Our bread and butter, and at the same time one of the hardest tasks in our vocation as adult learning professionals, is to make our learners care enough to adopt desired workplace behaviors, use newly learned skills, and consistently apply relevant knowledge in their daily work.

“Why should I learn or do this?” is the crucial question we owe an answer to for all our learners, and it’s not enough to address it at a cognitive level only. If we are to create a memorable and effective learning experience, we must connect at a human level as well: We need to win over hearts. We need to create a sense of empathy; but how?

Building Learner Empathy

Empathy forms a crucial part of learner-centric learning design. By understanding and acknowledging our learners’ unique perspectives, backgrounds and challenges, we can conceptualize more personalized and efficient learning experiences. When we succeed at creating a more profound connection between the learning content and learners, we bolster faculties of engagement and assimilation, and have a higher chance of achieving our learning objectives.

In face-to-face training settings, especially for soft skills training topics such as communication, negotiation or self-awareness, role-play scenarios help learners achieve empathy to a certain degree. They can step into various “pretend” situational case contexts, or into each other’s roles; and yet, the surrounds in a training room setting will not look or feel as it would in real life.

The Power of Virtual Worlds

What if we could get learners to “walk in the shoes” of one of their colleagues as they go through a difficult situation or face problems others typically must solve day-to-day? We can, and we can do it better than ever before thanks to latest simulation technology and the power of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR).

See It, Hear It, Feel It

In my experience, there is no better way to create emotional buy-in than by allowing learners to experience various points of view through immersive, memorable VR scenarios, with branching video scenarios coming in at a close second place. Thanks to the richness of multimedia’s multi-sensory appeal, there are boundless opportunities for building empathic involvement, be it via 360-visuals, audio and even haptic feedback in the case of immersive VR with controllers. A word of caution, though — exactly because of the muti-sensory nature of video or VR experiences, learners will quickly feel alienated if the learning piece does not mirror their workplace reality up to a certain extent. Creating a simulation that mirrors the workplace is crucial. Branding, uniforms, specific language used, and the choice of realistic scenarios and spacial contexts should intuitively feel right, or else they may diminish the learning piece’s credibility and effectiveness.

Creating Relatable Characters and Scenarios

We know that if we are to connect to our learners, they need to relate to content. Therefore, creating relatable characters and scenarios plays a significant role in the learning design process. Placing learners in the shoes of realistically crafted characters amidst real-life situations can profoundly influence their learning behavior and outcomes. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Start with character backgrounds that mirror the diversity of your workforce.
2. Develop characters with strengths, weaknesses and goals similar to those of your learners.
3. Integrate scenarios that directly relate to the learners’ day-to-day job roles.
4. Incorporate challenges and obstacles that simulate real-life workplace situations.
5. Use interactive elements that allow learners to make decisions and see their impact.

Using Storytelling Techniques in Videos

As an ex-kindergarten teacher, I understand the power of storytelling to craft engaging learning interventions. Implementing storytelling into your training videos can help to build learner empathy.

Complex situations become captivating experiences, helping learners empathize with the situations and characters presented thoughout the story.

1. Start with a relatable character and gripping narrative that buds a connection between the viewer and an on-screen personality.
2. Allow the learner to make decisions at pivotal points in the video and play out the rest of the story based on the decisions taken.
3. Present a challenging situation that the character must overcome, which drives the viewer to put themselves in the character’s shoes.
4. Convey emotions of the characters powerfully, helping learners to empathize more deeply.
5. Incorporate plot twists and suspense to keep the learner engaged.
6. Conclude with a meaningful resolution or learning outcome.

VR and Learner Empathy

If we are to connect to learners at an empathetic level, with the goal of increasing engagement in our learning experiences, training professionals should be looking toward more immersive technologies.

VR enables learning designers to create compelling experiences that can cultivate deep empathy and unique insights into different perspectives. Obviously, as with all learning experiences, there are some pitfalls to avoid.

A few points to consider when going down the VR path are:

1. Identify the right VR tool based on your training need and organizational complexity. Solutions that require VR goggles may not always be a viable option, for example, if you have a large or dispersed training cohort. In that case, you may be better off using an AR/VR 360-degree web-based solution that can be accessed from any location on a laptop or desktop.
2. Ask for VR experiences that immerse learners in different roles and situations. This will counteract the notion of using VR for a one-off, gimmicky effect rather than as a solid learning experience platform.
3. Collaborate with experts proficient in VR technology and empathy-rich learning content creation. Many organizations underestimate the high skill levels needed to create successful immersive learning experiences.
4. As with any learning experience, update and refine your VR simulations based on user feedback and your measured learning and performance outcomes.

Creating an immersive learning intervention isn’t as hard as it may seem, as long as you follow some basic rules, listen to your learners and tap into the experience of other learning designers.