to course topics. Content is then streamed to the learner for topics the pre-test indicated the learner is not yet competent. Personalization can also be used to create role-specific pathways to tailor content closely to job descriptions.
5. Be inclusive.
   Using inclusive language is a simple way to increase personalization in eLearning. Write text that speaks directly to learners and allow an opportunity for personal reflection so learners can relate content back to their individual situation.
6. Provide content access choices.
   Read, watch, or listen? Increase the personalized experience by providing choices for how content is accessed. For example, a learner could choose to watch a video, listen to audio, or download the PDF transcript. You’ll support the vast array of learning styles and boost accessibility at the same time.

When next considering developing content, take the time to look at introducing personalization to your eLearning!

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