Are your participants “falling asleep at the wheel”? Why not use interactivity to rev them up for learning? This workshop explores interactive technologies that enrich learning and enhance information retention. Find out why instructional- and performance-based interactions will be the keys to successful learning. Bring your own device (BYOD).
What is an interaction? It’s something that mentally engages the learner through decision making or analysis. Interactions shift learning away from traditional methods and focus more on retention and practical application.
The introduction of the phrase Interaction Design (IxD) initiated conversations about the necessity to understand the goals of a user in order to effectively design an interaction. This is also referred to as goal-oriented design, one methodology of IxD. This methodology includes the idea of personas, which aim to develop a precise description of the user and what they want to accomplish. To focus on the type of interaction needed for a particular purpose, it is crucial to understand what we are trying to accomplish with the interaction.
Another methodology is affective interaction design. This involves being aware of key aspects in designs that influence emotional responses in users. For example, the use of dynamic icons, animations, and sounds can help communicate an operation.
Keeping conscious of these things is essential when designing interactions, especially to create a high impact interaction and make it valuable. So, the next question becomes, what is the value of an interaction?
There are 2 types of interactions: instructional and performance, which both have pros and cons. Instructional interactions focus on Bloom’s levels of learning, i.e., remembering and understanding, and the learner gains the necessary knowledge. This type of interaction prepares the learner to do something, rather than only retaining the material. The negative aspect of instructional interaction is that there is no practical application.
Performance interactions focus on Bloom’s higher level levels of learning, i.e., applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. The learner actually DOES something and learns by doing it. It allows the learner the opportunity to practice until they’re proficient.
When these two types of interactions are combined in learning, the result is more comprehensive learning, with a higher impact. To be valuable, an interaction needs to be purposeful and meaningful to the learner.
In this workshop, we’ll explore how learning and retention can be accelerated when interactivity is introduced. This session will be revved up with demonstrations of collaborative polling, game creation, interactive videos, questions to participants, and interactivity through personal devices. Success rates will be discussed as well as statistics reflecting learning effectiveness.
The workshop presentation will be made available to participants through their device, and participants will leave with at least one new learning strategy for incorporating interactivity.