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COURSE
DESIGN
MADE
SIMPLE
WORKBOOK
AUTHOR: SABINA LOVE M.ED
1
ELEARNING ID LLC
WORKBOOK
Introduction to course design ………………………………………………………………. 3
2
Step-by-step Workshop, Course
or Presentation Design
Perhaps you have been tasked with creating a course or presentation. No worries! This workbook contains the tools
and templates you’ll need to make a top notch knowledge product. In this step-by-step approach you will discover how
you can systematically assemble a course or presentation while you execute each step. You will spend time preparing,
and planning your materials, but as you are preparing and planning you are also putting together a final product.
5. Use tools to layout the structure of your designer, and will put together a program the
4
Course Design Model.
There are a few well known models for course design. This system was created after working with a
number of clients who needed a product yesterday. While jumping straight to the solution seems
like a good idea when you have a deadline hanging over your head, not giving due diligence to the
preparation and creative design elements of the process will result in a product that simply doesn’t
meet the need. More than likely, you’ll end up right back at the beginning. Let’s do it better.
In some models you move to the next step when the previous step is complete. This might seem
logical, however you might find yourself getting stuck in analysis paralysis, and spend too much
time working on the “perfect” design. When you get caught in a phase, you’ll find you’re rushing
the development to get the product completed on time. In this model, you will be working on the
development concurrent to the preparation, planning, and design. The development is iterative, so
as you perfect the design your development takes shape as well.
5
Course Design Process. Agile.
Iterative. Rapid.
The course design process is not linear it is agile. Which means that as you are creating pieces of your course you are also
assembling it.
Before you begin, acquire a course template in the format you will be delivering your course. Most
people will begin with a Powerpoint slide deck and a word document. Make sure to have your branding
in place as well. That way you won’t get to the end of your project and have a mishmash of font styles,
sizes, and colors. You might also want to define your logo, highlighting colors, and graphic styles
(cartoon vs. realistic.) In the following pages you will find a useful planning guide meant to help you
keep the look and feel of your course consistent.
Use this checklist to monitor the progress of your course design project.
(5) Create a title, and write the purpose of your course. (12) Complete the development of your course.
(6) Brainstorm a topic list. (13) Test and launch your course or workshop!
7
(1) Other Interventions (Tool)
Training Instead of or Plus:
Expert Database Create a database of expert answers.
Work Evaluation Verify the job description and skills match the work tasks.
Central Resources Store resources where everyone can access them easily.
Coaching Provide senior or experienced people to create strategies for those who are on-boarding.
In-person classroom training Sometimes you can’t beat the in-person classroom to build camaraderie or to teach a
difficult concept.
Team Building Activities Build in tasks that encourage people to work together as a team.
Common Communication System Verify everyone is using the same method of communication and determine best
practices.
Conflict Resolution Hire a third-party to assess conflict and create a strategy to resolve conflict.
Role Play Include authentic role plays for a problem you need to solve.
Work Area Evaluation Evaluate the workspace and technology. Are the computers able to handle the work
tasks? Is there a glare from the new windows that is making work more difficult?
Motivation/Encouragement Depending on personality, encouragement and motivation might be what someone needs
to give it their all.
incentives Different incentives are effective for different people - money, position, gifts, impact are
examples of incentives.
email 1:1 emails or emails with encouraging words might help change perspective.
Games Games provide a relaxed environment where learning can occur more readily.
Organization Networking Work celebrations, coffee times with management, and learning lunches provide a place
Opportunities for lines of communication to be nurtured and grow.
Suggestion System An anonymous way to provide suggestions might help you see the problem from a
different perspective.
Competency Testing Testing skills will help identify gaps so you can develop the best intervention.
Electronic Performance Support Use artificial intelligence, or help systems to guide people through a task.
System (EPSS)
Simulation Simulations provide a risk-free way to navigate a problem with authenticity, but without
consequence.
