TUTORIAL PAGE

As you organize the content in hand, a few points to keep in mind are:

• Plan the sessions/modules with a mix of activities. Pure instruction can get monotonous, result in a bored learner and render the training ineffective. Mixing instruction with activities helps the learner stay interested and engaged.
• Balance text with meaningful graphics. Unrelated graphics negatively impact the quality of your content and meaningful graphics enhance the learning experience.
• Update the images, data and content wherever necessary. If you are using images of your employees, make sure you have updated pictures of them. Any data displayed should be current and the content should capture recent changes and developments.
• Keep the on-screen text short and precise. Where explanations are important, keep the text displayed in bullets and move the sentences and details to the voice over. Ensure the bulleted text play out as short phrases that cover the main and important ideas.

Designing thecourse:

To start with understand your audience profile and their learning environment. In the example we discussed, the course was planned for new employees who would be learning remotely. Having this knowledge leads us to understand that employees could be accessing content using different devices, using a blended learning model may be more effective and the sessions should have more activities than a live classroom would typically have.

As you start designing the course, you will have to:

• Decide the Learning objectives for the course. As discussed earlier, you could use Bloom’s taxonomy to define the learning objectives. The learning objectives of the course will determine what you should cover in the topics.
• Logically structure into Course, Modules and Topics. List down the names of the modules and topics; Plan the duration of the session as well as the time it should take to cover the topics in a module.
• Break down the plan such that you clearly state how much time be will spent in ice-breakers, in the main instruction, activities and assessments.
• Decide if you would like to introduce interactivities or gamifications and check if you have or can get the tools for building them.
• Collect information & curate it to build the source content; Ensure that it aligns with the course structure and organize the information as per the plan. Evaluate course structure and when necessary reorganize it to avoid repetition of information as well as to give continuity to topics.
• Start writing the storyboard and decide on the media elements and instructional materials to be used. You will have to keep in mind the device the learners are likely to use so that the media elements and instructional materials are appropriate for the devices and do not compromise on the learning experience.

Development of the course:

Once you have the design ready you will need to start developing the learning content.

• Start building the eLearning content. Once the design is complete and the storyboards are built a series of activities will have to start – you will have to make sure the PPTs with the content (text & graphics) are developed. On a platform like the PlayAblo LMS you will be able to upload content as PPTs. If you’d like to bring in interactivity you could also use a rapid authoring tool to develop the learning content.
• While developing, some Do’s and Don’ts to remember are:
  • Keep each topic to the point; address one or two Learning objectives in a topic.
  • Don’t fill up too much text in a single slide. Do use short precise text for on screen text and use detailed explanations for the voice overensure the sequence of the bulleted text are in the same order as in the voice over
  • Don’t use Italics or fonts that resemble handwriting as they have a negative impact on readability. Do use fonts such as Arial, Calibri, Sans Serif, Open Sans etc that stand straight as they are easier to read.
  • Don’t ignore the text and background colours. Do pay attention to the text and background colours. White text on black background and black text on white background and black text on warm colours such as peach, have been highly rated as they make reading easy.
• Develop the supporting instructional materials. Download or create the necessary audio or videos, PDFs for additional reading, supporting documents, worksheets and job aids.
• Ensuring that every stage of design and development is meticulously planned and executed makes the delivery of the content smooth and the learning effective.