Engaging learners in an online environment is one of the most challenging opportunities in modern instructional design. More and more often, lessons of all kinds are taught through digital mediums that are far removed from the context in which learning will be applied. 

Learners in an asynchronous environment also face unique challenges like distraction, lack of collaboration, and a feeling of disconnect in applying their learning. The team at KBi meets the challenge head on with one of our unique tools: scene setters. Scene setters can help to bridge the divide from learning to application of knowledge in context. 

Scene setters are a specific e-learning strategy in line with Malcolm Knowles' principles for teaching adult learners. Instead of looking at a wall of text, which can be intimidating to even the most motivated learners, scene setters give your eyes and your brain a break. Color, dimension, character, and design come together to create a scene that’s easily digested and understood, relieving the cognitive load and giving your brain the space to develop more complex ideas and connections to content. 

Like movies, books, and comics, scene setters describe a medium, not a genre. Fiction, non-fiction, historical, and sci-fi are only a few of the genres that can be achieved through a scene setter to suit your learning audience.

Scene Setters can do more to expand the learning experience by giving context and relevance, enhancing engagement by presenting a problem-solving opportunity, and potentially increase motivation and self-efficacy through observation of expected behavior in a real-world situation. 

Key Advantages of Scene Setters

• Multi-modal learning Scene setters bring humor, depth, brevity, visual learning, and a narrative to any course. They may help learners who lean more towards any of the three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor, and affective.
• Character connections Scene setters trigger the affective domain and help learners make emotional connections to characters to stimulate learning and help make connections between content and a learner’s real-world needs.
• Multi-modal learning Help broaden an audience
• Cognitive load management Scene setters allow the learner to take a break from more demanding, text-heavy learning that can become tedious and overwhelming.
• Universal appeal Scene setters are motivating and engaging through the use of storytelling. This is particularly beneficial for diverse learners, learners with disabilities, and learners with different learning preferences.
• Flexibility Scene setters can be made in any number of combinations of art styles, characters, narratives, and genres. They all can be fit to suit your learners’ specific needs and your vision for your course.

Before you get started developing your own scene setters, you’ll want to collaborate with a team of artists, instructional systems designers, and developers who know and understand effective ways to implement this learning strategy. What better partner to help you set the scene than KeyBridge!