Genesis: the quest for beautiful eLearning begins.

January 14, 2008

Welcome to the eQuixotic eLearning blog! While many blogs exist that examine eLearning design theories, the implementation of corporate eLearning programs, adult learning styles, eLearning course development tools, etc., I have found none that explore eLearning visual design in any significant amount of detail. Frankly, I have found the utter lack of visual design consideration to be a fatal flaw for most of the eLearning I have personally been subjected to experienced.

What is the cause behind most eLearning courses screaming “amateur hour” when it comes to visual design? Where Web and print design have progressed in stunning fashion over the past decade, why do eLearning courses look like retro flashbacks to this best-forgotten era? Is it because our learners are quite content with mundane electronic page-turners featuring tired stock imagery, archaic clip art, and trite navigational elements? Hardly. If anything, our natural resistance to eLearning, built up over a lifetime of classroom learning in non-virtual spaces with non-virtual teachers (and very hard non-virtual chairs), demands a strong visual charm - something that draws the eye and holds fast the attention of the learner. Something that screams, “I am interesting, so pay attention!” Yet sadly, this much-needed visual appeal typically becomes forgotten with all the emphasis paid to the academic or business aspects of eLearning design.

It doesn’t help that most eLearning developers have backgrounds in academia, not visual design. After all, the visual design students are busy pursuing “exciting” careers in Web and print design. Jobs in corporate training departments are simply not the intended destination for today’s visually-inclined.

So is the situation hopeless? Are we doomed to an inevitability of bland, forgettable eLearning because we, as eLearning developers, are pocket-protector-wearing Poindexters who think white socks are perfectly fine with black trousers and that the Pontiac Aztek is a “pretty sweet ride?”

Must we all be design-savvy hipsters that spend more on their designer laptop bags than you spent on your last car in order to put a polished sheen on our eLearning development work?

The answer, my friends, is a resounding no.

In this blog I hope to uncover some of the hidden eLearning gems that we may all get some inspiration from, as well as looking at ways we can make our eLearning courses more aesthetically appealing (thus more powerful) to our learners.

Posted in eLearning Design