8
(2) Branding Guidelines/Templates
All too often people will dive into creating Powerpoints or online courses without first defining a
style guide. As the project matures, what can happen is you have a jumbled assortment of colors,
fonts, and graphics. You’ll see colors used in different sections to mean different things. You’ll see
clip art combined with photos with many different looks and styles, and fonts of different sizes and
style. The lack of consistency can be distracting to your audience because much of the time they
are asking – why the change in font or size? Does it mean something? Should I be grasping
something of importance? Your course or presentation also lacks the professionalism you are
probably going for.
The necessity for a branding guide in marketing has become essential and is considered a best
practice. Any company, organization, school, etc that has a well established brand will have a
branding guide. I’ve worked with a number of companies that have a branding guide for their sales
and marketing materials, but they don’t have a guide for their eLearning courses. Sometimes they
will try to leverage the guides from the marketing department, but the mistake here is that colors,
fonts, and other visual assets can be great visual cues for learning. Where marketing is trying to
keep things very consistent telling the same story, in learning the base should be consistent, but
colors, fonts, and other visual assets can be used to enhance the learning by providing cues, and
drawing the learner’s attention to the topic being taught. Some may utilize the sales and marketing
powerpoint templates, but guess what? The learning modules end up looking like a sales and
marketing pitch. Don’t throw that marketing guide out just yet – like I said, it’s a great base. What
you need to be thinking about is how to add to it.
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(2) Branding Guidelines/Templates Tool
Colors
Choose 4-5 five colors you will use throughout your presentation, workbook, and other marketing
collateral. Make one of the colors your accent color.
Fonts
List of font styles and sizes:
Header 1:
Font Size:
Font Type:
Font Color:
Notes:
Header 2:
10
(3) Audience Assessment and Personas
who they are, but stick with me on this one. determine the best delivery methods for your
materials that meet the need of your audience. demographics your audience represents, and it
So you need to discover both who they are, will help you to adjust content for the culture
and what they need. Don’t worry, I have a you are teaching to.
couple of tools that will help you navigate this The types of questions you will need to answer
task. As you go through the process of about your audience are first and foremost:
designing materials you need to stay focused
- Who is the target audience?
on who they are. I will be introducing you to
the concept of personas – something used in - What do they already know?
marketing that we will re-purpose for our task
- What do they need to know?
of keeping our audience in our mind’s eye
while creating materials. - How can you engage or appeal to your audience?
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(3) Audience Assessment and Personas
What Attitude
Expectations (cont.) - What is your audience’s attitude toward the
content?
- What type of learners is your audience mostly
- Will the audience be naturally interested in
made of? Audio? Visual? Kinesthetic?
your content?
- How are they used to learning new things?
- What is the reputation or credibility of the
- Does it make sense to customize your moderator or content creator?
content for different audiences?
- How can you decrease the resistance and
- How participatory is your audience? increase the receptivity of your audience to
your content?
- Is your content voluntary or required?
Knowledge
Environment - What is the purpose of your content?
- Are there any distractions in their
- How familiar is your audience with the
environment?
content?
- How much time does your audience have to
- What prerequisite knowledge will your
interact with your content? Snipets? Chunks?
audience need to fully understand your
- Describe your audience’s work environment. content?
- Does your audience have any accessibility - How will you ensure your audience gets
considerations? prerequisite knowledge?
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(3) Audience Description Tool
Use the following questions as a guide for writing your Audience Summary:
3. What do you already have in place that will meet the needs of your target audience? (Strengths)
5. Did you discover any new ways to appeal to the target audience that you had not thought of
before? (Opportunities)
6. What challenges might you need to overcome to appeal to this audience? (Threats)
Project Name:
Project Description:
Audience Summary:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Create a slide
welcoming your
audience. Tell them
who you are, and who
the class is for.
14
(3) Audience Assessment and Personas
15
(3) Create Personas Tool
Write a description of a typical audience member for your course or workshop. This can be a real or
fictitious person. What is important is to choose someone who will help you see your course design
through their perspective. Step into their shoes as you design and develop your course.
