When the ADDIE methodology is used to develop eLearning content, everyone knows that the course will take 8 to 10 (or however many) months to be developed. Agile, however, turns that concept on its head and says: Expect something every 2 weeks! How’s that possible? It is POSSIBLE because of the way Agile approaches the development process. In short iterative cycles, of 2 weeks (called Sprints), instead of one prolonged design, develop, test, and implement cycle. By delivering small chunks of usable content frequently, rather than the entire course at the end of the project. Here are some Agile best practices to follow when developing eLearning courses: Agile Teams: Build a team of self-organized, cross-functional people. Getting all the experts around the table early on is the key to successful Agile. User Stories: Look at the content needs from a user perspective. The most popular way to do so is to use the following User Story template: As a {type of user: … [Read more...] about Developing Agile eLearning Content: Bits and pieces at a time!
Instructional Design and ELearning
ELearning in Action: Turning Performance Goals into Objectives
The reasons why people are taking a course in the first place can sometimes get “foggy.” Instructional Designers know that learners have a gap in their performance...but the dilemma that they face is how to articulate that gap in learning objectives. Here are some ways to do that: Understand your audience: People tend to turn to learning when there is a perceived gap between what they SHOULD know, and what they ACTUALLY know. Therefore, before developing content, make sure YOU understand the objectives your learners should accomplish. Change your focus: Be action-oriented, and instead of focusing on the knowledge that the course will impart, build content that will turn knowledge into specific actions to be learned to meet the objectives. Get real: Content that merely paraphrases written materials won’t help bridge the gap between learners’ goals and the courses’ learning objectives. Instead, add real-life examples or simulated use cases to ensure the … [Read more...] about ELearning in Action: Turning Performance Goals into Objectives
How to Write Effective Learning Objectives
All instructional designers are well aware of the benefits of learning objectives. However, even those who mastered the art of writing objectives often wonder of their effectiveness. First, let’s look at some of the reasons why we need to include learning objectives in our lessons. Most importantly, objectives tell learners what they should expect from the course. They also help learners understand what is important in the course and what they will most likely be assessed on at the end. While the advantages of learning objectives are evident, many learners find them useless and often skip over them. So, what can an instructional designer do to help learners pay attention to the objectives? There are several ways to handle this problem. First, instead of offering a bulleted list of learning objectives at the beginning of the course, instructional designers should try to find some creative ways to engage learners. One way to do that is to come up with a realistic attention … [Read more...] about How to Write Effective Learning Objectives
ELearning Development Checklist
Instructional designers often look for a handy eLearning development checklist that they could use as a reference when they develop their courses or when they do that final check before hitting the publish button. I created a checklist below for my personal use. Not everything in it will apply to all projects, and there are additional questions that may have to be added depending on your project’s needs and your roles and responsibilities on that project. Therefore, feel free to modify this checklist for your personal use. Content/Slides • Are the objectives SMART? • Is the content broken into manageable pieces? • Do the slides include a maximum of 5 bullets? • Is the language on all slides clear? • Have you checked spelling and grammar? • Are there any typos? • Is the tone consistent throughout the course? • Have the SMEs approved the content? • Are the punctuation and capitalization accurate and consistent? • Are the … [Read more...] about ELearning Development Checklist
6 Motivational Techniques for Adult Learners
We all know that courses must be meaningful and motivational to learners, but, unfortunately, not all Instructional designers know how to engage adult learners. When adults are required to take courses that they have no interest in, or find irrelevant to their needs, their level of motivation and consequently their retention level will be low. Instructional designers need to work hard to come up with motivational strategies for adult learners. In this blog post, we will go over some of the motivational techniques that work. Create real life experiences. Make the course meaningful to your learners by creating scenarios, role-plays, games, and demonstrations that resemble learners’ everyday work environments. This can be easily achieved by asking SMEs to provide realistic examples and anecdotes from their experiences. Then, use your creativity to turn their stories into meaningful interactions. Provide downloadable resources and job aids. It is unrealistic to … [Read more...] about 6 Motivational Techniques for Adult Learners
5 Things Every ELearning Designer Should Pay Attention To When Proofreading And Editing ELearning Courses
Proofreading and editing your eLearning courses can sometimes feel a little awkward, to say the least. However, both proofreading and editing are the essential components of the eLearning development process. One of the best ways to catch mistakes is to create and follow a style guide. While things that will be included in that style guide will vary from project to project, there are certain things that should be applied to every project. Always check punctuation as misplaced comas may confuse learners. Incorrect punctuation may also cause learners to misinterpret content. Check subject-verb agreement to ensure consistency. Oftentimes, in addition to subject-verb disagreement, writers make errors with pronoun-antecedent agreements. If not corrected, these errors can cause a lot of confusion. Do not trust your spell checker. Even though spell checker can be a great tool, it does not catch all the errors. Therefore, if there are words that sound the same, but have different … [Read more...] about 5 Things Every ELearning Designer Should Pay Attention To When Proofreading And Editing ELearning Courses