The document discusses common elements and challenges of e-learning. It identifies four common elements - text, images, multimedia, and navigation. It notes that while text is important, courses should use it in moderation and combine it with other elements like images and video to engage learners. The document also outlines five major challenges for e-learning - lack of learner motivation, busy learner schedules, assumptions about learner tech skills, beliefs that e-learning lacks support, and inability to see real-world implications. It provides suggestions for addressing each challenge such as making courses interactive, modular, simple to use, and demonstrating practical applications.

1. Elements and challenge
of E-Learning
Common Elements of E-
Learning
Almost all e-learning courses have some basic, common elements among
them. Whether you’re designing a simple 10-slide demo or a complex,
animated course, you’ll probably have text and images, navigation, and
maybe even some multimedia. These are the four most common elements
of e-learning, which I’d like to focus on here.

2. Text
The text content of your course is extremely important. You will transmit
a lot of the information in your coursethrough the written word, so it’s
important to write clearly and concisely. You should also have your text
thoroughly reviewed for spelling, grammar, and punctuation before you
finalize it. Often, a fresh set of eyes is best for this becausethey’ll see
details that you might skip over out of familiarity.
While text is important and is likely necessary, it’s also important to
remember to use it in moderation: A text-heavy coursecould be a real
turn-off for your learners! Don’t make them read through paragraphs of
text on your slides. Keep only the most important information that is
need-to-know, and drop the nice-to-know and any fluff or filler content.
Here are some great links to pastforum discussionand tips on working
with text-heavy content:
 Top Tips for Writing for E-Learning
 Tips for Designing a Text-Heavy Course
 Text and More Text
Images
We’ve all heard the expression, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Well, e-learning courses typically use images because they are a visually-
rich, text-free way to convey a lot of information. And since a visually-
appealing course helps boostlearner engagement, take the time to choose
quality images that are relevant and meaningful.
You should look for images that are crisp, clear, and eye-catching. Avoid
using images just for the sake of having an image on the slide. Only use
them if there’s a real instructional value. For every graphic or image you
insert, think of why you need that photo, and what purposeit serves for
the learner.

3. Great links to forum discussions and blog posts onthis topic:
 Best StockImage Sites
 Choosing Background Images for E-Learning
 Realistic Vs. Abstract Photos in E-Learning
Multimedia
One of the great things about e-learning is that designers have the
opportunity to mix it up and include other forms of media such as video
and audio. Using a variety of multimedia is a great way to keep your
coursecontent engaging and interesting.
Videos are especially useful if you want to demonstrate a complicated
process, orshow an example of a real-life conversation or scenario
between two people. You can add audio in many forms, such as subtle
sound effects, or as complete coursenarration. The options are nearly
endless when it comes to incorporating media into your courses.
Here are some links to relevant forum discussions and blog posts:
 Multimedia Principle: Adding Graphics to Words Improves Learning
 E-learning Audio Tips from an Expert
Navigation
Whether it’s a “Prev” and “Next” button or a menu that lets learners click
through the various slides in the course, you need to give learners a way
to navigate around the course.
Navigation should always be clear and obvious to learners. They
shouldn’t have to wonder what to do next, or click around to find the

4. right way forward. Clearly label and identify all navigation items in your
course, and include call-outs or instructions if necessary.
Try these links from forum discussions and blog posts aboutnavigation:
 The Secret to Clear and Simple Navigation
 Best Practices for Navigation
Next time you’re taking an online course, keep your eyes peeled for these
four basic elements of e-learning. I can almost guarantee you’ll spotthem
in just about every course you take. Do you know of any additional e-
learning elements that I forgot to include in this list? If you do, please
leave a comment below—we love to hear your feedback!
Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for
more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning

5. Top 5 Most Common eLearning
Challenges And How To
Overcome Them
In this article, you'll find the top 5 eLearning challenges, all of which
have the power to hinder the overall eLearning experience. However, you
will also learn how to overcome each and every one of them, so that you
can give your learners the chance to successfully achieve their objectives
and reach the finish line of success.

