 Remember looking up at the night sky as a kid and being filled with wonder? It was so vast and filled with so many stars it was hard to keep looking in just one place. Not knowing where to look might have meant that you missed the comet flying by, the blinking light of a satellite or the bat swooping overhead. Developing good e-learning can be just as tricky. If you don't tell and show your learners where to look, they can quickly become overwhelmed in the grandeur of your design and miss the important details. This is better known as Mayer's Signaling Principle, which recommends using voice and visual cues to help the learner focus, organize, and process the content. You can add signaling elements to your modules both in the narration and in on-screen action. In the narration, try adding introductory sentences and section headings and using indicator words like first, second, and third along with varying the tone and inflection to draw attention to key words. On-screen you can use bright bold text colors and arrows to point to important content. You can also divide content into columns or use other blocking techniques to section text, flash the focus area with a spotlight, or keep the target area in color while turning the background black and white. Let's return to our night sky and look up to see how it works. Say we wanted to teach a lesson about the Big Dipper. In the narration, we'd add indicator words to group the stars into the handle and the ladle. This organizes the content into smaller chunks and makes it easier to learn. The Big Dipper is made up of seven bright stars. The three stars in the handle are Alcade, Mizar, and Allioth. The four stars that make up the ladle are Duba, Merrick, Fad, and Magrez. The brightest star in the Big Dipper is Allioth. On-screen, we animate the stars in the handle in blue and the stars in the ladle in yellow. Blue and yellow are strong contrasting colors, which reinforces the grouping from the narration. Finally, we spotlight and circle the brightest star to draw attention to it without covering it up. Let's see how this works together. The Big Dipper is made up of seven bright stars. The three stars in the handle are Alcade, Mizar, and Allioth. The four stars that make up the ladle are Duba, Merrick, Fad, and Magrez. The brightest star in the Big Dipper is Allioth. Using the signaling principle for this content makes it easier for the learner to follow along, organize the information, and remember what's being taught. The signaling principle helps the learner focus on what's really important. This means they're also more likely to process new information faster and have better long-term knowledge retention. Instead of being distracted by a sky full of stars or a page full of content, your learners can focus on the beauty of just one.