5 Ways to Overcome Technology Fatigue and Improve Learners Engagement

The world has changed in significant ways; the mention of hand-washing, social distancing and remote working doesn’t raise eyebrows anymore. The role of technology has also become more integral to the way we live – from schooling and work to marriage ceremonies and religious gatherings, technology-enabled platforms are now the stand-in for most interactions that would have otherwise taken place in-person.

However, for many individuals, the amount of time spent gazing at the digital screens and having non-physical interactions is beginning to give new meaning to the words – overwhelm and disconnection. We are all feeling fatigued right now – and it is becoming much more difficult to get or retain anyone’s attention.

Which makes ensuring a high level of learners engagement a top priority. Because the more the learners are engaged, the more they learn, and the more results they achieve.

So what’s your gameplan? How do you keep your learners engaged when there is so much distraction & disengagement from digital tools & tech softwares? How would you ensure learning transfers to on-the-job performance? 

Here are five ways learning professionals can increase learner engagement in today’s world of technology fatigue:

How to Increase Learners Engagement in Today’s World

Enable Self-paced Learning

A major advantage of today’s virtual world is that people can learn at their own pace. You can give employees the flexibility on how they choose to strike a balance between work and training using self-paced learning.

The convenience offered helps your employees determine the best time to take their courses and ultimately boost learners engagement. 

In self-paced learning, you launch the learning program, set a deadline for course completion and allow the learners to define their learning path. You can still go on to specify milestone dates – dates when a specific percentage of the course should have been completed – to drive accountability and prevent last-minute rush. 

One unique advantage of self-paced learning is the ability to accommodate all types of learners – those who are able to finish a course fast, and learners who need more time to understand the content. 

As a learning professional, the best way to enable self-paced learning, track course completion and measure learning transfer is by using a learning management system (LMS) for your learning programs. An LMS puts learners in control of their learning pace and increases student engagement.

Make Learning Relevant

Learning would not seem like a chore when we understand how it helps us overcome a specific pain point. A considerable percentage of today’s workforce believe strongly in “just-in-time learning’’ – i.e. learning programs that are tailored to help them overcome a particular challenge they currently experience. 

Asides from securing executives buy-in for your learning initiatives, participants or learners buy-in is also very essential. To keep aligned with the expectation of just-in-time learning, you need to clearly communicate the problems your learning initiative is designed to solve. 

You can include this in the email you send out to learners when you create the course or at the beginning of a course, but it is essential to paint a clear picture on the gap you aim to bridge with that learning program.

From design and delivery to purpose and content, you need to connect the dots and show the importance of your learning initiative. This creates a shift of mindset in your employees, and with the right mindset and highly engaged learners, everything – including technology fatigue – is surmountable.

Gamification

Everyone likes to play games. So why not use Gamification as one of your learners engagement strategies? 

When you infuse gameplay into your corporate training, it makes it more dynamic and interactive. Adding games to your course content also stimulates the natural desire to compete, improve, and outperform peers in the learning program. 

And you don’t need to have coding skills or game-designing expertise. When using an easy-to-navigate learning management system, you can easily create assessments and leaderboards that match real-life scenarios for role-play or add other competitive elements into your course design. Gamification makes learning fun!

Smooth User Experience

There is nothing more frustrating and disengaging than trying to use a platform but experiencing so many technical difficulties and having no one to reach out to for assistance. Bad user experience on any online platform almost doubles the technology fatigue experienced by the user. 

A learner-focused interface that ensures smooth user experience paves the way for easy learning; Therefore ease-of-use should be one of your main criteria when selecting an LMS.

The user interface and experience should be nothing short of the best. You can take a free demo at the end of this article to experience an ideal user-friendly interface.

Personalisation

Personalised learning means creating a familiar and individualised platform for each employee which helps your employees become more comfortable while learning. 

You can achieve this by including names, interest, experiences, job roles and other subtle details in each learner’s space. 

Personalised learning is participant-focused and makes your employees take ownership of their learning. It also helps you improve learner engagement and reduce technology fatigue when you create a learning space that your learners can easily connect to – you create that sense of “being at home” while learning. 

But, you don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the prospect of creating a personalised platform for each employee; you can leverage technology by choosing the right learning management system that would create individualised learning spaces for all users with a few clicks – and no coding skills required either.

If your training program is designed to improve the skills of your employees so you can achieve your strategic goals, then you need to be very deliberate when choosing a learning management system. Your LMS should help you create engaging courses, increase learner engagement and reduce technology fatigue. 

In Conclusion

Meet Learnry LMS, our efficient, learner-focused and secure LMS that enables you to achieve all your business needs. With learnry, you can implement self-paced learning, design and deploy games, create personalised learning spaces and ensure smooth user experience.

Use Learnry to maximise your learners’ engagement and ultimately deliver better business outcomes.

Click here to request a demo and experience first-hand how learnry helps you achieve highly engaged learning and sustainable business success.