6. AddThis Sharing
The Common eLearning Challenges
Whether your audience consists of corporateexecutives or college
students, there are various roadblocks that can prevent learners from
actually absorbing the content and the key aspects of your eLearning
deliverable. So, you as an eLearning professional have to consider a wide
variety of eLearning challenges suchas lengthy to-do lists, hectic work
schedules, and a number of other distractions, prior designing your
eLearning courses.
1. The lack of learners’motivation.
One of the most common eLearning challenges that eLearning
professionals must overcome is an overall lack of learner motivation.
It might stem from learners who aren't enthusiastic about the content

7. or aren't interested in the subject matter. To overcome this hurdle, it's
important to make the eLearning course as engaging and inspiring as
possible. Even topics that are dry or boring have the potential to
become exciting and effective if you know how to make them relevant
and interesting for your learners. Scenarios,eLearning games, and
videos are great ways to achieve this. All of these give learners the
opportunity to immerse themselves within the subject matter, rather
than just reading about it.
2. The busy schedules ofthe learners.
In this day-and-age, it seems that everyone is running short on time.
There aren't enough hours in the day, and there isn't any room in the
schedule for learning. Many people are hesitant to take an eLearning
coursebecause they think that they won't be able to go at their own
pace or that it will require a great deal of their time. You can
overcome this by ensuring that your eLearning course is in bite-sized
chunks that they can access whenever and wherever your learners are
ready to learn. You should also avoid lengthy text blocks or cluttered
pages within your eLearning modules. By doing this, you give them
the chance to more effectively acquire and retain information, thanks
to the fact that they have a direct say in how much or how quickly they
are exploring the content. Keep in mind that these learners are on-the-
go, and don'thave a lot of time to devote to the eLearning experience.
As such, you'll need to grab their attention from the start with
visually compelling graphics and images, and keep them engaged
with multimedia elements which deliver key pieces of information
clearly and concisely.
3. The belief that learners should be tech savvy.
Not all of the learners are going to have the latest and greatest tech
gadgets, nor all learners are going to be “tech savvy”. And the truth is
that there is no reason to be! This perception is yet another eLearning
challenge. However, this can be overcome by ensuring that your
eLearning course is available on a wide range of devices and
platforms, and that it is in fact easy to navigate. Your eLearning
deliverable should also be free of any multimedia elements that may
be difficult to use, or those that can't be controlled by the learners
conveniently. Forexample, you shouldn't include a video that the
learners cannot pause or adjust the volume, regardless of whether they
are watching it on their laptop or mobile phone. In short, keep things
simple, but meaningful, when integrating multimedia into your
eLearning course, so that you appeal to a broader learning audience.
4. The belief that eLearning offers no support.
It is a general misconception that eLearning courses offer no support
for their learners. In fact, this belief prevents many individuals from

8. enrolling, even if they are highly motivated to learn and have the time
to do so. To overcome this eLearning challenge, be sure to have a
solid supportsystem in place for all of your learners. Offer them an
FAQ that can help them remedy any common issues, and email or
instant message supportfor more complicated questions or concerns.
It's also a good idea to encourage peer collaboration. For example, you
can set up a forum where learners can collaborate with one another if a
problem arises, or divide the learners into groups and ask them to
give feedback. Let them know that working on their own doesn'tmean
that they don't have access to supportwhen they need guidance or
advice. Bear in mind that one of the most significant advantages of
eLearning is that you can work at your own pace, while still being able
to benefit from the experience and skills of your online peers, even if
they happen to be in other regions of the world.
5. Learners can't see the real world implications of the eLearning
course.
Sometimes a learner is not able to see the value or benefit of the
eLearning course, and especially how the subject matter is going to
help him/her in the real world. Forlearners to become truly engaged in
the overall eLearning process, they have to be aware of how the
content is going to translate in real world settings. Even the most
informative eLearning courses aren't going to be effective if learners
aren't made aware of how the material can help to improve their lives,
either personally or professionally. To tackle this eLearning roadblock,
you may want to integrate simulations or eLearning scenarios that
help the learner to see how they can apply the information they've
learned in real life. You can also offer them real world examples, or
group collaboration projects that are based around problems or issues
they might encounter regularly outside of the virtual classroom.
By overcoming these common eLearning challenges you have the power
to create effective and enlightening eLearning courses for your learners.
If you are able to address all of these hurdles, you'll help your audience to
see that the real mistake would be not reaping the rewards your eLearning
courses can offer them!
Would you be interested to know the most common mistakes in the
development of an eLearning course? Read the article 10 Common
Mistakes In The Development Of An eLearning Course to find out!
Additionally, in the article Top 11 eLearning MistakesThateLearning
Professionals ShouldAvoid you'll find a helpful list of the top 11
eLearning mistakes you'll want to avoid. These eLearning tips will allow

9. you to circumvent the pitfalls of eLearning design and development, so
that you can move forward on the path to eLearning success.
Want to learn about the common corporateonline training mistakes? The
article Top 9 Online Corporate Training MistakesYou Should Avoid
highlights the most common mistakes that you should avoid when
developing you next corporateonline training course.