Connecting emotionally to make e-learning effective...

Most people have a vivid recollection of what they were doing on the morning of December 26 when Tsunami hit the south-eastern coastline of Asia. Those in the US, during the September 11 terror attacks still hold snapshot memories of things as insignificant as what they ate for breakfast. At the same time, these very people may not remember what they ate for dinner just the previous evening. This is because the dinner did not trigger an emotional upsurge.

However, the magnitude of the December 26 and September 11 disasters trigger intensive emotions in people. Even those too young to comprehend the happenings were aware, through the reaction of people around them that "something big" had happened.

The recall factor

The reason why such events are etched as memories for long is because the human brain is so designed to remember and learn events that are linked to strong or intensive emotions. According to Frank Thissen , Professor for Multimedia Didactics in the University of Applied Sciences, " First there is emotion; after that comes cognition ."

Heading a research project to study the role of emotions in e-Learning, Thissen discovered that positive emotions help people remember complex things and negative emotions help people remember details and data accurately. Therefore, e-Learning experiences that fail to trigger either positive or negative emotions are unlikely to be remembered or even hold the learner's interest.Such e-learning cannot thus result in long-term learning.

More experiments

Learning need not be face-to-face to provide the emotional trigger. According to Thissen, providing certain features of face-to-face communications can do the trick, as long as the experience is linked to intense emotions. He also believed that "humans are very easy to cheat". Validating this belief is Joseph Weizenbaum's experiment, ' ELIZA '. Weizenbaum used a computer programme to generate natural responses to a learner's typed statements. Learners later revealed that they felt the computer communicate with them just as an instructor would.

This experiment led researchers to conclude that the problem with e-Learning is not a technological one. " The problem is that nearly all e-Learning environments I know metacommunicate (communication about communication within relationships) dreariness and boredom and they only address the cognitive part of learning ," reaffirms Weizenbaum.

Something wrong?

There has to be a reason why even the most successful of e-Learning ventures complain of high failure and dropout rates. According to Don Norman , a Professor of computer science and psychology, learning as a subject is still not well understood. In his book the 'Emotional Design' , he states that the major drawback of all e-Learning initiatives is that most learning professionals believe that the effective way to teach is to structure learning content sequentially or logically.

However, this approach is faulty on two counts. One, logical structures can be dull and dreary. Two, as learners do not "work" to gather and retain information long-term learning is an elusive target. According to established studies, learners who work to gather information, memorise it in such a manner that recollection is easy. As Norman says, " Basically, you remember what you care about "

What about emotions?

The prevalent belief is that learning is a cognitive function; therefore, it is only about reasoning and logic. The belief extends to emotions, where emotions are "the irrational part of the mind so anybody studying learning would not study emotion." It is only now that learning professionals realise the important role of emotions in the learning process. However, earlier researchers believed that only negative emotions are powerful and essential for learning. Recent studies on the contrary indicate that even positive emotions are equally significant.

Positive emotions trigger curiosity, compelling a learner to explore his surroundings, which eventually result in long-term learning. Thissen compares this approach to learning with the painting of the picket fence in Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer. Tom gets his friends to paint the fence for him by making painting sound mysteriously interesting.

According to Thissen, as humans are inherently inquisitive they have to desire to learn what goes on in "secret places". Therefore, to motivate online learners, it is important that learning content is mysteriously appealing, making learners feel that they are unravelling the unknown and the unexplained. Effective online teaching combines cognition with emotion. A successful online course includes the following elements:

• Motivation : The content should address issues and problems that are closely related to the learner or something that the learner cares about
• Encouragement : The learner needs positive encouragement in the form of rewards and recognition. Rewarding a learner whenever he explores or understands what is being taught enhances his learning experience
• Stress : Inducing a bit of stress keeps the learner remain focused. Adding assignments and deadlines as elements of stress keeps the learner more involved in the learning process
• Commitment : Creating accountability or making a learner responsible for his own learning ensures better learner commitment. Social commitment can be established by grouping learners. An effective feedback system and frequent interactions help maintain commitment levels

What works for e-Learning?

According to author, researcher Joseph Campbell , the most effective way to hold a child's attention is to begin with the phrase, "Once upon a time..." The same works for adult learners as well. While there is a need to reach out to a learner's emotions, e-learning is limited to transferring logically structured, hard facts.

Creating stories using real people makes e-Learning more effective. As Allison Rossett , a Professor of Educational Technology says, " Real people confronting real dilemmas and doing it under real stress, with all the real surrounding constraints and conditions that the learner deals with ", makes e-Learning highly successful. When e-Learning fails to make the emotional connection, learners may not retain and use what they have learnt in real-world situations.

Classroom sessions are more effective since learners are physically close to their counterparts and can study and work together or help each other. Creating online learning communities enhances the learning experience.

Learners with similar confusions can work together to clarify or understand the content. It is easy to remain absent or to be distracted during an e-Learning session. However, learners who belong to online communities have higher attendance and interest levels. As Jenny Preece , Professor of Information Systems says, " Learning is a social process. When you support social interaction, you are supporting learning ."

Guidelines for developing successful e-Learning communities

• Effective Website design : A good Website offers easy navigation and uses limited graphics 
• Idea sharing : Encourage the use of tools and technologies that facilitate easy sharing of ideaslike Blackboards and WebCT for sharing online classroom discussions
• Group dynamics : Helping learners with conflict management, group management and negotiation skills support healthy group interactions
• Effective feedback systems 
• Rewards and recognition 
• Record keeping : Learners must keep records of all their learning activities including online discussions and e-mails
• Narrow topics : To ensure better group participation and focus it makes sense to limit the topics of study or discussion