e-Learning Leadership Blog

A Fresh Look at Context in e-Learning Design

by Ethan Edwards, chief instructional strategist

I think people sometimes have a hard time getting a real concrete sense of how powerful context can be in shifting the whole learning equation—especially in e-learning where creating individual learner motivation is so critical in creating the conditions for learning.  We at Allen Interactions use a model requiring meaningful context, appropriate challenge, relevant activity, and content-rich feedback to create instructional interactivity.  In shorthand, we define the context as the “framework and conditions” for the instruction or interaction.  As such, it can be the specific style or manner in which information is displayed, how the environment for interaction is revealed, or even how the instructional elements are introduced to the learner.  I know this might seem very vague, but its only vague in the sense that different situations may benefit from such varying contextual elements that it is impossible to say definitively “Context = X.”

By virtue of a couple of visitors to the barn (who I sincerely hope are permanent) I got a brand new perspective on how powerful context can be in completely changing one’s inclination toward learning.  If you are anything like me, pigeons are one of the more unpleasant creatures we come in contact with…they seem dirty, often unsightly, bothersome creatures significantly detracting from my time in any city.  “Rats with wings” they are often labeled with some truth.  My main interest in pigeons has been to avoid them and even, I’m sad to say, to wish them ill.

Well, two pigeons have taken up residence in my barn. You can see them in the unfortunately poor quality photo of them perched on the ridgeline of my barn roof.  Seeing them in the country, in fresh air, cooing contentedly up high, in harmony with all the other animals flitting about is one of the most appealing sights I’ve had all year.  They are so beautifully gray and plump; the way they hang together is so endearing.  I can only assume that there is a nest tucked up somewhere high in the rafters.  I see them and I only want to learn more about them:  from whence they came, what they eat, what their nest looks like, what makes them coo so beautifully, how many eggs are in their nest, etc.

In reflecting on this, I have surprised myself in how drastically and immediately my attitude toward learning about pigeons has changed.  But what has happened to create this difference?  Absolutely nothing EXCEPT that a subject of which I have been aware but disinterested my entire life has been given a meaningful and appealing Context.  Context has the power to connect content to values, interests, motivations, attitudes—things that matter to the learner that will fuel individual effort and commitment to learning.

This may sound a little off the deep end, even for me, but I contend that this is a great illustration of precisely what context can do in e-learning to change content about which the learner cares nothing into something he is eager or at least willing to take seriously.

Here’s a case study for illustration.  New York University Medical Center was implementing a new patient records system.  Part of the implementation required training nurses and other hospital workers on software procedures in the new system.  There are few things more tedious and unmotivating than typical online software training. Tasks are so often presented en masse, as a series of meaningless gestures to watch and repeat slavishly that add up to nothing useful. While probably true of nearly all fields, medical care providers seem to find this particularly off-putting.  They are motivated by providing life-saving care to patients, not putzng around on inconveniently-situated workstations.  They find learning software about as appealing as a subject for study as I find pigeons messing up a city sidewalk.

What they did in their training, though, is to provide a meaningful context.  Before each task the lesson illustrates a patient-centered context to draw in the learner’s interest--to touch their values, to link this content to existing passions and motivations.   Even though the content is still the relatively dry task of presenting and testing software procedures, this consistent context building for each task is truly an enabling feature to make learning much more likely in this target population.