Confessions of an ID: adult learners, motivation and e-learning design

I read a really interesting paper a year or so ago. The clear premise of the paper is that there is a 'distinct link between emotion and motivation', and when motivation is built into the pedagogy, boredom disappears (McLennan & Peel, 2008). But, because it was focused on motivational pedagogy, and not andragogy, and because it was classroom-based, for a while I sort of pushed it aside as too hard to incorporate into modularised/reusable e-learning design (I'm not talking about real-time synchronous design here).

Well, how do you put 'emotion' into e-learning? 'Nah, its not really possible, especially for adults whom we, most-times, never even know...' And, that was how I talked myself out of the possibility...

But, I have kept thinking about it, and there are some annoying similarities between McLennan & Peel's experiences with pre-adolescents in the classroom, and my experiences with adult learners and motivation. Ok, so adults aren't going through all the turmoils of hormone changes, social development and personal growth- hmmmm, well they could be dealing with a pregnancy, financial difficulties, buying a home, juggling family, redundancy, dealing with a serious illness, etc so their lives aren't necessarily a 'box of fluffies'. Further, McLennan & Peel (2008) explain that adolescents learn best when 'there is emotional investment', and I have add, this is no different for adults.

Reality check- your 'adult' learners didn't wake up wanting to be slapped with a boring module of 'tick-in-the-box rubbish' disguised as learning content today- so why don't we take this opportunity to make our e-learning module the best thing in your learners day- let's make it meaningful!

I couldn't hide any longer...

I started to think about how I engage adults in the training room, and why I don't always choose to replicate that in e-learning all the time. I mean, let me step back a minute... One of the first things we learn in adult education design is the acronym WIIFM = 'What's in it for me?' An activity I do with my learners at the beginning of a F2F/ILT session is to:

• Ask them what they would like to get out of this session
• List each 'learner identified objective' on a whiteboard
• Put a tick or star next to the ones that are asked for repeatedly
• Respond to the ones we aren't going to cover

Groovy... We all want to know WIIFM, and when we do, we have buy-in. So why, when this is such an important opportunity to engage with my e-learners, have I totally understated this moment, and go on to bombard them with a great list of static words on a screen? I can only answer honestly, and say there is no excuse.

What is motivation and why do we need to design it?

While there are many theories on motivation, it can be simplified into a two factor model of motivation, as identified by McLennan & Peel (2008):

1. Extrinsic- when motivation occurs through the receipt of an external reward
2. Intrinsic- when motivation is internal and emerges from within through the desire to perform better, believe in the learning goal, or as Herzberg posits (cited in Sarah Mae Sincero, 2012) it is the desire to achieve personal growth.

"Being motivated means being purposeful" (Wlodkowski, 2011), and seeing motivation this way enables us, as designers, to create experiences to help others learn.

Many of the pedagogical examples recommended to deliver extrinsic rewards relate to a personal approach, a classroom identity, direct communication, etc, while intrinsic motivation is linked to real life problems and situations. We have to be careful though, as McLennan & Peel (2008) warn teachers not to overuse extrinsic motivation and thus 'impede the transition to intrinsic motivation'. In other words, we need to dangle the proverbial (extrinsic) carrot, but package it in a meaningful, real-life situation, so that we can strengthen intrinsic motivation to learn.

But, how do we do that in an online environment? Can we really connect personally when it is just words and pictures on a screen?

I think we can certainly give it a good try...

Elements of online motivational design

Three things you can do to design adult-learner motivation in online environments:

So, let's look at how we might do this by pulling apart a couple of simple mock-ups...

Example 1: Learning objectives make-over

I've not done this before, but I'm thinking that rather than list the learning objectives on the page, we could turn it into a multiple-response activity, with tailored feedback. This way, our learners are more likely to read them in order to make a choice about the ones with which they connect Ok, so elements included:

1. Make it personal - Learners select the objectives that mean the most to them. Feedback can be tailored to their responses, reinforcing that their selections are important, along with the others. And provide linkages to why.
2. Challenge them - As they go through the module, decisions are provided and real-life consequences are provided in the form of an actual key performance indicator (KPI) or similar. If this works correctly, learners will be motivated intrinsically and make decisions about safety that are not going to impact this score negatively.
3. Reward them - On the successful completion of each 'section' badges are provided which not only provide an extrinsic form of motivation, but visually illustrate progress through the module.

Example 2: Content make-over

So, this is something I've done a fair bit, and it gets the 'content' out of the way, and focuses on decisions and consequences. It's not a complex approach, and multi-pathway scenarios are obviously much better, but this is a teaser I suppose, to prompt a change in thinking about how we design, and to be more mindful of designing for motivation.

Elements included:

1. Make it personal - Learners and placed into a context. Feedback can be tailored to their responses, reinforcing that their selections are important, along with the others. And provide linkages to why.
2. Challenge them - A decision has to be made that result in real-life consequences and changes to an actual key performance indicator (KPI) or similar. Content is hidden, but available using the 'Toolbox' if needed. If this works correctly, learners will be motivated intrinsically to select choices that demonstrate an improvement in their own performance. Positive language is used to congratulate learners, or encourage them to re-think when decisions could be better.
3. Reward them - Again, on the successful completion of each 'section' a badge is awarded which not only provides an extrinsic form of motivation, but visually illustrates progress through the module.

Making adult e-learning motivational, isn't new, and certainly isn't my unique idea. John Keller (2016) and his ARCs model of motivational design, was probably my first real eye-opener in that department, and I've got to confess, I've known this for years. But, sometimes you don't just want the theory, you want the 'how to', and for those of you like me, I hope this has helped you to visualise how you could build motivation into your e-learning design. I'd love to see your designs once you've had a go, to hear how you have incorporated motivational factors into your online learning courses, and what your learners thought about it.

Happy designing! :-)

References

1. Keller, John (2016). ARCS model. Retrieved 26th February, 2017 from http://www.arcsmodel.com/
2. McLennan, Brad and Peel, Karen (2008) Motivational pedagogy: locking in the learning. The Australian Educational Leader, 30(1). pp. 22-27. ISSN 1832-8245. Retrieved March 14, 2017 from https://eprints.usq.edu.au/25798/2/McLennan_Peel_AEL_v30n1_PV.pdf
3. Sarah Mae Sincero (May 7, 2012). Two-Factor Theory of Motivation. Retrieved Mar 12, 2017 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/two-factor-theory-of-motivation
4. Wlodkowski, Raymond J. (2011). Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn: A Comprehensive Guide for Teaching All Adults (Jossey-Bass higher and adult education series). John Wiley & Sons.