by Bill Cushard

There are many problems with eLearning: poor design, boring topics, and a major underuse of evidence-based learning techniques. These examples are prevalent, but they center entirely on the design of an eLearning course. There are two sides to every coin, and no one talks about learner behavior as contributors to bad eLearning.

A conventional definition of bad eLearning is when a learner does not learn the material or apply what was learned. On this, we blame bad design. But what if someone doesn’t retain anything because they were checking email, listening to music, or shopping on eBay during the online course?

Ah, multi-tasking. The key to hyper-productivity and high performance, right?

Wrong.

It turns out, our brains cannot multi-task. In fact, multi-tasking negatively impacts learning. Should eLearning designers be blamed for that?

Hardly. But sadly, they often are.

Although eLearning designers cannot fight the tidal wave of distractions that our audiences face, there is one thing we can do to help our learners focus and get more out of the courses we design. We can encourage them to take notes.

Fight Multi-Tasking with Note Taking

Note taking works. Just ask Tim Ferriss, a huge believer in the power of note taking. Even more compelling is the extensive scientific research that shows note taking has a positive effect on memory retention. Taking this even further, a Claremont study compared typed note taking and handwritten note taking and found that those who typed notes on a computer had better memory of the material than those who hand wrote their notes.

Amazing.

So what should eLearning designers do?

Doesn’t Matter Which Method You Choose, So Long As You Use Your Method

One thing eLearning designers can do is add instructions in early parts of an online course that encourages note taking. These instructions can go so far as to suggest tools that learners can use and share reasons (benefits) that learners should take notes. If nothing else, it is a brief reminder that could encourage some learners to take notes. And if you can get even a small number of people to take notes, you have accomplished a difficult challenge of removing other distractions in the fight against multi-tasking.

There is no need to be picky about the note taking method. Your instructions can suggest several tools like Evernote, Word, Google Docs, Confluence or any number of tools that your audience may be using. The point is not which tool, but to encourage learners to pick their tool and use it during the online course to take notes. Remember, note taking improves retention.

What note taking method do you use? How has note taking helped you? Comment below and start a conversation.

About Bill Cushard

Bill became a training guy early in his career when a group of 20 new hires showed up and there was no trainer. When HR came looking to find someone to do the training, Bill yelled, "I'll do it!" He has been a trainer ever since.

Bill has built and led training organizations and eLearning projects at service organizations like E*TRADE, Accenture, and TimeWarner Cable.

He is the author of a blog, The LX Designer, where he shares knowledge on enterprise learning and is active on Twitter in the learning and training space.