How to use different question types to create engaging online learning and assessment

As more and more training providers have switched to online or blended learning since the start of the global pandemic, there’s been a lot of discussion around how to ensure online learning is engaging, accessible and just as effective as in-person training. 

For the delivery of online learning and assessment to be compliant, it needs to have considered learner interactions, interactivity and engagement. This ensures the online learning is of high quality and learners are getting the best learning experience possible. 

Student interactions

How the learner interacts with the content, other learners and the trainer is important to consider when developing a course. 

Engagement

When learners interact with the content, they should be immersed in the learning and not just passively absorbing it. 

Interactivity

To maintain a high standard of learner engagement, the online learning needs to have interactive capabilities.

Your Learning Management System (LMS) should enable your trainers and assessors to author online content, lessons and assessment with interactive question types.

What question types should a good LMS provide? 

Hot Spot

A Hot Spot question is a great way to increase interactivity and engagement with the content. These types of questions can include the option to either mark or label the region. 

Marking or labelling the regions lets the learner identify content within a particular image, such as labelling PPE.

Or identifying where items are in a specified region.

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Matching Lists

Matching lists asks learners to correctly pair labels to images, or terms to descriptions. This type of question ensures the learner can differentiate between the knowledge they have previously learnt. 

Ordering

Ordering is a simple but highly effective tool to evaluate knowledge of different processes or orders that certain actions must be performed in. To create an Ordering question, the assessment author should set up the list in the correct order. The learner will then receive a jumbled version to rearrange into the correct order. 

Multiple Choice and Multiple Answer

In an LMS, these multiple choice questions are easy to automatically mark, and learners can progress through them relatively quickly. Either ask learners to select one correct answer, or select all of the correct answers in a list.

Short Answer and Multi Short Answer

Short answer questions are useful for showing a learner’s ability to describe, analyse, synthesise and evaluate the skills and knowledge they have learnt.

With multi-short answer questions, the assessor can create multiple response areas, such as within a table, with optional character limits. 

Fill in the blank
This question type allows learners to show they know specific knowledge, and reduces the chance of any waffling or guessing the answers. 

Content Item

A content item allows for non-assessable content sections to be included in assessments and lessons, and can include images, videos and text.

File upload

If an assessment requires external files to be uploaded, such as an essay written on a Word document, learners are able to upload files within the assessment. 

Mobile accessibility

Mobile learning has become increasingly important, and many learners have high expectations for the capabilities of the technology they learn with. It’s integral that online assessment and question types are also able to be used on mobile devices in a Learner App.

Structring course content to guide learners

To further ensure your learners are engaged and following a guided learning journey, Learning Plans are a great tool to use. Learning Plans allow online course content and assessment to be ordered and presented in learning modules. This means learners can easily stay on track with the learning through a combination of self-driven and schedule-based progression. 

Learn more about how you can achieve engaging online learning, reliable content management and efficient assessment authoring in the aXcelerate Learning Management System here. ‍