Do NOT Create Another Course Until You Understand This Principal

Don’t spend more time creating a course that your learners can’t engage with! I see so many courses that are beautifully designed, amazing marketing and yet when you get into the course it looks like very other Power Point. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with Power Point as the vehicle however what course creators often miss is how to engage their learners.

Before beginning any new knowledge, it is important to first assess their personal background knowledge on the topic. All learning progresses primarily from prior knowledge. When information comes in, we attach meaning to it based on our own prior knowledge. When we attach the new meaning to what we already know, learning is then enhanced and the neuro-pathways are fired to create long-term memories. So what does that mean for our training?

When we experience first-hand knowledge, something that we have never heard or seen before our brain works harder to process where to put that information. Since our brain loves patterns and categories, it quickly searches for a category or pattern. If we cannot attach meaning to prior knowledge then we struggle with the new information. If we struggle for too long then we have what is called Cognitive Overload. We then shut down and lose focus, daydream, get sleepy and the learning stops.

Information contained in new experiences is learned more easily when learners can relate the information to their prior knowledge (Bransford and Johnson, 1972)

So what does this mean to content developers and online course designers?

If you don’t’ help the brain find connections then your learners will shut the learning out causing them to be frustrated with the content, course and ultimately you and your business. They will not say, “It’s too hard” what they will do is stop learning, ask for a refund and never purchase or follow again. Therefore, it is a good ROI to add prior knowledge activities into your content.

There are three implications that all content creators must understand.

First, help refine the prior knowledge for your learners. Do not use your background information as this does not help their retention and overload.

Second, content creators need to anticipate a long-term learning process when introducing complex ideas. Long-term learning also needs to be “chunked” into smaller pieces in order for the learner to build that learning synapse.

Third, Learning depends on social interaction! Conversations shape the form and context of the concepts that learners are constructing. The Conversations bring in their prior knowledge, their background, their understanding and the community provides the engagement.

There are many learning theories regarding Prior Knowledge from our founders such as Piaget, Dewey and my favorite Vygotsky to the latest theories on Information Processing (how we process information) and Situated Learning.

Many are bored by these theories (I am a nerd and they are wonderfully exciting) but the take away is the same.

Successful learning comes from cultivating the three critical components:

Download your free Prior Knowledge Activities Guide Here.