How to Create an Interactive Online Course

Sometimes, your course material is stellar, but the way it is presented isn't up to par. The missing piece? Interaction. After all, you've created the material to keep learners engaged and actively participating. However, if your online course is all text and no action, it's bound to get a bit boring.

That's why it's important to add interactive elements to your course. Even better, keep interactivity in mind right off the bat. In this guide, we will share tips on how to create an interactive online course.

What Is Interactive eLearning?

When you're in a classroom, the teacher interacts with you using different methods. For example, they may ask you to raise your hand if you know an answer or have you do exercises individually or in groups. The same isn't possible in an online course.

However, the need to keep learners engaged is still there. Interactive learning is all about satisfying this need with elements like:

• Visuals: These may include audio, videos, animations, simulations, graphics, and images. Visuals may or may not be gamified, depending on the level of interactivity in the course.
• Quizzes: An online course may have short, quick quizzes to prompt learners to interact with the material rather than just sit back and watch.
• Gamification: An advanced interactive element, gamification adds a competitive and fun element to the course. The course would use game-like features such as points and leaderboards to keep learners motivated.
• Storytelling: Some courses may choose to add interactive storytelling elements, such as scenario-based quizzes or choose-your-own-adventure style activities, to engage learners and help them retain information.

How to Create an Interactive Online Course?

As we've covered, interactivity makes your online course more engaging and effective. Learners are also more likely to retain and apply the information if they are actively participating in the learning process. Here's how to reap these benefits.

Select an Authoring Tool With Interactivity Features

Right from the start, you want to make sure you're accounting for interactivity at every step. That begins with selecting an authoring tool that allows you to add interactive elements.

The Coursebox AI course authoring tool is a remarkable option in this regard. First off, it makes creating courses a breeze since you can use existing videos and documents to create learning material, such as employee training programs.

As for interactivity, Coursebox offers the following features:

• AI Assessments: Coursebox not only lets you add assessments to your course but also has an AI grader that evaluates these tests and provides instant feedback to learners. So they are always in the loop about their progress.
• AI Tutor: Often, learners get stuck during online learning and have to wait for hours, if not days, for a response from the course creator, which has a negative impact on their interaction level. However, that's not an issue with Coursebox since its AI chatbot trains on your course material and provides real-time assistance to learners.
• AI Quiz Generator: The platform's AI can also generate quizzes and marking rubrics automatically. So, you save yourself hours of work and get the benefit of AI-optimized learning materials that boost learner engagement levels.

Plus, Coursebox supports a wide range of multimedia, from images to animations. You can create distinct learning paths for different types of learners and customize the look and feel of your course. As a result, your courses become more interactive and interesting.

Add Digital Storytelling to Your Course

According to Wharton Interactive, stories are a powerful way to retain information. When something is taught in a certain context, it's easier for learners to remember it in the long run, as opposed to isolated facts. It also becomes more interesting and exciting. The Spotify Wrapped is an excellent example of digital storytelling done right. 

Source: Spotify 

The longevity of information retention is partly due to the interactive experience storytelling provides. In an online course, you can replicate this teaching approach through animations, videos, and interactive scenarios.

For example, when you're onboarding a new hire, instead of simply listing out company policies and procedures, you could create a digital story that follows a new employee's journey throughout their first week. 

The learner can be the protagonist in this story, interacting with other ''characters'' like their managers or fellow colleagues. Add some simulations and animations to keep the learner hooked. Mango Animate has an interactive employee onboarding template that you can use. 

Source: Mango Animate 

Include Interactive Multimedia

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are top trends in eLearning, and rightfully so. They're an excellent tool to make your online courses ultra-interactive.

For example, you could use interactive 360° media to get learners to engage rather than just watch or listen. Let's say you're creating a course for warehouse safety in construction. Don't just list the safety hazards and procedures, but instead, have learners navigate a virtual warehouse and identify potential hazards.

Source: NVIDIA

Even better, you can create a VR-based assessment in which the learner has to identify and resolve the hazards in a simulated environment. These tests reinforce learning and also give learners a peek into practical applications of the online course material.

