I’m developing a list of learning principles that I belive have some basis in fact and represent a statement of what I believe in and try to apply to my work as an eLearning and blended learning consultant. I’ve only got a couple so far, but will post a full list on my website once they are done.

People like patterns – Learning with a logical structure, anchored with mnemonics, colour coding, repetition and other patterning devices reduces the threat to learners, making it more predictable and controllable. It also promotes recall of specific and related information.

People like difficult, but achievable tasks – Learning using multiple factors, generating subtle permutations and multiple right answers increase brain engagement and promotes the assignment of ‘meaning’ to information.

Emotions and mild stress bathe neurons in brain chemicals as they are firing, strengthening a memory’s importance in the brain – Learning activities should stimulate emotion through real life examples, exploration of consequences, use of emotional narrative and sensory engagement through music, understated sound effects, time limits, debate and so on.