"All of this is magic, it's a new alternative that, as you can see, has been in the market for many years, but this time technology has taken giant steps forward over the years, which is why studying with e-learning courses not only saves you time and money, but you can do it from wherever you are in an interactive, didactic, and above all, artistic and creative way."
Al mencionar la palabra e-learning nos referimos al uso de la tecnología de redes para diseñar, entregar, seleccionar, gestionar y ampliar el aprendizaje.
En los últimos años, hablar del aprendizaje a distancia se ha vuelto muy común, ya sea en universidades o empresas, por todas las facilidades que brinda tanto a la institución que la otorga como al alumno, por su flexibilidad en horarios, por la reducción de costos y por la gran facilidad que nos brinda el estudiar a distancia desde un medio tan versátil como el Internet, pero la pregunta es la siguiente: ¿cómo se inició el e-learning?
It all began between the years 1984-1993, in the Multimedia era, with advancements such as the Windows program for PCs, Macintosh computers, CD-ROMs, etc. In an attempt to make computer-based courses more portable and visually appealing, they were delivered via CD-ROM.
In the early 1990s, products on CD-I and CD-ROM started to be developed. Despite the benefits, CD-ROM courses had issues with instructor interaction and dynamic presentations, resulting in slow and less engaging experiences for users. This led to the exploration of other alternatives.
The second half of the 1990s marked the beginning of online learning. Technology companies started offering internet-based learning in the market. A few years later, ADLNET's SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) emerged as an initiative by the United States Department of Defense to develop guidelines for optimal implementation of internet-based learning. The SCORM standards allowed content to send information to the platform and made content exportable to other platforms.
Between 2000 and 2005, e-learning began to take shape as educational materials could be delivered in various formats such as videos, audios, and web-based content.
From 2007 to 2010, smartphones and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) became prevalent. This facilitated the use of e-learning materials in u-learning (ubiquitous learning), enabling accessible learning anytime and anywhere. However, this meant that content had to be adapted to new devices, such as mobile phones.
People no longer used smartphones solely for making calls; they also used them to watch videos, read books, play games, and, of course, learn. This prompted telecommunication companies to optimize mobile connectivity. As a result, mobile phones became a popular option for accessing e-learning, both for companies and educational institutions.
Today, the term "e-learning" encompasses learning on any digital device. Watching educational videos, reading articles, or taking quizzes—all of these activities fall under e-learning. However, only a few organizations and companies take on the challenge of creating their own e-learning content. Here's how Captura E-Learning approaches this experience:
Every unforgettable learning experience provided by an e-learning course has a significant history of work stages, but how does this grand architecture begin? It starts with instructional design. This initial stage is the backbone of the virtualization process, as its main objective, as the name suggests, is to design the learning path of a course. The instructional designer starts by gaining a clear understanding of the learning objectives. From there, they ask themselves: How can I divide the information to present it in an organized, coherent, and knowledge-focused manner? It is at this moment that the wheel of e-learning begins to turn in the hands of the instructional designer.
Thanks to our experience in this field and our genuine passion for producing each virtual course uniquely, we will share some of our secrets:
Our instructional designers never forget about empathy. Empathy towards their target audience, whom they know very well. For example, creating a course for young university students is different from creating one for a group of managers. The latter group may have limited available time and may even feel that simply clicking through the course will suffice for the corporate platform to register completion. However, our goal is for those managers to learn something valuable during their limited time and to remember the course even after closing it. Therefore, it is important to be concise, precise, and present them with a context that feels familiar to activate their attention and sustain it.
When constructing each course topic, guided by the instructional design matrix, they occasionally pause to put themselves in the shoes of the course taker. They review pop upcheck if they have found the ideal icon, and ensure there is a logical sequence that helps the mind perceive that progress is being made. Have you ever been bored during a course? Then it's likely that it will bore your learners too. If that happens, the necessary details are reconsidered until satisfaction is achieved.
One of our most valuable tools is knowledge related to how people construct knowledge themselves. It is especially valuable to approach andragogy (the theory that explains how adults learn) to debunk the myth that adults can only be reached by presenting textual information embedded in a click-through course. That's not the case: adults also enjoy playing, they are stimulated by gamification rewards, and they have personal motivations and life experiences that can be used as creative concepts in a serious course, such as the induction for new employees in a multinational company.
The ability to adapt writing style according to the course's needs is a valuable skill we must develop to enhance all of the above. It's not just about choosing the right on-screen text; we must also think of voiceovers as the friendly and relatable voice that accompanies the student throughout each topic. It should never falter in its conscious intention to sustain attention and companionship. Whether it's an off screen voice or the voice of a guiding character seen throughout the course, the language must feel relatable to our audience (the same applies to attire if we choose to have characters on screen). We must not overlook these details.
Our star skill is undoubtedly creativity. To associate this point with everything mentioned earlier, we must consider that our creative capacity in e-learning learning must always be strongly linked to visualization skills. In what sense? We look at the big picture from the beginning: we never let go of the arrow in our hands called "learning objectives," but we continue to see everything from the perspective of a student who must receive those specific learning outcomes through visual impact because that's how the human brain works. That's why finding a good metaphor for an e-learning course is an exciting challenge. It not only needs to be original but also functional. This is our opportunity to provide effective information processing.
The final secret of Captura E-learning is as follows: our instructional designers see themselves as creative agents who take the needs of a company or entity and transform them into a genuine experience capable of enriching each person who takes our courses in various ways. That's our greatest satisfaction because we know that a motivated individual lives, works, and studies much better. That's why our courses are exceptional: because they revolve around people.
EN 
ES 