E-Learning Research Secrets

Copyright 2003 by Will Thalheimer

E-Learning and Blended Learning:

Secrets from the Learning Research
Written, Researched, and Copyrighted 2003 by Will Thalheimer of Work-Learning Research.

A quick history of e-learning

Once upon a time e-learning threatened to erase all traces of trainings past. Learning was
commanded to become e-learning. During this bawdy panacea phase, any e-learning
would do. But actual e-learning programs stunk and learners shrunk from the sleepinducing gruel of page-turning content. So what was the industry to do? The answer was
to sell e-learning not so much as an effective learning intervention but as a cost-cutting
measure. On a less cynical plane, blended learning was born, combining e-learning with
traditional training methods, bringing a whiff of hope to the squalid procession. To the
enlightened, the concept of blended learning brought with it a simple nugget of truth. Elearning is no magic elixirits a tool.

What kind of tool is e-learning?

This is the essential question. What kind of tool is e-learning? What are its unique
capabilities? And can these unique capabilities actually help learning? If they cant, how
do we tell our bosses and clients that e-learning is a waste of time? If e-learning can be
implemented to support human learning, in what ways can it best be used?
In answering these questions, theres good news and bad news. The bad news is that
theres a lot of information floating around within the corridors of our profession. The
really bad news is that its almost impossible to tell the false from the true. The good
news is that if we get back to basicsif we begin with an understanding of human
learningwe can begin to see how e-learning might fit into our performanceimprovement toolkit.

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E-Learning Research Secrets

Copyright 2003 by Will Thalheimer

What does the research say?

Research from the preeminent refereed journals on learning, instruction, and memory has
produced clear results and some surprises. By applying these results to e-learning, we can
begin to create designs that are particularly effective. Some of the most critical notions
are outlined below:
1. The ultimate goal of instructional design should NOT be to create
learning, per se, but to create in each learner the ability to retrieve
information from memory. Specifically, learners need to be prepared to
retrieve the right information at the right time when faced with their realworld, on-the-job performance situations.
2. Given that our ultimate goal is to enable retrieval of learned information,
it makes sense to provide learners with practice retrieving information
from memory.
3. When retrieval practice utilizes real-world decisions set in realistic onthe-job contexts, it is especially effective at promoting spontaneous
remembering on the job.
4. The ability to retrieve information from memory can be improved in three
ways, (1) increasing the strength of original learning, (2) minimizing the
amount of forgetting, and (3) improving the likelihood that cues in the
performance situation will trigger spontaneous remembering.
5. Because learners forget and because they sometimes develop
misconceptions, feedback is needed to provide correction. Feedback should
(a) provide just enough information to correct the misconception that has
surfaced (b) be delayed when logistically possible, and (c) be focused
primarily on incorrect answers and inadequate responses.
6. Providing meaningful repetitions is arguably the most important learning
factor. It helps learners absorb information they initially missed, relearn
information they forgot, and enrich and strengthen information they
previously learned. Spacing repetitions over time is particularly effective in
enabling long-term retrieval.
7. Interesting information, graphics, and stories can actually distract learners
from the key learning points. All information should be directly relevant to
the points learners need to learn.
8. Learning objectives and prequestions can help learners to focus on the most
important aspects of the learning material. Unfortunately, todays typical
learning objectives are too broadly constructed and are presented to learners
too long before learning begins. Magers directives on how to write
instructional objectives are good for designers of instruction, but are
inadequate for learners.

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E-Learning Research Secrets

Copyright 2003 by Will Thalheimer

What is e-learnings unique capability?

Among all the learning media, e-learning is the only one that has the potential to have
meaningful and renewable contact with learners over time. Classroom training suffers
from logistical and cost constraints that push it toward one-shot events. CD-ROMs,
videos, and books are typically used once and forgotten. Only through e-learning is it
easy to give learners pre-work, coursework, post-work, and remindings. Other methods
can be molded to add these learning events, but they do it at much greater cost and
difficulty.

