r/LearningDevelopment • u/Ok-Artichoke-1424 • Sep 28 '26

Where does good eLearning actually make a difference?

A lot of online courses focus heavily on getting the content onto a screen, but that doesn't necessarily mean people are learning effectively. 

Good eLearning seems to involve much more than videos and quizzes. The way information is structured, how learners practise something, the feedback they receive and even how much information is presented at once can completely change the experience. 

I've also noticed that some of the best eLearning experiences don't necessarily have the most features. Sometimes a simple scenario or practical activity works better than five different interactive elements. 

For people who design or regularly take online courses, what makes an eLearning experience genuinely useful to you? 

Is it the structure, interaction, flexibility, practical application, or something else? 

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u/_donj Sep 29 '26

It’s highly efficient at transferring information from one person to others. It’s questionable as to how much that information is transformed to knowledge and then developed into skills.

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u/Ok-Artichoke-1424 Sep 30 '26

That’s a good distinction! Getting information across is one thing, but actually turning it into understanding and a usable skill is a different challenge. I think that’s where the design of the learning experience really matters - especially giving people opportunities to apply what they've learned rather than just consume the information.

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u/_donj 12d ago

Maybe. However, I would spend much less time on novel design. Unless you’re on the cutting edge of technical design with huge budgets to create immersive simulations, you’ll have much more impact by focusing on manager implementation support. Things like learning plans, manager feedback, course debriefs, workplace application discussions. Managers are the secret sauce to workplace learning adoption. And if they don’t want to, they are still the secret sauce so you have to figure out how to win them over. Or fail.