Common pain points for online learners

Behind the scenes · 
Lauren
An illustration shows a young man (drawn in cartoon style) scrolling on his phone. He rests his head on his one hand and holds his phone in the other. He appears to be bored.

Whilst it offers many benefits – empowering learners to work at their own pace, at a time and place that suits them – learning online can also be painful when eLearning materials aren’t well thought out. 

You’ve probably been there yourself forced to click through a compulsory module (perhaps for workplace compliance) that takes 25 minutes, saps the energy from your afternoon, and provides pages of written information that you’ve then forgotten less than 12 hours later. 

 

This is not what eLearning is about. 

 

eLearning can be a powerful tool for engaging with learners in all settings and sectors, delivering key information, boosting confidence and understanding, and providing engaging experiences that have lasting impact. 

And despite common misconceptions, there’s a craft to making your eLearning hit the mark. 

Here are some recurring complaints we witness from learners who have been bogged down by boring online learning, with tips you can implement to turn complaints into compliments. 

An illustration shows a young man (drawn in cartoon style) scrolling on his phone. He rests his head on his one hand and holds his phone in the other. He appears to be bored.

The scroll is endless! 

Whenever this compliant crops up, it’s usually because the course has existed in another format, such as with face-to-face delivery, and has been transformed into an eLearning experience without the content being treated and optimised for the new format. 

That being said, endless scrolling can also be caused by courses that require a great level of detail, which is sometimes the case. 

Whatever the reason behind it, there’s an easy fix for endless scrolling. 

 

Content chunking is the #1 tip in the eLearning designer’s playbook. 

 

Content chunking is where you consider the starting point, the end point, and the steps in between that link the two (a.k.a. your learning journey). 

Once you have an idea of the big picture, you can start breaking down your lessons into bitesize chunks that carve a clear path towards the goal and give learners a sense of progress. 

Want to learn more? Check out this blog

An illustration show a woman (drawn in cartoon style) with a bobbed haircut. She is giving a "thumbs-down" in disapproval.

 

Can’t break the “click next” curse 

“Click next” fatigue happens when chunking has gone wrong. 

Often, when we’ve come to optimise existing courses, we’ve noticed a common pitfall — their creators have fallen into the “click next” curse. 

This is where the content is broken down into smaller sections, and the only instruction for the learner is to continue “clicking next” until they reach the end of the course.   

When falling into this trap, course creators neglect one of the key elements of successful online learning — having opportunities to put what you’ve learned into practice. 

 

Lessons that are absorbed passively by scrolling through content aren’t the ones that stick. 

 

Incorporating purposeful interactive elements that provide a safe space for learners to try, fail, receive feedback, and try again, is the best way to actively engage your audience and deliver lessons that last. 

An illustration shows a young woman with long dark hair (drawn in cartoon style). She has one arm folded across her body and holds her other hand to her chin. She has a confused expression on her face.

It’s good for only one type of learner 

A lot of the time we see a tendency for course creators to cram as much information as they can onto the page in the hope that it will give their learners enough detail and context to succeed. 

But this is not the best way to set them up for success. In fact, it’s more likely to encourage most of them to completely switch off. 

Reading through pages of written content will appeal to some learners, but it’s important to remember that not everyone learns in the same way. Creating a learning experience that is essentially one-dimensional like this is bound to alienate, exclude, and ultimately fail some of your audience. 

In the realms of online learning, there are lots of tools you can use to create a varied and exciting learning experience. Making improvements to your written content and visual design is one thing; you might also consider including animation and video, course characters, interactive scenarios and activities to make your online learning truly stand out. 

An illustration shows a young woman with her hair tied up in a bun (drawn in cartoon style). She clenches her fists and grimaces in frustration. There is steam coming out of her ears.

It’s inaccessible 

Developments in online learning have unlocked greater accessibility than ever before. However, not every online course is built with accessibility in mind. 

In this sense, we often find courses that have been designed and developed with no attention paid to the access needs of their learners until the very end of the process, just before launch. 

 

When we build with accessibility on the back-burner, we run the risk of creating courses that are, in the end, inaccessible. 

 

Accessibility should be part of the conversation from the get-go, informing all of your design decisions — whether they’re shaping written content, course structure, visual design, activities, or interactive elements. 

A key part of accessibility is also to consider the different devices the course might be viewed on. When it comes to designing and testing for accessibility, make sure to check that everything translates to different screen sizes for those who will be learning on a mobile, tablet, or computer. 

 

An illustration shows a young woman wearing a hijab (drawn in cartoon style). She has one hand on her hip, and the other holds her chin. She's looks into the distance with a confused expression on her face.

“What’s the point?” 

This is a common complaint when learners aren’t given clear outcomes or a clear understanding of the course’s purpose and content. 

Without knowing what they’re supposed to be aiming for, how they should feel by the end of the course, and the steps they’re expected to take in its duration, learners can be left wondering about the point of it all. By the course end, they’re likely to feel dissatisfied with the experience, as though it has been a waste of their time. 

Setting clear learning goals and objectives from the offset is the best way to combat this. For top tips on crafting effective learning objectives that actually mean something, read this blog

 

An illustration shows a young woman with bobbed brown hair (drawn in cartoon style). With her eyes closed, she's pinching the bridge of her nose and her shoulders are slumped forward, indicating frustration and fatigue.

 

“How long ‘til it’s over?” 

When learners are battling screen fatigue and having to balance their studies with other responsibilities, it’s important to deliver your content in a way that empowers them to take autonomy over their learning journey. 

Whilst this might sound like a big ask, there are a few simple changes you can make to your online courses to enhance the experience for your learners. 

The beauty of online learning is that it can be accessed any time, from anywhere. This enables learners to work through course content when/where it suits them. As a result, it can be frustrating when: 

 

  1. They’re not given an indication of how long a course/chapter will take 
  2. There’s no transparency over how far through the course they are, and how much is left 
  3. There’s no option to pause their learning part-way through the course and pick it back up from the same point another day 

 

Most eLearning authoring tools have options for building in this progress-measuring functionality, and it can definitely be worth implementing it to make your learners’ lives easier. 

An illustration shows a young woman wearing a hijab (drawn in cartoon style). She sits at her laptop with a smile on her face.

Make sure your learners have compliments for your course, not complaints.  

With extensive experience in eLearning design and development, we know what causes learners to disengage, and how to prevent it. 

For more insight, read our blog, or if you’d like to talk to us about improving your existing eLearning, our consultancy service might be for you! 

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