Lesson 2: Enhancing Webinar Participant Engagement

3.4. Organization

The organization component is used to evaluate how well the structure of the webinar facilitates engagement. The three indicators used are direction, outline accuracy, information chunking, and structure. Direction is provided by an accurate webinar outline or agenda, information is presented in small segments (chunking), and the webinar is organized in a way that makes it easy to follow.

Some key organization best practices described in the video are:

• Tell participants what to expect. One way to do this is by presenting an outline at the beginning and appropriate points throughout the presentation. The TEAMS webinar did this quite effectively by showing the outline and expanding each section as they reached that part of the presentation.
• Present information in a logical, easy-to-follow sequence.
• Chunk information into small segments to prevent cognitive overload. 

Chunking Explained

Chunking is a strategy used to break information into smaller pieces that the brain’s working memory can hold more easily. George A. Miller introduced the concept in 1956. His evidence showed that the capacity of working memory is limited and can only hold approximately seven chunks of information at one time. Other researchers have found that the number of manageable chunks is smaller with a range of four to five bits of information.

The goal of chunking is to reduce cognitive overload so that information is not lost. This is done by presenting information in amounts the learner can manipulate in working memory making it more likely to be moved to long-term memory (i.e., learned).

The practice of chunking content is very important in instructional design. Although the rubric includes it in the organization component, it is not just about organizing content. You will learn more about it later in this course.