Storyboards are visual organizers that illustrate and communicate ideas to other professionals on the team. ELearning professionals use storyboarding as an aid to develop instructionally sound courses and learning materials.
Instructional designers often use multiple storyboards and choose the appropriate one based on their need. For instance, the template used to design a game or simulation would be different from a template for video development. Most storyboarding templates are created either in Word or PowerPoint. Even though there is no single unique way to storyboard eLearning courses, there are certain elements common to most storyboards.
These elements include the following:
- Content – This section contains the on-screen text as well as the instructions for learners such as Click Next for more information.
- Audio – This section contains the narrator’s script for each screen including the pronunciation of terms and acronyms that might be unfamiliar to the narrator.
- Graphics – This section contains images / visuals that will appear on each screen or, the description of these visuals to help graphic artists create the needed graphics.
- Programming Instructions or Developer’s Notes – This is probably the most complex section of a storyboard, primarily because it incorporates many sub-elements. This area contains navigational directions as well as detailed explanations of interactions, assessments, and feedback.
In addition to the above elements, storyboards often include the name of the module, page numbers, and screen references. These elements help instructional designers and developers communicate more efficiently when discussing specific screens.
While storyboarding is very time consuming, it is a major time saver at the end. Storyboarding makes it easy for the SME to script audio for courses, review projects, and allow instructional designers to avoid rework.
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