I read a great blog recently by Ethan Edward of Allen Interactions, Improving Your e-Learning Designs: What I Learned from a Flower . In the article Ethan focuses on a story from his youth about a night-blooming cactus. He compares the lessons learned from that cactus to how we can create effective learning events with [...]
We have all had project “kick-off” meetings with Subject Matter Experts where they do an information “dump”. They share with us anything and everything they have ever learned about the topic. We are then left reviewing all the content/information that has been given to us and try to determine what is “Nice to Know” and [...]
Previously we have talked about when we should test learners . Now let’s focus on writing successful test questions that support course objectives. Keep these tips in mind when writing test questions: Write test questions first. Once your course objectives are defined, write your test questions before writing your course content. This prevents the trap [...]
There are many things to think about when creating an eLearning team and creating online training. This posts list 10 DOs and DON’Ts to consider when building your next team and course. It isn’t a complete list but it does cover the main bases. You can also checkout the animated presentation. Feel free to leave [...]
The Learning eXplosion , by Matthew Murdoch and Treion Muller, is a great read that steps you through how to successfully move your classroom instructor-led training into the virtual classroom. The book specifically focuses on 9 Rules for Creating Effective Virtual Training: 1. The Rule of Continual Change – Learners and designers must always be [...]
Often, due to shortened project timelines, the Analysis phase of the ADDIE process is cut short or skipped all together. This phase might very well be the most important phase of the ADDIE process. It is during the Analysis phase that you uncover the information critical for the learner to be successful in their job. [...]
I recently read a great blog post by Articulates Tom Kuhlmann, titled Here’s Why Slide Count is Irrelevant to Your E-Learning Course . In the post he mentions the following key points: – Screen count does not matter to the elearner…what matters, is the interaction built into the course. – Do not auto-advance the slides [...]
Why is it important to create a course outline or storyboard before building an eLearning course? A course outline or storyboard will help you to organize both the course content and your thoughts on interactivity (audio, video, graphics, interactions, etc.). Here are a few things to consider when building your storyboard: On-Screen text What information [...]
Who would have thought that simply writing an eLearning course would require the instructional designer to have so many different writing skills? As an instructional designer our writing has to motivate the learner, as well as, instruct them on correct processes, policies, techniques, etc. In the eLearning Coach’s article 10 Types of Writing for eLearning [...]
Looking for a great way to create scenarios and conversations in your course? Check out our latest product…Thought and Speech Bubbles! You get 300 different images in 6 different styles. The images all have transparent backgrounds and are ready to drop right into your course. (By the way, you also get the Illustrator files so [...]
Scenarios are a great way to make courses more engaging, effective, and fun. We’ve recently launched some new products that can be combined to make some sweet scenarios. Here are some examples that we created to “get your creative juices flowing”. To build these examples we used: Thought Call-outs and Bubbles Cutout People Pictures Notes [...]
A key point in instructional design is to “know your audience”. One of the reasons to do this is because you can tailor the content to the learner’s existing knowledge level. Connie at the eLearning Coach has done a great series of posts on how to design course content for experts vs. beginners. Tips when [...]
“In the beginning there was a blank slide. All eLearning designers dreamed of the endless possibilities. Wondrous content could spring into life. However, something went wrong… Bullet points sprang up like weeds. Clip art infiltrated the blank space. Bad color schemes and ugly fonts polluted the slide. The dream of engaging, [...]