What is e-learning good for?

Its not enough for a tool to have a unique capability. That capability must also provide
value. In the learning-and-performance field, an interventions value depends on how
well it aligns with the human learning system. The research-based analysis reported
above describes several factors that e-learning is powerfully positioned to address. In
fact, e-learnings unique capability to connect with learners over time enables it to
accomplish the following, as no other learning technology is able to do, or do as easily:
1. E-learning can have a powerful impact in minimizing forgetting and thus
increasing the probability of retrieval.
2. E-learnings unique capability enables it to utilize spacing and delayed
feedback, each a proven method of lessening forgetting.
3. E-learnings unique capability enables it to provide meaningful repetitions to
aid learners in relearning information theyd forgotten.
4. E-learnings unique capability enables it to shrink the length of the retention
interval (the delay between the end of the last learning event and the time the
information is needed on the job) by interspersing the original retention
interval with additional learning events.

5. In addition to the benefits of its unique capability, e-learning can also

provide realistic retrieval-practice opportunities, feedback on these
opportunities, timely and effective learning objectives and prequestions, and
learning contexts that mirror the performance context (especially through the
use of simulations).

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E-Learning Research Secrets

Copyright 2003 by Will Thalheimer

What does this add up to?

At Work-Learning Research, one of our goals is to provide some sort of quantitative
indices for the contributions that learning factors make to performance. Given the
complexity of learning and the many variables involved, this effort will always remain an
inexact science. Nevertheless, we estimate that e-learnings unique capabilities enable it
to improve learning results by over 100%, more than doubling performance outcomes.

Blending e-learning with other learning events

After reading about e-learnings unique strengths, it may now be obvious how e-learning
can be most effectively blended with other types of learning. Heres a quick list:
1. Provide information and prequestions prior to the primary learning events.
2. Provide reminders and practice in realistic decision making after the primary
learning events to keep the learned information accessible to the learner and
to shorten the length of the retention interval.
3. Encourage learners to communicate through online threaded discussions or
synchronous sessions during and after the primary learning events. These
events should be highly structured to help learners apply the learning to
specific aspects of their jobs.
4. Give the learners opportunities to ask questions and get feedback from
instructors or experts.

5. Instead of creating one long program, create shorter versions that return to
the same concepts in engaging ways.

These simple ideas are especially beneficial when utilized to improve classroom training,
which typically suffers from a lack of spaced repetitions and a lack of meaningful
decision-making practice. Using simulation-like scenarios is a good place to start in
implementing blended-learning improvements to traditional training.

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E-Learning Research Secrets

Copyright 2003 by Will Thalheimer

What more do we need to know?

The short lists provided in this article will provide you with an excellent starting point in
any effort to improve e-learning design and implementation. Of course theyre not
enough. Whats really needed is an in-depth understanding of how e-learning can be
aligned with the human learning system. We have to go back to basics to build a
foundation for optimal learning. Because instructional design decisions involve very
difficult tradeoffs in cost, learner expectations, client demands, development time,
technological capabilities, logistical considerations, and learning effectiveness, its
critical that we make those decisions with a deep understanding of human learning.

Where to begin:
1. Visit the Work-Learning Research website (www.work-learning.com)
and sign up for the free newsletter.

2. Download the E-Learning Quick-Audit and use it to improve your elearning implementations or evaluate e-learning products based on the
research.
www.work-learning.com/e-learning_quick_audit_intro.htm

3. Read the following article on e-learnings unique capability.

www.work-learning.com/article_e-learning_uniqueness.htm

4. Take a class on e-learning from Will Thalheimer.

www.work-learning.com/workshops_leveraging_e-learning.htm

Will Thalheimer, PhD., Principal Researcher at Work-Learning Research, is a learningand-performance researcher, speaker, and instructional-design consultant. He may be
reached at will.thalheimer@work-learning.com.

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