How to Create an E-Learning Course and Get Results
Guide to eLearning development process for Instructional designer
No one is really in a position to believe that they have the best solution or method but one can honestly share some concepts that can be appropriated, challenged and improved.
So here are some notes that I have collected during many projects and observations. A special thanks to the Learning Lab team for their contribution and generosity. The Learning Lab is an innovative Learning Management System (LMS) for creating and managing premium content.
So here is a list or rather a few steps that I leave to your creativity of eLearning Designer or Instructional Designer!
One short note: As technology is linked to creativity I challenge you to not think SCORM but Authoring Tool. You may be too young to remember Flash but HTML5 killed the technology.
And I am a strong Authoring Tool Guy… SCORM does not offer me the flexibility I need as a eLearning course needs to be constantly iterated, updated, improve, translated, tested, embed with news 3D and immersive technologies… Ok no polemic let’s start.
CREATE AN ELEARNING COURSE
Why is the elearning development process so important?
Because during the whole project you have to anticipate, plan and look forward and backward at the same time.
It is important to understand why you are doing the task, what the KPIs or objectives are. And throughout the process you need to look back at your plan and notes to make sure you don't deviate from your plan.
But not deviating from the plan does not mean not adapting and reacting to new parameters.
E-learning development process highlight!
No matter which method you follow, all three factors intersect:
Design, Testing and Improve
Stakeholders’ collaboration: brainstorming, leadership, feedback, validation
Design process: State of Art!
The article can pretty much end here! Job done!
E-learning development process highlight!
Create a Vision and Mission Statement
Your vision and mission statement will help you keep your eLearning course on track as you work through the process of creating your online course.
When developing a vision and mission statement for your eLearning course, try to think about the following questions:
Why are you creating this eLearning course?
What specific benefits will your viewers get?
What kind of emotional response do you want people to have when they watch your videos?
What are you trying to accomplish with your course?
How will people be able to interact with your content?
And list directly you action plan:
Plan the project
Draft a storyboard
Develop the course
Design and brand the content
Animated the out put
Deliver and plan the testing phase + improvement*
*Please, do not plan the improvement phase to check the box and forget it… Thank you ;)
Who Will Benefit from the eLearning Course
You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can’t force them to retain it if they don’t want to.
With that in mind, the first thing you need to do is clearly articulate the benefits of your elearning course. You might want to start by thinking about the types of people who could benefit from your online training.
For example: if you’re creating a course for a Marketing Agency, you can target business owners who want to learn new marketing techniques or make their business more profitable.
You can also think about how your course can help people with specific problems.
For example: if you’re creating a course for parents of children with Autism, you could target parents who want to learn strategies for managing their child’s behaviour.
Here is a quick check list:
Define responsabilities
Agree on a planning and agenda
Determine the goals
List the subject matter experts
Know how will validate the project
Analyse the LMS that will deliver the elearning courses
If you validate this plan 90% of the project is define!
E-learning development process highlight!
Useful list of questions
Many projects start and stop with the client brief.
Take the lead with this list, which can be adapted to the project:
What is the deadline?
How long is the course? (in minutes)
What is the audience?
What is the goals?
What issues need to be resolve?
What knowledge needs to be transmitter?
What resources are available?
Do you have existing content? Analyse!
What is your definition of effective courses?
What is your LMS?
Any deadline for the learners?
This is clearly pure Project Management but do not miss the start!
The Leaner must be at the center of the project: Define Your Audience
After you’ve outlined who your course is for, you should define who is NOT your audience.
When defining your audience, take into account the following factors.
You might find it helpful to write these down so you don’t forget them.
Demographics
Age, gender, income, location, and so on.
Personal Interests
Topics you’ve researched that relate to your course, passions, and hobbies.
People’s Past Learning Experiences
How long they’ve been trying to learn a certain topic and what they’ve tried before.
People’s Current Needs
What problems and needs people have that your course can help with.
Yes a lot of list, I know!
Develop your course structure
Once you know who your audience is and what their needs are, you can develop your course structure.
Your eLearning course will consist of several key parts. You’ll want to think about each of these as you create your course structure.
E-Learning Course Introduction
Your course introduction will introduce your viewers to the course, help them understand what they’ll be getting out of it, and keep them interested in the course throughout.
E-Learning Course Exposition
The course explanation will be broken down into short sections called lessons. These lessons should build on one another, connecting topics and making them more understandable.
Assessment
After the course has been completed, learners will want to test themselves on what they’ve learned. This can be a quiz, a lab assignment, a project, or anything that provides feedback on what has been learned.
Conclusion
The last section of your eLearning course will help learners close out their experience, including any tips or reminders to help them remember what they’ve learned.
Add Compelling Content
If your course is going to be successful, learners need to see a clear benefit and be excited to learn.
This will be challenging the first few times you create an elearning course, but with practice you’ll get better and remember the most important lesson:
Learners need to see results and be excited to learn.
To make this happen, you’ll need to create compelling content.
Incorporate Feedback from Learners
ELearning is all about results, and the only way to get results is by listening to what your learners have to say.
You can do this by creating a survey system where learners can rate the course and provide feedback on what they like, what they don’t like, and what could be improved. You can also have people leave comments on the elearning course page.
This way, you can get feedback on your elearning course immediately and also collect more data on what your learners want to see in future courses.
Guide to eLearning development process for Instructional designer
Online training will help people develop new skills and expand their knowledge.
However, to lead the project to success choice carefully your Learning Management System (LMS) with a powerful Authoring Tool like the Learning Lab. You need a Creative LMS!
Do not hesitate to contact us for a free workshop!
