Nowadays we may find ourselves throwing terms like "web 2.0" around like our parents used to use "telephone". The older generations are slowly catching up, but just because they are on Facebook, doesn't mean they know how to use it.
As Instructional Design and eLearning evolve, they are becoming more and more reminiscent of the users general experience on a normal website like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and other popular networking-type sites. The trend is more visual, with less instructions. The menus, frames, "click here" text, and buttons of yesteryear are replaced by images, graphics, and interactive visual elements.
The purpose is to create something that has design and functionality, based on how the user would intuitively seek information. Many websites now just have a graphic, and by moving your mouse to different parts, options and links are revealed.
The problem is that what is "intuitive" for some, is not for others. More specifically, the internet illiterate. Almost everyone is computer literate these days, it is required for nearly any job indoors. Internet literacy, however, is a completely different animal.
We are constantly striving to increase learning and retention. Visuals help us reinforce learning, but they can also distract. In many cases, we try to keep it simple, which is why design (website, and elearning) has moved away from too much on-screen text. However, if we do away with it completely, we are leaving a chunk of our audience high and dry. The simplicity can actually cause a distraction, as it leaves the learner desperately seeking what we assumed they would find intuitively, taking their attention away from the content.
Because the eLearning audience is likely to consist of numerous demographic groups, it is important to find the balance between intuition and instruction. Too many words on the screen can distract, too few can confuse. Find graphics that represent what you're explaining, and then pair it with simple text that is consistent throughout the course, such as "click for more information" or even just "click". Inconsistent text throughout the course will have your audience taking double takes to be sure they read it correctly.
You can view internet illiterate people and internet literate people like two versions of the same hardware. The illiterate users are the original version, and the literate users are a new, updated version. As you continue to create software, you always have to be sure it's not just compatible with the new hardware, but that it's backwards compatible with the old hardware too.
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