5 tips on Design & Delivery of Impactful E Learning ( Asynchronous mostly )
The learner needs to (a) experience real-life scenarios, (b) try out tasks, and (c) obtain feedback along the way. A smiley face and a thumbs-up icon at the end of the training effort aren’t enough.
1. Choose Quality Training Resources.
A resource that delivers research-based content and personalized learning experince ; allows for peer-to-peer interactions.
A course that takes a practical, actionable approach to instructional design. Our learners should learn methods that they can apply to their work immediately and effectively.
2. Assess The Size And Diversity Of Your Skillset ( we all have limitations . No one is perfect or self succient ! )
Apart from being in Instructional Designer of an E Learning Course , you are a Narration actor! Graphic designer. Investigative journalist ! QA tester. Writer.
You may need to play all these roles when designing and developing an eLearning course. Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. It’s OK to outsource one or two elements of the project—like voice-overs or graphic creation—to experts.
3. Check Your Work Before You Deploy
Before you launch an E Learning Course , ask an intended or prospectrtive learner to take the course while you observe over their shoulder or via screen share. You’ll be amazed at the small hiccups that arise when someone else is navigating the course. Iron them out before actual launch.
4. File Management Is Key To Long-Term Success ( A real-life anecdote on this ! )
All organizations have process changes, so updates will be needed. If you don’t have access to the original eLearning course files, you are back at square one !!
It happend to me sometime ago . When a team member of mine went out on maternity leave, I was asked to fix one quiz question. Easy—if I had the file. It was on my team member’s desktop, and I had no way to get it.
I had to completely rebuild the course to emend a single quiz question. Store files in an accessible, central location !
5. Authoring Tool Expertise Is Not Enough !!
What does your organization want the learner to be able to do at the end of the eLearning course? Always keep this in mind while designing .
Use design to expand the learning experience, not distract from it.
CONCLUSIVE COMMENTS :
Have your remote learners practice with you in real time. Do a screen simulation with a try-it mode and have them perform the steps. And don’t create a complicated quiz !
That memory test is not what they will end up doing back on the job! Hopefully, these tips will help you design and develop more successful asynchronous eLearning programs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :
Nikki O’Keeffe is a senior internal ATD Facilitator. She has experience creating strategies and visions to ensure training requirements and deliveries are in line with quality, probability, and client needs.
