Instructional designers, especially those who work on federal contract, often experience the dilemma as to whether or not they should score assessments. While some believe that assessments must be scored; there are others, who do not feel that way. Learners who like scored assessments feel that knowing how they did on the test helps them master the content. You probably noticed that often, when you take an assessment and get the question wrong, you receive the following type of feedback: “Sorry, but you did not get it right.” There are learners who are afraid of failure and feel that scored tests are a pedagogical approach to learning not suitable for adults who simply need guidance to achieve better performance results, not scores. In spite of negative attitudes, scored assessments provide information to management about learners’ progress and determine whether the learner is ready to move on to the next, more advanced level. When it comes to assessments instructional … [Read more...] about To Score or Not to Score?
The ELearning Course Designer’s Blog
Synchronous ELearning: How To Engage Learners And Increase Retention
Since there is no face to face communication, online teaching requires a lot of effort not only from the instructor but also from the learner. To ensure that each student receives individual attention, I recognize various types of students in my class and adjust to their unique needs. For instance, there are learners who are clearly leaders; they always post comments and responses to other people’s questions. There are also learners who always ask many questions, and expect to receive quick and thoughtful responses almost immediately. Furthermore, there are learners who take online learning very lightly and do not participate in any discussions. Through establishing high expectations from the beginning, and reinforcing deadlines and requirements for successful course completion, I ensure that my learners are on track and their goals and expectations are met. I also provide continuous feedback to each learner using the “pull up a chair” approach. In other words, I send a quick email … [Read more...] about Synchronous ELearning: How To Engage Learners And Increase Retention
6 Recommendations For Translating Your ELearning Courses Into Other Languages
In this article, I want to talk about translating eLearning courses into other languages. Many instructional designers assume that finding a good translator is the key. However, the quality of a translation is only a part of what an instructional designer will be responsible for when dealing with translating courses into foreign languages. Here are some recommendations that eLearning designers in charge of managing translation projects should find useful. Use bulleted lists instead of lengthy narratives. This will allow you to make sure the translator did not miss any major points during the translation process. Make sure that the graphic symbols you use are universal. Because visuals often mean different things for different people,, learners from other cultures may find your graphics offensive. Pay attention to space. When texts are translated into other languages they often expand. This is especially true for the text that appears in boxes or inside the buttons. If you … [Read more...] about 6 Recommendations For Translating Your ELearning Courses Into Other Languages
Accessible ELearning – Developing Section 508 Compliant ELearning Courses
Accessibility is a central aspect of eLearning. What can eLearning designers do to ensure that their courses are accessible? Here are some recommendations: 1. Provide an equivalent text alternative to all information provided in visual format. This can be easily done by adding the alt text attribute to all images. 2. Make sure that the content offered in an interactive format is also available in accessible format. Obviously, learners with hearing and visual impairments cannot fully benefit from multimedia based eLearning courses. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a text transcript that describes the interactions and supplements the visual information. Another option is to create a Camtasia presentation for all the multimedia interactions. To learn more about using Camtasia for making e-Learning more compliant, read my blog post about Creating Section 508 Compliant E-Learning solutions (http://bit.ly/1hGrX4T) 3. Make sure that the information is well structured and … [Read more...] about Accessible ELearning – Developing Section 508 Compliant ELearning Courses
How To Convert ILT To ELearning
As eLearning gains popularity, many companies begin converting their already existing content into an eLearning format. While converting an existing training program is much easier than creating a new one from scratch, in order for the eLearning course to be a successful one, it is important to understand what goes into the conversion. Typically, when the client asks to convert the existing materials into eLearning, he supplies instructional designers with a PowerPoint presentation used in the class as well as instructor and student guides. If there are visuals that can be reused or assessment items that have already been created, they should also be provided to an instructional designer. Some clients also provide a recorded version of the classroom session, which often helps instructional designers to make sense out of the written materials. Once all the materials are obtained, instructional designers should set up a meeting with the instructor, who is often also a subject … [Read more...] about How To Convert ILT To ELearning
How To Estimate ELearning Development Time And Course Length
When putting together cost estimates and preparing project plans instructional designers and eLearning project managers often find it difficult to correctly estimate the length of the course and the amount of time it takes to develop one. While there is no exact formula that would help to make these estimates, most instructional designers believe that 50 slides or content screens equal 1 hour of eLearning, and a 10,000-word script is also equal to 1 hour of eLearning. Now that we have a better idea as to what constitutes 1 hour of training, let’s look at the number of hours needed to develop 1 hour of eLearning. These estimates would differ depending on the complexity of the eLearning module. Obviously, basic eLearning that does not have much if any interactions will take less time to develop than complex courses that contain high-level interactions and games. Once the level of complexity has been determined instructional designers need to make a list of all the developmental tasks … [Read more...] about How To Estimate ELearning Development Time And Course Length