According to one recent study, about 65% of people in the general population are visual learners.
To be clear, this says less about individual people out there and has more to do with how the human brain works in general.
When people are exposed to information visually as opposed to through text alone, they tend to have an easier time understanding it.
They remember it for longer periods of time.
They're able to use it and see a connection between the courses they're taking and the world around them.
There's a lot of speculation as to why this might be the case - including the fact that Gen Z tends to spend an average of 5 hours and 5 minutes online daily.
Attention span and memory are generally accepted as being two of the major cognitive functions that have been impacted by the fast-paced digital world we're now living in.
All that is to say that if you find that you're currently having difficulties with your current training and education efforts, it's likely because your materials are built for an era that has long since ended.
That's not to say that people can't still do well with heavily text-based materials - it's just that this is far from the most effective way to convey critical ideas, which is essentially the goal you have in front of you right now.
This is why you need to make visual learning a core part of your instructional design strategies.
Not only will it help dramatically improve engagement in training, because people are more likely to be invested in the material, but it also improves the results your entire organization will enjoy later.
This is true for a wide range of different reasons, all of which are worth a closer look.
Moving Beyond Traditional Learning Models
To understand why it is so important to visualize learning in the modern era, you must first come to terms with exactly what we'll be leaving behind.
In many cases, a conventional instructional design approach is teacher-focused and linear.
This isn't to say that many aren't created with the best of intentions - it's just that they're not created by placing the emphasis on learners, where it belongs.
These models tend to prioritize a lot of lecture-based materials.
Because they're designed to appeal to the widest possible audience, they lead to a "one size fits all" approach.
The overall issue is that not all learners are created equally.
You could take two people and try to teach them the same lesson in the same way and one could be a resounding success while the other struggles.
Is that the fault of the student in that scenario, or the instructor who attempted to instruct them in a way that was never going to service them in the first place?
These more traditional approaches to modern instructional design also tend to be passive learning experiences.
Students observe and consume content like lectures - they don't participate in them or get hands-on experience.
Because of that aforementioned "Jack of All Trades" approach, there are also limited opportunities for personalization.
Even if a student does do well in a particular environment, they are rarely left with anything meaningful that they can take with them into the real world.
They haven't been trained on real-world scenarios or problem-solving exercises like the kinds they will encounter regularly.
These limitations are a big part of what makes a more engaging and interactive learning experience such a necessity.
Thankfully, the evolution of modern technology and the fast-paced digital world we're now living in has made this easier to realize than ever.
Engaging and interactive learning experiences are often characterized by a few basic values they have in common:
- They make interactivity a core principle. You're not just asking students to go over and evaluate pre-written materials. They're participating in hands-on exercises. They're taking quizzes and surveys, etc.
- They evolve based on real-time feedback. If students aren't engaging with materials, their feedback is incorporated into future lessons.
- They put the emphasis on the learner, where it belongs. People need control over their own learning paths if they are to engage with the material in a way that generates results.
Introducing Learning Environment Modeling (LEM)
Also commonly referred to as LEM for short, Learning Environment Modeling is an approach to instructional design that places a heavy emphasis on the visual learning aspect of it all.
This includes not only in the overall design, but also the way that materials are organized and learning experiences are analyzed, too.
It brings together the best principles of instructional design with tools like flowcharts, diagrams, and even maps.
It helps to visualize the learning journey in a way that hadn't really been possible until now, and it also helps to connect various learning elements together that makes them more than the sum of their parts.
Just a few of the major benefits of using LEM in instructional design include but are not limited to ones like:
- It adds significantly enhanced clarity and organization to the learning process.
- It offers improved collaboration by giving all key stakeholders an active role in everything that follows.
- It creates courses that are easier to adapt and refine on an as-needed basis moving forward.
LEM provides a visual language for describing learning experiences by first mapping out learner pathways.
This helps to clearly identify any potential obstacles that you may face, as well as gaps in the learning experience.
LEM is also great for illustrating the interactions between learners and the content they consume, the instructions they work with, and even the assessments they complete.
This helps make sure that everything is as balanced and coherent as possible.
Finally, LEM helps to model different learning scenarios to make sure that all learning styles are accounted for.
You want to impact all students, but you can't necessarily do so equally, after all.
