Significance Of Colors In eLearning
From the beginning of time, colors have played an important part in the world. A color can not only adjust your blood pressure but can also change your mood and save on the consumption of energy. But what can colors do when you are designing eLearning? Well, according to the psychology of colors, a lot! The choice of colors that you make while developing your eLearning course can create a huge difference in the way material is acquired and comprehended.
Visual communication is a must in eLearning. When you gain knowledge of how a certain color can make an impression on our brains, it will help you in developing material for eLearning that’s more effective, efficient, and targeted. Not only that, but the correct choice of colors will help you in saving both time and money.
Colors can evoke certain emotions that enhance the focus of a person and the overall effect of the information shared. The world of eLearning and its graphics are unique. There must have been a time when you have heard terms such as #000000, #b22234 or someone say, “Hey! Increase the saturation.” or “Use contrast.” If you are not the one who knows about creating graphics it can be hard to understand.
However, as an eLearning developer or designer, you must understand the impact of colors on eLearning and how it transforms the experience of a learner. With so much research going around in the learning area, it has been confirmed that about 80% of information is processed in the brain through sight. Besides, different individuals with different learning styles prefer visual cues for better understanding and learning.
Moreover, if you are about to design an eLearning course either for the students or office staff, you need to remember:
- Certain colors can help in amplifying focus on the information being presented.
- Color has the capability to change the mood of a learner.
- The higher the contrast is, the higher the attention of the learner.
- High contrast can improve visibility and magnify retention of the subject.
- Even if the course material you want to share is considered boring, colors can make it look more appealing and interesting.
Another important factor that needs to be considered while choosing colors for eLearning materials is, if you will use several colors at the same time, it can overwhelm the learner while decreasing the effectiveness you wanted.
Ways Colors Transform eLearning
- Object identification
It’s easier for us to identify any object when it can be related to real life. If we paint a rabbit purple, it will confuse our brains as we expect the rabbit to be either white or brown. But, we can use this sort of color to highlight something important as it will draw more attention. - Quick visual search
Our brain is designed in such a way that we learn color-coded information easily regardless of the complications of the topic. - Convey structure
Arranging different sections of the module in eLearning by distinctive colors can give users a feeling of cohesion. - Symbolism
With colors, you can convey strong emotions and feelings. If you want to make a fun eLearning course, try using vibrant colors. - Express metaphors
Colors can be used to show metaphors in animations. These metaphors can express the emotion behind a particular topic. - Establish identity
For someone who owns a brand, it is essential to align colors to the module that aligns with your brand identity. - Improve usability
When it comes to eLearning courses, all the Call-To-Action buttons must stand out from the rest for better usability. So what you need to do is choose the color that easily catches the attention of the learner. - Emphasis
Some important parts of the module must shout out to the brain about their importance, and you will only be able to see that the color you have chosen can highlight those parts.
How Should You Use Colors?
There are numerous ways to use colors in your material, but there are some important methods that you need to keep in mind when designing your eLearning course. So today, I am going to share some of them with you:
- Are you worried that the employees or students will lose their focus while learning? Then, you can use colors as the method to attract their attention. For example, if you have certain vital information on a page, use colors to ensure that they are focused on.
- As colors can increase readability by 40%, comprehension up to 73%, and learning by 55-78%, create material that includes color coding, especially with technical subjects. One way to do that is to use colored backgrounds.
- Always be strategic with the manner you use colors in your learning or training material. Going overboard with the colors can bring completely different results. At the time you use colors, it’s important to remain professional and opt for the colors that are bold yet less bright.
Which Color Will Work Best For You?
As I have mentioned earlier, not all colors can be used when it comes to learning, retention, and comprehension. To draw attention to the eLearning material, you need to use more warm colors like yellow, red, or orange. According to color theory, warm colors have more stimulating effects. While red has been proven to bring attention to noteworthy information, orange makes the material look more exciting, and on the other hand, yellow provokes memory.
To help the readers feel at ease without getting anxious about the overwhelming amount of information, choose cool colors like purples and blues. These colors have a more calming effect than others.
Even white and black have significance in color theory. White gives a break to the eyes and helps in avoiding getting frustrated by the material. However, black makes reading easier and if used in the border or outline of a picture, it can proffer distinction and importance.
Conclusion
Overall, it can be said that at the time you are creating and designing your learning materials, it’s best to do a little bit of research prior to diving into the colors. There are several of us that utilize colors just for aesthetics because we don’t have the accurate knowledge of the importance colors hold in the world of learning.
But with the information I have shared with you, it will be easier to develop efficient material that provides the foremost results for the learners, be it an employee or a student.
