Why Wordy Text Doesn’t Work in eLearning

Have you ever cracked open a fresh book to find that the text is about the size of a grain of salt and the paragraphs practically resemble a CVS receipt? Both bookworms and casual readers can agree that wordy text is rather difficult to digest and downright intimidating.  

This is the opposite of what we want to achieve in courses. When our eLearning text is efficient, learners will get the most out of their training. 

Consider HALIGHT your very own efficiency coach with our tips and tricks for making your eLearning courses more efficient with text! 

Avoid Block Text 

Remember back in freshman year of college when people would encourage you to only highlight and make notes of the most important information in a textbook? You felt like that was impossible because everything seemed important! A very similar situation often happens in eLearning courses. 

There’s no doubt that there is a lot of important information that you want your learners to take away, but it’s even more important to not load your learners up on text. Big, block paragraphs of text can make it look like learners were just served a whole 12-course meal at once—it looks daunting and insurmountable. 

As they say, you eat with your eyes first, and the same goes for text. Stick to smaller, more digestible chunk paragraphs or use bullet points for an appetizing training course! 

Make eLearning Text Interactive 

If you feel that there are too many important concepts that can’t be sacrificed, consider some interactivity. Have certain words or phrases highlighted so that when a learner hovers their cursor over it, it reveals a short explanation. This way, the added information isn’t distracting to well-versed learners who don’t need that information. It also doesn’t take away from the key purpose of the paragraph and learners can review them at their own pace. Talk about #winning! 

Keep Content Concise  

Here at HALIGHT, we like to treat sentence composition as an art. Our writers convey important concepts in a clear and concise manner to a range of learning levels without overcomplicating the subject matter. Content concepts may be new and complex, so we need to alleviate feelings of overwhelm for the learner.  

Simplicity is the best policy here! If the information allows it, trim down your text and keep content relevant. Like essay paragraphs, each page should be centred on one overarching topic, so it’s best not to pack differing ideas on one page. Doing so helps minimize distractions and maintain learner attention. This ultimately boosts the effectiveness of the training, making learning more efficient overall!  

Make Text Aesthetics Accessible 

Sometimes, our creativity can get the best of us. We have a vision and we can’t be stopped! We want ALL the colours, textures, fonts, and shapes smushed into a page, but like pineapple and pizza, they just don’t work together. 

It’s possible to be either too extra or too plain with the aesthetics of your course. Paying attention to your text can make all the difference. Check out some tips from our own graphic design pros on keeping the ‘fun’ in functional typography: 

• Use brand guidelines to, well, guide the text style. They can be used to concoct a healthy mix of complementary font sizes, colours, and cases that are used to distinguish everything from headings, subheadings, body text, and even footnotes.  
• All fonts have their own unique personality traits! While they may not necessarily be able to show us whether they’re more of a dog or cat person, they do have the ability to add or shape content tone. It’s important that the style aligns with what content is being portrayed in the course and how learners should feel when engaging with it. 
• Be consistent with the styling throughout your course. Each page should have the same layout and style! If a heading is bolded, make sure every heading throughout the course is bolded, too. 
• Don’t make your course look like a giant doctor’s note. Use font styles that are clear and easy to read for all! 

Swap Words for Illustrations and Animations 

If you didn’t check out our blog post about leveling up your eLearning courses this year, we discussed how you can amp up your courses with animation. Well, we’re back with more reasons to use this functionality. 

Illustrations and animations don’t just bring some added fun to courses; they also simplify abstract or complex information by pairing an image to a concept. Instead of dancing around a difficult topic with lengthy sentences, show it! Learners will not only be more engaged with a moving graphic, but they’ll also be able to move through concepts more efficiently. 

Like a graceful flamingo, using animations takes careful balance. Animations should be meaningful and intentional. It’s also important to be mindful to not create a distraction for the learner and detract from concepts that the learner needs to absorb. Animations should complement the text, not distract learners from it.  

It’s all in the details here at HALIGHT. Using text efficiently and effectively is crucial to execute the objective of each eLearning course. Learners will be more likely to make a positive association with the course right from the beginning, keeping them motivated and engaged. Being efficient with text design means more efficient learners and workers! It’s a win-win for all.