Learning objectives are the cornerstones around which Learning and Development (L&D) professionals assess whether learners demonstrate successful learning from completion of a unit of an eLearning course. Because of their critical nature, L&D teams must understand how to write them correctly. Improperly developed learning objectives not only fail to measure successful learning, but they often also serve to defeat overall learning outcomes. Discerning Outcomes and Objectives Newcomers to eLearning course development often use “outcomes” and “objectives” interchangeably. While to the layperson they might seem similar, to an L&D professional, they aren’t! LEARNING OUTCOMES: These describe high-level (often longer-term) behavioral traits involving a broad spectrum of skills, knowledge, and attitudes that a course desires to impart. Outcomes are strategic outcomes that a course seeks to accomplish. Example: “Upon completing this course the learner will consistently … [Read more...] about Seven Pillars of Learning Objectives: The basis of sound eLearning course development
Instructional Design and ELearning
How to Create Learner Engagement Through Micro Content: 10 Tips and strategies worth exploring
Learner engagement is the ultimate test of an L&D professionals’ ability to design, produce and deliver eLearning successfully. However, “success” isn’t just a measure of how many learners enrolled or completed the course but is also a function of the level of commitment and engagement displayed during the course. Unfortunately, traditional course content, like lengthy PowerPoint decks, 10-thousand-word text descriptions, and hours-long audio is no longer conducive to engagement. So, what’s the alternative? Microcontent! What is Micro-Learning Content? As the name suggests, micro-content is learning content that’s smaller in size and scope than its lengthier peer. Typically, traditional eLearning modules run anywhere between 30-minutes and an hour. During that time, it’s hard for L&D professionals to assure they have the learner’s complete attention. The longer a lesson takes to complete, the greater the chances are that learners will disengage. To address that issue, … [Read more...] about How to Create Learner Engagement Through Micro Content: 10 Tips and strategies worth exploring
How to Title Your Online Course, Modules, and Lessons
One of the most crucial parts of developing an online course is creating its title. We know, coming up with a name sounds pretty insignificant compared to designing all the videos, creating hundreds of graphics, and images, producing crisp audios, and doing a million other things that are required to bring an online course to life. However, no matter how brilliant it is, the course content isn't the first thing that an individual notices. The very first thing that grabs a person's attention is..., well, you guessed it right! It's the title of the course. Creating an extraordinary first impression is essential, especially in the digital world! Don't we always go on Youtube or Instagram and click the play button on videos and clips with interesting titles. No matter what people say, more often than not, we all judge a book by its cover and a video by its title. After all, there's a lot of content available online, and we have limited time. So we … [Read more...] about How to Title Your Online Course, Modules, and Lessons
Adult Learning Methods– When and How to Apply Them
Designing an eLearning module for adults is way different than designing online courses for children or college kids. The reason being, adults have different needs. They have less time and many other obligations to fulfill. Most adult learners are juggling a full-time job, their relationship, family needs, and a lot more. The stress of so many things takes a toll on their attention span and leaves them with little time to dedicate to studying and learning. Therefore, adult learners need short, crisp, engaging, and relevant courses that allow them the flexibility to learn at their own pace and time. They want high-quality and practical training content that they get to access anytime, anywhere, and from any device. All this can appear extremely tricky if you are just starting to create eLearning courses for adults. That's why we are here for you! In this blog, we will tell you about the famous adult learning theory (also known as Andragogy) and how to apply its principles for … [Read more...] about Adult Learning Methods– When and How to Apply Them
6 Ways to Deliver Your Online Course
The choice of your online course delivery method is as vital as the process of developing it. And as an eLearning instructional designer and developer, you must know about the most popular online course delivery methods. When you have a basic idea of all the common techniques used for transmitting an online lesson, you'll be in a better position to choose the best one for your courses! So, if you are a new instructional designer, you must be wondering about the best ways to deliver your online learning program. If yes, then this article is just what you need! Today, we are going to walk you through the six best online course delivery methods out there. 1. Online Course Delivery Through Videos Videos remain the most popular and engaging method of online course delivery. According to Dr. James McQuivey of Forrester Research, one minute of video content equals almost 1.8 million written words. Sounds surprising, right? But, yes, that's true! Moreover, the human brain … [Read more...] about 6 Ways to Deliver Your Online Course
10 Things to Consider Before Your eLearning Course Goes Live
Too often, eLearning course developers are so focused on going live with their courses, that they neglect doing a meticulous check of the course before launching. And, even when they do conduct quality checks, it’s often focused on a single dimension - technical aspects of grammar and punctuation – though these are also critical. The result: Either the course is pulled out of circulation partway through rollout; or an embarrassing stream of updates, amendments, and revisions ensue. This usually impacts learner confidence in the course and undermines sponsor/client trust in the course developer’s abilities. Going live through multiple views Doing a final pre-go-live sanity check is the best way to avoid such unfortunate course outcomes. Most eLearning developers instinctively think of “quality assurance” as being a list of questions to ask, and a few boxes to tick. However, to do such a check effectively, course developers must view the course through various lenses. Having … [Read more...] about 10 Things to Consider Before Your eLearning Course Goes Live