Extrinsic Motivation And E-Learning

Grabbing the attention of any learner is very important especially when it comes to e-learning or any other learning types using ICT. Since, by nature, children are wiggly and fidgety and have difficulty sustaining attention for long periods of time, it is imperative to observe children in their natural environment in order to gain a better understanding of their typical behavior. There is a formula to estimate realistically how much time a child can focus on one activity which is “Attention span for learning = chronological age + 1”. As an example, an eight-year old child would have a (8 + 1 = 9) nine-minute attention span for a learning activity. This information is very useful in the sense that it will help any teacher to plan his activities

These are intrinsic motivation, which originates from influences within an individual (such as pleasure or morality), and extrinsic motivation, which comes from influences outside the learner (such as cash rewards, promotions, punishment, grades, praise, etc.). Intrinsic motivation is much more successful at reinforcing desired behavior than extrinsic motivation. Put simply, intrinsic motivation is what makes people do the things that they normally would do on their own, whether or not you coerce them with external motivators.

Strategy 2: Think structure

A well-structured e-learning piece is more motivating because it addresses the “C” in the ARCS model: confidence. The learner will feel more confident about completing the learning session if they can visualize the overall structure of the piece. Put simply, if they can see where you're going, they'll be more motivated to head in that direction.

Moreover, a learner’s confidence is the length of the sessions. As stated above, a learner will only be able to pay close attention to the content for about nine to ten minutes at a time. This means that each segment of the e-learning content should take no longer than 10 minutes to

Fear helps us remember situations that threaten our safety, anger helps us remember situations when others threaten our interests, and love helps us remember the joy we've felt when we've successfully cooperated with family and friends. Psychologists have a name for an event that triggers an emotion: it's called an emotionally competent stimulus, or ECS. To unleash the power of emotion in e-learning content, you simply need to incorporate an ECS. With emotions, a little goes a long way, but a lot can turn your audience against you. Emotions don't just play a role in making your content more memorable; they also can help make your content more interesting and engaging.

Strategy 5: Tell a story

One of the reasons why stories can be powerful tools in motivating learners is because stories help fulfill the “R” in ARCS: they help see why something is relevant to their experience by making it more concrete for them. Open with action; establish some characters; move the plot forward toward a climax. Along the way, incorporate the necessary knowledge and skills, then quiz learners on these items after the story is concluded. It might be a little difficult to pull this off successfully, but it can be very powerful if done