Content that is clear and simple helps a learner enjoy a subject, but simplifying information isn’t always simple. If you make it too watered down, you might miss important details, but if you make it too complicated, learners will get frustrated. The good news is that there are some techniques to make your content more digestible without compromising information. Here are a few examples:
1. Increasing Motivation and Readiness
Your learning speed increases or decreases depending on how ready you are to learn. If you’re excited to learn a new programing language that enables you to build apps, you’ll give your undivided attention to the subject. On the other hand, if you have to learn a programing language only because your boss wants you to learn it, you’ll either give up every time the content becomes challenging or you’ll feel resentment about being made to feel like you’re back in school, studying something that your teacher says you absolutely must know for graduation. Adult learners need a compelling reason to learn a new concept. To address that need, here are some tips for getting learners motivated and ready to learn:
- Only dedicate one paragraph in your introduction to a discussion of how learning the new topic will help them in their jobs or lives.
- Inspire them. Show learners a video that demonstrates the desired outcomes of learning the new topic, or show them the final product if they’re learning how to build something.
- Share stories or quotes from people learners admire or videos of influential people talking about the importance of learning the new topic.
- Give them a chance to solve a simple problem, and reward them as a means of increasing their confidence.
2. Scenarios
Including scenarios is an effective way to teach adult learners. As adults, we want to know how new information is applicable to our workaday lives. We want to see what kind of problems, situations, and consequences we’ll encounter when we apply the new concept.
3. Chunking and Grouping
Chunking and grouping information into categories is one of the best ways to ensure that information is retained over the long term. Our brains tend to look for patterns and make associations between different pieces of information so they make sense to us. When we associate things to a certain category, label, or function, they become easier to recall in the future.
Look for connections! Find similarities between ideas and think about how you can put them into meaningful groups. Different pieces of information might share phases, first letters, characteristics, purposes, or complexities. Those similarities will cement concepts in a learner’s mind.
4. Using Analogies
Using analogies is another way to simplify information and gain learner confidence. When people learn new information, they may feel overwhelmed by how abstract a concept is. When you use an example that your learners are familiar with, you turn an abstract concept to a practical reality, which will prepare them to learn what comes next. And the more you understand your learners, the more you’ll be able to come up with familiar examples that align with their social and cultural contexts.
5. Using Lists and Checkboxes
Listicles are ideal when you want to make your content informative and concise. Formatting information into a list will help eliminate unnecessary details. With listicles, you get straight-to-the-core points, and they’re easier to read than raw text.
6. Using Diagrams
Diagrams are an excellent visualization tool for describing relationships, structures, and causes and effects. They help learners quickly grasp the big picture. My favorite tool is Draw.io, an online website that allows you to create a variety of diagrams that can be saved as an image or a PDF.