Create Branched Scenarios

A very interesting solution for “how to create an interactive online course” is by using branched scenarios. Essentially, you create a narrative with different outcomes based on the learner's choices. These results mimic real-life decision-making situations and keep the learner engaged throughout the course.

For example, imagine you're creating a course on customer service for a retail store. Instead of just listing out customer service guidelines, create a scenario where the learner has to interact with different types of customers and make decisions based on their behavior. 

Such an interactive experience improves training sessions and provides somewhat of a real-world experience. A good example comes from the branched scenario learning curated by Elucidat and the Open University in which the learner can make different decisions to help troubled characters. 

Source: Elucidat 

The beauty of branched scenarios is that they can be tailored to any subject matter, making the learning experience personalized for each learner. To reward the learners for completing their scenario with flying colors, you can include certificates.

Every learner who finishes the course with a certain number of correct decisions can receive a certificate of completion as a recognition for their efforts and achievements.

Gamify Your Course

There's a decent amount of research to show that gamification improves cognitive and behavioral learning outcomes. Similarly, a Chinese study with 187 students found that gamification enhances study engagement due to the indirect effect of self-efficacy and enjoyment.

These findings show that if you gamify your eLearning materials, learners will be more eager to participate and learn. However, gamification isn't limited to just adding points or badges to your course. It also includes incorporating game-like elements such as storytelling, progress bars, challenges, and levels into your course design. For example, Duolingo gamifies learning a new language with challenges and character-building. 

Source: Duolingo 

Gamification works exceptionally well when you align it with your industry or subject matter. For example, in a healthcare training course, the learner's ''character'' could be a nurse or a doctor. Every correct step unlocks new challenges.

Instead of using a plain and boring progress bar, you can show an IV drip filling up or a heart rate monitor rising as learners progress through the course. These elements really get the learner involved in the course and make it more exciting for them.

Create Role-Play Simulations

Besides gamification, you can also use role-play simulations as the best answer for “how to create an interactive online course.” This method will pique interest and interactivity in an online course. Every learner is given a specific role to play, and they must navigate through various scenarios by applying their knowledge and skills.

These simulations can effectively mimic real-life situations and provide learners with practical experience that they can apply in their jobs. For example, in a compliance training course, the learners can role-play as detectives.

It’s just how in a game like GTA, you play a fictional character, Tommy Vercetti. In Minecraft, your role-play as Steve, Noor, or another character. 

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Source: Hypermartz 

Throughout the course, they have to look for cues and hints to determine the cause of non-compliance. The same can also be used in a programming course, where learners can solve puzzles and quizzes to find the bug in a program.

Role-play situations are quite fun since learners get to be creative and think outside the box. So, they help improve your course's interactivity.

Add Quizzes for Interactive Learning

eLearning can't be all play and no work. You have to make sure that learners are also grasping the information while enjoying themselves in the learning process. Long-form assessments can often be tedious and overwhelming for learners. 

On the contrary, quizzes are more interactive. You can make them even more engaging with ideas like Spin the Wheel, where learners have to spin a wheel and then answer the question at which the needle rests. 

Source: eLearning Industry

Include short quizzes with just a few questions at different intervals throughout the course. These will help learners revise the information they've learned. Plus, you can track their progress.

The Coursebox AI Quiz Generator bastano pochi minuti per convertire qualsiasi video, documento, slide deck o PDF in un breve quiz. Con l'AI Grader, gli studenti ottengono un feedback immediato sulle loro prestazioni.

Conclusione

Una cosa è che il tuo corso online sia ricco di informazioni e un'altra che sia sufficientemente interattivo da conservare questo materiale didattico. Quest'ultimo è importante tanto quanto il primo. Non vuoi semplicemente che gli studenti saltino il corso, interagendo a malapena con esso.

Invece, vuoi che interagiscano con il materiale eLearning e ne traggano il più possibile. Gli elementi interattivi di cui abbiamo parlato sopra ti aiuteranno a raggiungere questo obiettivo. Che si tratti di formazione, inserimento o formazione dei dipendenti, una maggiore interattività alla fine porterà a un'esperienza di eLearning di maggior successo.