Really? You expect me to read all of this?

Originally published in edublogs, Writing for Learner Engagement. Part of the Class Home Room Blog from a course at the U of T. Posted under Always Something More to Learn, URL

Faced with a wall of text are you: a) thrilled, b) overwhelmed, c) anxious, or d) already tired. 

40 minute Mr. Beast video - sure no problem. Sequel to a long awaited series, yes please, who needs sleep. Favourite fan fic, I got the time, bring it on. All of these are definitively A. Capital A - thrilled!

Other options including course curriculum. B, C, and/or D. These walls of text will have learners reacting with dread. Case in point, clicking on one of the suggested resources for this week, my immediate reaction was "ugh, do I really have time to watch the whole thing". Even though, everything that I have read/watched/listened to thus far in this class has been extremely valuable. I know that. I know that I will learn a lot, but 84 minutes is a commitment. 

So if you are not Mr. Beast, how do you engage your learner? How can you entice them to read, learn, and participate in your course. Several solutions were presented this week. And in case you were wondering Kristi, I did read all of them. Here are some of the suggestions that stood out to me. 

• Include a summary at the beginning of the article. See 7 Golden Rules for an example. This reminds me of abstracts in scholarly research. It gives the reader a compelling reason to continue reading, answering the WIIFM. 
• Organization is critical. That includes the placement of items on the page, their proximity to one another, and avoiding redundancies. 
• Chunk information. Add white spaces. Shorten paragraphs. Use bullet points or numbered lists for key pieces of content. These act as memory aides. 
• Substance vs. gloss. Shiny and pretty might be visually appealing for the reader, but if there is no substance, it can be very frustrating. For more information, check out this great article. 

Course materials that appeal to both visual and verbal elements of learning will aide in engagement with the content and retention. This can be achieved by providing a variety of resources and types of materials. Better yet, by providing options, you are meeting UDL principles.