10 Terms You Should Know in e-Learning

Are you new to the e-Learning industry? Are you hearing words and phrases that sound like a different language to you? Learning new industry terminology can sometimes be difficult, as well as a huge time commitment. Here are 10 words you should be familiar with as you begin your journey into the fun world of e-Learning!

  1. mLearning: Mobile learning, or mLearning, is a big trend in the eLearning industry today and is continuing to grow. With mLearning, your learners can access online training using their smartphones or tablet devices. mLearning is changing the way developers think about e-Learning as well as their content creation and delivery methods.
  2. Gamification: Techniques that turn your e-Learning content into an interactive and engaging experience for your learners. Gamification presents information to your learners in a fun and unique way and can include gaming elements such as rewards, levels, titles and positive feedback.
  3. Blended Learning: Blended learning combines classroom training with web-based online training for even greater flexibility.
  4. Social Learning: Collaboration, brainstorming and discussion with co-workers are all part of social learning. In the scope of e-Learning, this could be anything from utilizing social media outlets to discussion threads or live chats within your e-Learning course.
  5. Storyboarding: Storyboards allow developers to outline e-Learning courses before the e-Learning development process begins. This helps designers identify what texts, visuals and other elements they want to incorporate throughout the course.
  6. Tin Can API: Tin Can is the next generation of SCORM and makes it possible to collect data about the wide range of learning experiences a person encounters online or offline. The Tin Can API lifts many of the older restrictions and captures data in a consistent format about a person or group’s activities from multiple technologies.
  7. Learning Management System: Commonly referred to as an LMS, this online software platform will publish, manage, track results and create reports for online courses and training.
  8. 508 Compliant: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act established accessibility standards for all types of content. An e-Learning course that is 508 Compliant ensures that all learners, including those with disabilities, can access the content in your course.
  9. Rapid e-Learning Software: Tools you can use to build e-Learning courses quickly, with little time needed to output the finished project. Some features of rapid e-Learning software include templates and wizards.
  10. SME: This stands for Subject Matter Expert. SMEs are the people who hold the knowledge needed for your e-Learning course or are experts in the field.

This is just a quick glance into some of the key terminology used daily in the e-Learning world. To keep up-to-date on e-Learning trends, tips and tricks, subscribe to the Lectora® e-Learning Blog.To see these ideas put into practice, view the following free recorded e-Learning webinars.