It’s no secret that COVID-19 has drastically altered the education system. During the initial outbreak in 2020, widespread lockdowns forced classrooms and training programs to close in-person learning and transition all of their curriculum to virtual spaces seemingly overnight.
However, this distance learning was created during a period of uncertainty that was characterized by the need to rush to a solution and figure out its efficiency later. This rush resulted in institutions and organizations creating eLearning that was allowed, and even expected, to be unpolished because it was meant to be a temporary solution to continue education as normally as possible while the pandemic was resolved. But in 2022, the pandemic has only stretched on as new variants develop, and this recurrent need for distance learning is becoming a staple for our post-pandemic world.
Omicron, the most recent COVID-19 variant, spread so quickly that schools were forced back into full-time eLearning. According to Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) in Louisville, Kentucky, the 29th largest school district in the
country with over 94,000 students, this was largely due to staff shortages as over 700 staff members were out in relation to the virus.
This potential of increased distance learning presents a problem for institutions that continue using eLearning that was created in response to the pandemic. As eLearning becomes a more widely used method of instruction, it is evident that not all eLearning curriculum is as effective as it could be, and changes need to be made in order to maintain education expectations and training standards.
Distance Learning Fatigue: How High-Quality eLearning Can Alleviate It
Determining what eLearning curriculum program to purchase is important, and it can be challenging for instructors to find high quality curriculum. Curriculum can be deemed high quality by its ability to produce well-rounded individuals who are job-ready upon completion of the course. The most successful eLearning curriculum to do this most often includes interactive elements that engage learners. This is because in today’s technology-focused world, engaging eLearning helps combat distance learning fatigue.
Distance learning fatigue is a feeling of exhaustion or burnout that can occur from prolonged use of distanced instruction. This includes eLearning curriculum, digital assignments, and online calls or meetings. But this poses a bigger issue than just boredom. The fatigue can affect multiple areas of a person’s well-being, including socially, emotionally, mentally, and physically. In terms of education, this leads to a decrease of knowledge absorption and retention due to the fatigued learner zoning out or disengaging and losing focus on the material.
A lot of the eLearning produced in response to the pandemic did little to engage learners and prevent distance learning fatigue. In the scramble for eLearning curriculum, many companies jumped into developing their own eLearning programs to both survive and capitalize on the opportunity as the demand for distance learning curriculum suddenly skyrocketed. But this urgency to break into a market for this reason rarely produces thorough, well-crafted products. Most often, when anything is created in a rush, it is only made to meet the bare minimum requirements of its product category. For eLearning curriculum, this means the material was likely shortened, went through fewer rounds of edits, and omitted interactive elements for sake of production speed.
This bare minimum approach to eLearning curriculum that sprung up during the pandemic is not a functional solution. Instructors want engaging and challenging eLearning curriculum for their students and employees that will hold up long-term. According to Jason Everett, an Amatrol regional manager, instructors desire “more flexibility in using online virtual trainers and in-person hands-on trainers.” This application of skills from theory offers the opportunity to experience real-world examples and helps with material retention. However, the current eLearning curriculum market is flooded with programs of mediocre quality, and instructors don’t have the resources to sort through the heap for the type of engaging content they want.
Get Superior eLearning Curriculum from Amatrol
This is where Amatrol can help. Amatrol’s eLearning library contains hundreds of technical training courses that cover a variety of industrial disciplines. This vast collection offers over 10,000 hours of eLearning curriculum and continues to grow.
That is definitely a large quantity of eLearning, but what makes Amatrol eLearning curriculum such high quality?
Comprehensive Material Developed Alongside Industry Professionals for Decades
Amatrol’s eLearning curriculum was not created as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve been creating interactive multimedia for multiple decades now with the help of industry professionals. Our curriculum is well-established and has been used by businesses and schools in all 50 states and more than 40 countries worldwide. Each course is carefully designed by Amatrol’s full-time in-house team of curriculum writers, programmers, multimedia developers, graphic artists, 3D animators, and photographers. This team crafts each course to meet the training objectives of real jobs in their respective career field, and a course only becomes available once it has been meticulously combed through and edited to ensure all relevant subjects are covered thoroughly.
Interactivity for Different Learning Styles
Users can expect to learn from a variety of interactive elements that appeal to auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles. These include videos, 3D simulations, diagrams, quizzes, practice exercises, eAssessments, and voiceovers of all text. Some courses also include a Virtual Trainer, which is a simulation that replicates that course’s physical Learning System in a digital format. By practicing these real-world tasks, learners stay engaged and utilize the knowledge they have just learned from the lesson, which improves knowledge retention.
Modular Breakdown
Distance learning fatigue can also be reduced with Amatrol eLearning curriculum because we break our courses down into more manageable pieces. Learners are able to work on one module at a time at their own pace, and regular knowledge checks throughout the lessons allow for a good point to take a break. Students also experience a sense of accomplishment with this method.
Want to Learn More?
If you’re not sure if Amatrol’s eLearning curriculum is right for your class or training program, use our “Contact Us” form to ask about our free 30-day trial. You’ll be able to test out our eLearning courses for your organization or school and see how using our curriculum can take your technical training program to the next level.