Incorporating Engagement and Interactivity in Design
If one of your goals is to create more interactive learning content for the reasons outlined above, know that there are a plethora of different ways in which you can do this.
Scenario-based learning, for example, offers lessons that let learners apply the concepts you're teaching them in practical contexts.
Collaborative learning almost creates a peer-to-peer environment for learners to participate in.
There's also gamification - a recent option that has become quite popular.
Here, you incorporate as many game-like elements as possible including points, levels, badges, and more.
You can even include leaderboards to compare students to one another, thus helping to motivate them as much as possible.
According to one recent study, the gamification market worldwide is expected to grow from $9.1 billion in 2020 to a staggering $30.7 billion by as soon as 2025.
North America is expected to make up the lion's share of this growth, yes - but this is truly happening all over the world.
It's not merely a focus of the education space, but that is a big part of it due to the benefits as outlined above.
Choosing Appropriate Learning Methodologies
Once you understand the power of modern instructional design, you can then begin to choose between the various instructional design methodologies that are out there.
To that end, some of the main ones you'll want to familiarize yourself with include:
- Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation, or ADDIE. This offers a clear framework for not only designing instructional content, but for how it should be delivered and assessed as well.
- Successive Approximation Model, or SAM. This is a more agile methodology in that you prioritize rapid prototyping and a more interactive development of materials based on ongoing feedback.
- Constructivist methodologies. Here, the learner actively participates in creating their understanding of the materials.
So which instructional design methodology is the most appropriate for you and your learners?
The answer, as always, is "it depends." Only by making an effort to understand the intricacies of each will you be able to make the most informed decision possible given what you want to accomplish.
The best approach is to match methodologies to both your learning objectives and to audience needs whenever possible.
Sometimes, more straightforward and procedural learning will be required.
In that case, you would want to go with a methodology like ADDIE.
Or, you might need something with the fastest possible turnaround while still being effective.
In that case, you might want to go with SAM - particularly if adaptability is also required.
You might also need to take a more blended approach, which combines elements from different methodologies in a way that allows you to more easily adapt to your own specific needs.
Just because you need scenario-based learning doesn't mean you can't also embrace project-based learning, for example.
You would just be teaching students how to take theoretical knowledge and apply it to real-world problem-solving skills.
Or, you could use ADDIE and a more agile framework together.
ADDIE would provide the structure while the agile methodology lets you continue to make changes and improve things moving forward.
By blending methodologies, instructional designers can create learning environments that are adaptive, engaging, and tailored to the specific needs of their learners.
LX Studio's Approach to Visual Instructional Design
At LX Studio, we're proud of our emphasis on Learning Environment Modeling - the only results-focused, university-backed, fully proprietary learning strategy that is designed to make accomplishing your goals a straightforward process.
It has long been our opinion that instructional design simply lacks the robust visual tools that other fields have come to rely on.
Rather than being forced to accept that, we set out to create one of our own.
One that helps communicate critical ideas and lessons in a clear, concise way that avoids the poor decision-making and frustration that the "old school" approach tends to bring with it.
Truly, Learning Environment Modeling is one of the best ways to make sure that nothing impedes learning innovation and success.
It's made up of two basic elements: a design canvas suite and a design language.
- The design canvas suite refers to a series of tools that, when taken together, help design a learning experience that is organized to the point where anyone can understand and engage with it.
- The design language is what allows us to take inherently complicated ideas and represent them visually in terms of how they all flow together to form a larger sequence. This is what enables us to bring together the learning environment itself, which is a big part of where success comes from.
Since we started this approach, we've watched organizations of all types supercharge their projects and initiatives.
This has been possible thanks to a much-needed reconfiguration in terms of how these lessons are created.
Don't start with the topic and create a general, "one size fits all" learning experience in the hope that it will connect with audiences.
Thankfully, that's not the way things are done any longer. Instead, start with your audiences and ask yourself what you need to do to create an experience they can engage in so that you can convey ideas and topics that will resonate in a way that helps them take those lessons forward into the next phases of their career and beyond.
Especially when it comes to instructional design strategies, we believe that visual learning and especially Learning Environment Modeling is a big part of that - and those are trends that show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.
If you'd like to find out more information about how an emphasis on visual learning can help you unlock the power of modern instructional design, or if you have any additional questions that you'd like to go over with someone in a bit more detail, please don't hesitate to contact LX Studio today.
