"How long will it take to develop this eLearning course module? What will be its exact length?" These are the two major questions that the eLearning course designers and managers often struggle to answer correctly. As an instructional designer, it is of prime importance that you correctly estimate the length of your course and the amount of time required to develop it. After all, these are the two elements that play a huge role in deciding the costs and other project plans of the eLearning module. Sorting out the course content, the graphics, and the audio/visual elements you will be incorporating in your eLearning deliverable is still easy. But estimating how much time you'll require to get all of this done can be a fairly challenging task. And to help you out, I've created this article that will walk you through the best way of estimating the effort and time required for developing an eLearning course. So, let's get going! 1. Select a Benchmark Before you start … [Read more...] about How to Accurately Estimate eLearning Development Time And Course Length
Instructional Design and ELearning
Top 6 Techniques To Retain Learners’ Attention
As an instructional designer, capturing and retaining the learner’s attention is one of the most important goal. Sometimes, even the most exciting subjects can seem boring to learners if the content is irrelevant, does not provide value, or features some poorly crafted course descriptions. What’s worse? If learners do not interact with the content, there is a high chance that they will space out. So, what can you do? As a course designer, you have to develop new, fun, and creative ways to keep your learners from looking elsewhere. This article walks you through some of the best techniques to gain your learners’ attention. Let us get started! 1. Begin the class/course with a challenge, fiction, or throw some facts! What’s better than attention-grabbing facts to begin the class with and engage your learners right at the onset? Share some intriguing facts and fiction with your learners, or even better, create a challenge that stimulates their thinking. Learners often tend … [Read more...] about Top 6 Techniques To Retain Learners’ Attention
Ten Rules for Writing Effective Test Questions
As an instructional designer, you’ll frequently have the task of assessing whether your courses have met their instructional objectives. Typically, trainers consider several parameters to judge the outcome of a course – course completion, engagement, interaction with fellow learners, assignment quality and timeliness, etc. However, a learners’ performance on tests is often an important benchmark for determining course effectiveness. How trainers and course designers develop those test questions is, therefore, critical. Testing a Broad Spectrum of Intellectual Accomplishments The key to writing effective test questions is in developing them so they assess a broad spectrum of intellectual understanding of the course content. It is important to test all six levels of that understanding, as espoused by Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis, and Evaluation …with knowledge being the lowest level of understanding, and evaluation … [Read more...] about Ten Rules for Writing Effective Test Questions
How to Deal With Too Much Content and Avoid Information Overload
Having more content than you know what to do with is a common problem. It's actually more common than having too little, with course creators beginning the process with years of research, SME input, and ideas on what their mega-course will look like. Here are 5 things you can do if you have TOO MUCH content! #1 Keep focused on your learner What skills or knowledge are essential for their improvement? The content being added should always pass the "need to know vs. nice to know" test. If you're having trouble narrowing down what fits into each of these buckets, revisit the learning objectives and measure each chunk of content against that objective. Is it essential in helping the learner achieve the stated learning objective? If it's not, cut it from the course (but hold onto it and I'll tell you what to do with it later). #2 Deliver it like a bullet Just as you can have too many content ideas and topics, you can be too wordy on delivering them to your learner. Master the method … [Read more...] about How to Deal With Too Much Content and Avoid Information Overload
5 Tips For Effective ELearning Storyboards
Storyboards are an essential element in designing your online course. They'll improve efficiency, save a lot of work/re-work down the road, and can also help communicate your ideas to stakeholders. Here 5 tips and best practices to get the most out of your storyboards! 1. Keep your goals in mind Why are you creating this eLearning course? Be clear on the purpose and content of your course, right from the start. If the course is truly your course, it should be much easier - you'll know the exact direction to head. However, if you're creating the course for a client, be sure everyone is on the same page (stakeholders, SMEs, course developers, etc.) I often find that what I think the course should be is drastically different from my client's expectations. 2. Don’t forget your audience Assuming you know your audience is a mistake. Research is key. This can come in the form of focus groups, surveys, or interviews to find out everything about the audience you're trying to … [Read more...] about 5 Tips For Effective ELearning Storyboards
Agile eLearning: Embracing Agile When Developing Elearning
Nimble organizations will win the day. Their ability to pivot quickly, and embrace favorable trends, technologies, and techniques make them more likely to triumph over their competitors. And it is that model that training-focused organizations must adapt in today’s remote work environment. Agile eLearning offers a solution. EMBRASING AGILE IN ELEARNING DEVELOPMENT Many organizations today employ dispersed workforces, working remotely – either independently or as part of a team. Developing eLearning courses in such environments is challenging. The “do more with less” mindset has led many businesses to rely on fixed-fee contractors and freelancers to supplement high-cost in-house expertise. Remote workforces rely on their employees being trained and ready with the knowledge and skills required to pivot quickly. However, given the backdrop of the realities of today’s virtual workforce, developing training programs that respond to the needs of nimble organizations is a … [Read more...] about Agile eLearning: Embracing Agile When Developing Elearning