Technology for Trainers, 2nd Edition

11INTERACTION—CREATING CONTENT TO ENGAGE THE LEARNER

LEARNING BY DOING has been a core principle of delivering effective training since 1896, when John Dewey introduced the concept. However, Dewey’s principle is not always evident in the training programs being passed off as e-learning. All too often learners are subjected to Microsoft PowerPoint presentations or Word documents bundled into a static PDF and displayed on a computer screen, forcing them to sit in front of the screen and click the “next” button—over and over again.

This approach is boring and ineffective. Learners will not endure this type of training program and will abandon it after just a few screens of text. Or they will print it out and file it to be read later. E-learning ...