Telling a story

Storytelling in education

When looking at online learning, people often make the mistake of focusing on the technology and the ways in which the technology can be used to the greatest effect.
But the fundamentals of effective eLearning are the same as for any style of learning, and it comes down to what information you want to present and how best to deliver it.
Good learning practices are consistent no matter how the learning is delivered.
For me, effective learning comes down to telling a story, creating a cohesive narrative for the learner to follow. This is not about telling your students a bedtime story, its about providing a consistent meaning and purpose throughout the course.
· Begin each unit, course, week or module with an introduction that explains to them what they will be covering and most importantly - why.
· Connect all new information presented with what they have learnt before and what will come next so the learner can see how the components fit together.
· Never underestimate the 'so what' factor. Provide all information with a clear reason for its existence in the course.
· Take the logline approach. If you can't summarise what the learner must understand from a given module or week of content in just one sentence, then you are doing it wrong. No matter how complicat

Break up your content into smaller, easy to digest chunks and by all means make it visual, interactive and engaging, but most importantly make the connections for your learner.
Think of your course like a jigsaw puzzle. You provide the learner with each individual piece, but they have to be able to see how the pieces fit together.

This is how you tell a story.