Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11Navigation

The two-dimensional world of computer displays prohibits exploration of an e-learning application in the ways we naturally like to explore things, such as the way we examine a book by leafing through its pages. We can't lift an e-learning application to sense the volume of its contents. We can't typically skim through its contents, observe the style and clarity, review the illustrations, skim through reference citations, or check for specific items via an index.

Navigation is the component that controls the learner's ability to size up an application, determine its value, and access its contents. It is the steering wheel of the application. It is the component that determines the learner's ability to explore and to control the application for personal needs. Unfortunately, in e-learning we can see only what the designers and programmers chose to reveal, and that isn't typically very much.

Navigation is only one component of an e-learning application, but it is an essential component that is often given too little design attention, with the result of entrapping learners into a fixed flow. Too often, navigation is offered as the application's interactivity, which means there won't really be any interactive instruction.

Victim or Master?

Learners are sometimes so controlled by e-learning applications they feel victimized. They have few options, if any, beyond how to answer questions. Learners can perform the next step put in front of them or quit—and that's ...