Levels of Interactivity
By: Jim Helein
Throughout my 20+ years in the eLearning and distance learning industry, the question I seem to hear the most from clients or prospective clients, is: “What do you mean by Level 2 interactivity?” or “What’s a Level 1 course?” Sometimes we training professionals will just toss out a level number without really thinking through what that means to the person not all that familiar with eLearning creation. During my career, I’ve learned that depending on who you talk to, or who you read, or who you work with, there are varying levels of interactivity. Some folks swear by 3 levels of interactive eLearning courseware. Some tell me there are 5 levels. Windwalker over the years has worked with 4 levels of interactivity.
What is widely agreed upon is that the lower the level the less complex the interactions are. The higher level, well, then the more complex the interactions are, which often means greater use of multimedia assets such as audio, video, or animation. The higher levels can also indicate a greater sense of immersion in the course.
The key to good eLearning is creating an engaging course, one that holds the attention of the learner, and in turn, hopefully, results in good retention of the objectives and improved performance on whatever is being trained.
Like any training development project, the reason for choosing one level of interactivity often will come down to how quickly the training needs to be completed and, of course, how much it costs. It will be no surprise to anyone who has taken the time to read this post that the higher the level of interactivity, the longer it takes to produce, and the higher the price tag. But there are extremely specific objectives met by producing one level over another. It will always come down to what you want to achieve with your training.
Below are the 4 Windwalker levels of interactivity, which is we adapted from Gloria Gery, Making CBT Happen, Gery Performance Press, 1987.
Level One: Basic Presentation
For our Level 1 eLearning courses the learning outcome is at the awareness, familiarization, and recognition levels. The course content can be presented in a 1- or 2- narrative or graphic and text presentation screens with 2 to 4 ideas, facts, or units of information to provoke learner interest or awareness of the importance of a topic. We often refer to these as page-turners because most of the interactivity is limited to a simple mouse click to progress to the next screen or respond to a simple yes/no, true/false, or identify question. There is limited feedback on responses (correct/incorrect) and no branching based on responses, meaning the pathway through the learning is linear. Learners move from beginning to end. The look and feel of Level One courses is like an electronic textbook.
Windwalker does incorporate professionally produced graphics in its Level One courses. We will also incorporate audio narration, and even some video; however, the video is usually existing all ready and provided through an embedded video play screen that can appear “clunky.” Level One courses can be an excellent way to distribute information through a simplified platform to your workforce.
Level Two: Intermediate Presentation
The learning outcome for our Level Two courses is at the level of understanding, knowledge, and discernment/distinction. The course content is presented via multi-screen narrative presentations or descriptions or graphic and text presentation of 3 to 5 ideas, facts, or units of information. One type of learner interaction is click and reveal interactions with graphics, icons, or text boxes on screen. The learner is invited to “learn more” about a series of information by clicking on the icon or photo. When selected the icon or photo will provide definitions or more information through pop-up graphics. Also, learner’s interactions will involve selecting between 3 to 5 alternatives or responses to open-ended stimuli (e.g., fill-in-the-blank or completion type questions) or a generative response (e.g., identify or name) without alternatives from which to select. The feedback on learner responses is provided and evaluated (i.e., right/wrong with informative feedback plus additional information or restatement of previously displayed information). Often learners will be allowed to “try again” based on the information in the feedback to make a better choice. The sequence is not conditionally branched, so like a Level One course, it is usually linear in nature.
Windwalker Level Two courses almost always feature audio narration tracks that are synchronized to the text on screen. Video and other multimedia components can be incorporated as well, but the linear nature of the course remains intact.
Level Three: In-Depth Presentation
For our Level Three eLearning courses the learning outcome is understanding, knowledge, discernment and/or discrimination among complex or closely related alternatives, and application and use of the information presented in the course. Learners are provided key information and learning, which they need to apply to the interactions to successfully navigate the course. Learner response includes those described above applied to more complex situations, a larger number and broader range of alternatives that are more closely related to each other and harder to distinguish between correct and incorrect responses. In fact, in many Windwalker Level Three courses, we employ an “almost correct” response, which is a response that would be correct if there weren’t a better one available to choose from. The constructed responses require a deeper knowledge of the material. For example, they usually require analysis, synthesis of ideas, judgments or decisions about more complex ideas or concepts—that is, responses require more than just naming things. This is the discernment part. This is often accomplished through the use of case studies or scenarios, which may provide branching activities. The learner navigates through these activities based on their response and then the consequences of that response. While branching does provide an appearance of a non-linear pathway, it is simply providing multiple paths to a successful ending.
Level Three courses often feature robust multimedia components. Windwalker employs audio narration tracks and has often employed an “online mentor” a character who will guide the learner through the training as a visual presence. Scenarios will be provided through live action video, animation, or in a comic-book style using photos and graphics to illustrate the situations the learners are going through.
Level Four: Exploratory Presentation or Simulation
When I think of Level Four eLearning courses, I draw a parallel to video games. The learning outcomes for a workforce will focus on analysis and synthesis and advanced application of the content of the training. Situations and ideas are more complex or abstract and require greater depth of knowledge. Alternatives are more closely related; situations are more complex; and solutions are less obvious. Interactivity is mostly in the form of simulations that are of graphic models or realistic situations and problems employees may encounter in their jobs. Level Four courses provide a level of experiential fidelity, meaning the environments set up in a Level Four course simulates the learners’ work environment. Learners must complete or generate more complex processes, configurations, or procedures. Level Four lessons and courses have a higher number of branched responses in which consequences to actions are displayed and learners must choose among alternatives that are a result of previous choices. More “discovery” or exploratory learning is incorporated with the learner directing the learning path or “inquiring” against databases. A major strategy is learner-controlled “browsing” through information based on interest or need. In one course we created, we provided a graphic of a Soldier’s backpack, which placed in the lower lefthand side of the screen, enabled the learner to click on it to see a list of informational aids to help them navigate the course. Most multimedia components are employed in Level Four eLearning courses, including audio, video, animation, and avatars may be used.
The reality is that most organizations will not have the schedule or budget for full blown Level Four eLearning, but when it is possible it is the level that will provide to the most real-to-life, immersive learning experience. It is also true that based on what you need your learning outcomes to be for your workforce, any of these levels can provide good, effective, and engaging training. The key word is interactivity for us. Make it interactive and you increase engagement. Increase engagement and you increase the odds of meeting your learning outcomes.
Windwalker aims to be your complete training solutions partner throughout the content conversion and instructional design process. For more information on any of our value- added services, please reach out to our Training Practice Lead at Jim.Helein@windwalker.com