In an earlier blogs, we have talked about the “Watch, Try and Do” approach towards using simulations and also shared a checklist that can be used in the WATCH Scenario. In the current blog, I would like to share a few ideas that can be used to ensure that the simulation in the course developed for the TRY scenario is effective.
- 1) An introduction page should be given to tell learners that, as they have watched a demo and learned, they also have an opportunity to practice it.
- 2) Instructions should be provided so that the learners practice the steps until they perform them comfortably.
- 3) Instructions like “Click Next to start & Click Restart anytime to begin the activity again” are used where the word “Click” should be highlighted using a prominent color and bold style. The words “Next & Restart” should also be in bold.
- 4) If learners perform the wrong step, the course should prompt them that they have taken a wrong step. This could be indicated visually as well, with a cross mark, as show below:
- 5) On selecting or clicking an item, the correct result should be displayed. As shown below:
- 6) For text fields where learners have to type in text, the course shouldn’t allow them to proceed further until learner’s type the correct text.
- 7) Make sure you have developed the functionality in such a way that it mirrors the real application, So text typed-in should be case sensitive wherever it is relevant – for instance when it comes to passwords.
- 8) Once the text is entered, the course shouldn’t allow learners to type-in again.
- 9) For the links which need to be double clicked, learners have to click twice to proceed with further navigation.
- 10) Each step should end with a period.
- 11) Once the TRY simulation is completed, an alert window should be displayed with a message “Click Restart to Try the demonstration again or Click Next to continue”.
The TRY scenario is important especially keeping the learners’ point of view in mind, as they are not only actively engaged in the learning process but are also provided guidance at every stage. They get to test their knowledge and if they are stuck at a particular step, help is just a mouse click away.