eLearning course design Quick Guide
Designing an e-learning course is a complex task that is often best handled by an e-learning agency that has extensive experience in developing e-learning courses.
But here we give you some information to understand the process of e-learning course design. This will help you to master your processes, manage your e-learning agency and build a vision.
More corporations than ever before have diverse workforces in every sense of the word, and there are numerous advantages this brings to the table. Did you know that diversity enhances creativity? As an organisation, it is vital to realise that while imparting knowledge there is no "one size fits all" approach which works for every single Learner.
In other words, you have to keep the context in mind. The cultural context, in particular.
But what exactly is context, and how do you design an eLearning program that keeps this important aspect in mind?
This guide is all you need to understand the ins and outs of the concept, so keep reading!
TheLearning LAB eLearning Content Development.
What is Context?
Generally speaking, context refers to the circumstances behind a setting or an event. The word can, however, mean a plethora of different things, as it is a broad term. Context can refer to the social, financial, and ethnic background of your employees, as well as their ambitions, educational background, and understanding of the subject matter that you want to teach through your digital training program.
The term also refers to the global conditions in which the training is taking place. For example, for the past few months, COVID-19 has forced many corporations to conduct digital training programs instead of physical ones as employees work from home. This is an aspect of the global context which is affecting all of us.
Why is context important?
Having an in-depth understanding can give you a deeper knowledge of your employees and how you can design a strategy to effectively teach them the core of job skills. It is imperative that you gather the correct data and tailor-make your content to fit the needs. This covers everything from the multimedia you add to the jokes you make within the course, and it even extends to the examples you're going to add to your lectures.
More of an understanding of context allows you to use more real-world examples and ask relevant questions. The bottom line is that the right understanding of context can make your eLearning course more effective and more interactive for all Learners.
elearning courses design
Types of Context
Before we get into the details and talk about how you can use context in order to make your digital training become its very best possible self, we're going to dive into a couple of different types of context.
1. Educational Context
Educational context, as the name rightly implies, refers to the educational background of your audience. Are they high school graduates, or have they completed a 4-year bachelor's program? Or maybe they have years and years of corporate experience? In most cases, you will have employees from all kinds of backgrounds working together to shape your teams.
Your employees will not all have a similar style of learning. Some will learn best through lots of examples, while others will be comfortable with practical demonstrations. Some employees will be more receptive to pictures, while others will remember things by mnemonics or only want to watch the videos. In short, you will have employees with different educational backgrounds and experience levels, and they will have different learning styles. All of this will need to be taken into consideration!
2. Demographic Context
Demographic context refers to the financial, social, and educational background of your employees as well as where they are from, their lived experiences, and everything else that makes them the human being they are. This information can help you avoid sensitive subjects and minimise the risk of offending, alienating, or causing discomfort to any of your employees. You can also help your audience by including references that may be relevant to them based on e.g. the location of your various offices.
TheLearning LAB eLearning Content Development.
How do you use context in practice?
Now that we know a little bit about the different types of context involved in eLearning design, the next question is: how to design an eLearning program that caters to your varied audience. It is much simpler than you think.
1. Offer practical examples
For employees, who need some practical examples to properly understand what you're talking about, we would suggest offering real-life examples that really clear up what it's all about. It could be anything from a famous business deal gone wrong to a keynote address that happened recently: anything that is relevant to your industry.
2. Come up with contextual mnemonics
We’ve all used mnemonics at some point during our childhood, haven’t we? They’re a cleverly devised pattern of letters, ideas, or associations which help us remember things, such as the handy mnemonic below to remind you how to actually spell the word mnemonic!
Memorization's Not Easy; Memory Often Needs Initial Cues.
Luckily, the strategy still works as an adult! Mnemonics are a great way of using your visceral memory to remember complex things. They can be used to remember a certain concept or the order of certain elements presented in the Learning Management System (LMS).
There are well-known mnemonics across the world, but they will differ by region and culture - a typically British mnemonic based on commonly known fact in England won’t be as successful in, for example, the Netherlands. Giving your Learners examples of mnemonics can help their learning tremendously, but only if the mnemonics are, in fact, memorable to them!
3. Choose the right delivery medium
eLearning can be delivered in the form of live webinars, videos, text, visuals and much more. It is, therefore, extremely important that you pick the right medium.
Each delivery medium has its own pros and cons. The best way forward is to use a variety of mediums instead of relying on just one. For example, for pre-recorded courses and lectures, the questions and interruptions are limited, but so is interaction. A live webinar will enhance interactivity but will require you to conduct the digital training session at a specified time every day, or every other day.
So, it's up to you to ensure that you segment your lectures appropriately. You may wish to also add a few jokes or throw in a few fun facts here and there. All this is necessary to ensure that no employee is left behind and that you engage with them in an authentic manner.
TheLearning LAB eLearning Agency, offering LMS LAB.
Have we put context into context for you?
We hope that this article has brought you a deeper understanding of the ways you can use context to better craft your eLearning course. We agree that it might not necessarily be easy to design an eLearning program that fulfils all requirements needed for a great course, including those of context, which is why it is always a good idea to get some input from experts.
We have been in the eLearning industry for over 15 years. Our experience includes working with diverse workforce organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Automobile Federation, among others.