Learning by doing: what does it mean – and how is it used in e-learning?

Learning by doing means learning through action. Instead of only reading or listening to an explanation, you try it yourself – and learn from the experience. Most people know it from everyday life: you rarely remember a manual, but you remember how you solved the task when you were faced with it.

Where does the term come from?

The expression is particularly associated with the American philosopher and educator John Dewey (1859–1952), who believed that teaching should be based on experience and activity rather than rote learning. The idea was later developed further by David Kolb, among others, whose model of experiential learning describes learning as a cycle of four stages:

1. Concrete experience: You do something or experience a situation.
2. Reflection: You think about what happened, and why.
3. Conceptualisation: You draw conclusions and understand the principles behind it.
4. Experimentation: You try again – now with new knowledge.

Why does it work?

• You remember better: When you have to act yourself, you process the material more thoroughly than when you read about it.
• It is closer to reality: You practise what you need to be able to do – not just what you need to know.
• Mistakes become lessons: You discover what goes wrong, and why – preferably in a safe setting.
• It motivates: It makes sense when you can use what you learn straight away.

Learning by doing in e-learning

E-learning is often taken alone in front of a screen, but that does not mean it has to be passive. There are many ways to let participants do something:

• Scenarios and cases: Participants face a realistic situation and have to make decisions – and see the consequences.
• Simulations: Practise a work process, a system or a procedure step by step, without anything going wrong in real life.
• Sorting and drag-and-drop exercises: Put steps in order, spot the errors in a picture or match concepts.
• Questions along the way with feedback: Not just a test at the end, but small tasks throughout the course – with an explanation of the right answer.
• Tasks in the real world: Ask participants to find the emergency exit, check a ladder or look for the labelling on a product – and come back to the course.

When practice is needed

Some skills require hands-on equipment – such as first aid, fire fighting or operating machinery. Here, e-learning can prepare participants so the practical training becomes more effective. They know the theory and the steps in advance, and the time with the instructor can be spent practising.

In short

Learning by doing is about letting participants act, reflect and try again. In e-learning, this means fewer long texts and more exercises, cases and simulations – so participants can use what they have learned when they are in the situation.