Persona #1
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
Persona #2
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
Persona #3
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________
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(4) Program Map
Now that you have a grasp of what interventions you might use to solve the problem you identified,
it’s time to come up with an initial sketch of your program map. This sketch should be in “pencil.” In
other words, you are not committing to anything by writing it down, but it will serve as a
springboard for what you would like to ultimately create.
Draw a map:
START HERE
PROGRAM NAME:
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(5) Purpose of the Course
Now that you know who your audience is it is time to nail down the purpose of your course. You’ve
defined the who, now think about the what, the how, and the why. In the space below answer briefly
what your course will be about. Then explain how you will teach it, and finally explain why it is
important. Compile your answers into a cohesive purpose statement.
What?
How?
Why?
Add a slide
outlining the
purpose of the
course.
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(5) Create a Title
How you devise your title will be dependent on who your audience is. If this course is part of a
curriculum you’ll want to make sure that the title helps the user navigate a list of courses. If this title
is meant to draw an audience in, you might use language that appeals to a desire or provides a
solution to a problem the audience is having.
Ideas:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
19
(6) Topics Brainstorming Tool
Now that you have a good understanding of the purpose of your course take a few minutes and list
all of the topics you think you will cover in your course. We will refine this list later, but right now list
every topic that comes to mind.
Topic List:
20
(7) Content Planning
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(7) Content Planning
A powerpoint, website, or app is only as good A good step to gathering content from a SME
as the content it contains. The content is only is to interview them, or to ask them for
effective if it is written for the target audience. resources they have that will be useful in course
design.
Subject Matter Experts - SMEs
A subject matter expert or SME is a domain Gathering Current Content
expert, specifically in the course or topic you Part of executing a good design process is
are teaching on. You might be the SME for taking an inventory of your content that is
your course which is convenient on one hand, already in existence. Some of the content or
but can be troublesome on the other. pieces of content can be re-purposed. When
Convenient because you are capable of writing we take a look at current content it also helps
all of the content for the course on your own, us to determine training needs, and uncover
you don’t need to rely on someone else’s any gaps.
knowledge or schedule to complete your
There is no reason to re-invent the wheel. As
project. Inconvenient because of something we
much as you can leverage or re-purpose the
term unconscious competence. That’s a big
content you have already created. You will
term for a somewhat simple phenomenon - you
likely have gaps to fill, but gathering the
don’t realize what you know. You have so much
resources you already have is a great start to
experience in a skill you can complete a task
organizing a content strategy. Use this tool to
easily without thinking about it - unconsciously.
record all of the resources you can think of. We
Or you know what you know, and you might
will organize the content in another tool (The
forget that those you are teaching don’t know
Wireframe Tool.)
those things. This can lead to a great deal of
confusion on behalf of your audience since you Ways to Generate or Gather Content
might be teaching a topic and they don’t have
the foundational elements to build from. It is - Re-purpose
Topic Name:
Call to mind the topic we are developing training for. Which of the current resource materials currently
exist on this topic?
Workbook Tool
Other___________________
Now list as many of the resource materials as possible, give a detailed description of each including how
the materials were used, and the objectives they covered.
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(7) Scribing Tool
What is Scribing?
Have you ever noticed that when you talk to someone, teach in front of a class, or do a podcast you
have no problem coming up with hours of content, but when you sit down to write something the
words don’t flow as quickly?
We’re all different, some of us find it easier to talk, and some find it easier to write. Writing and
speaking come from two different parts of your brain. If you’re writing, and you find yourself stuck,
give speaking a try, and consider scribing as a method for gathering content.
Scribing allows you to talk through your material, then come back and transcribe it. Sure you will
need to do some revision, but you will be amazed at how much material you will have to edit.
Transcription
You can manually transcribe the audio you capture during your mock teaching session, or use a tool
like VoiceBase where a machine will transcribe the audio for you. https://app.voicebase.com/login
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(7) Scribing Tool
Use this tool to outline and bullet details.
Topic/Sub-topic:
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(7) Brainstorming Session Tool
Now that you have determined what content you have available, you have probably also identified
some of the gaps. Take time to list the areas where your content is weak. As you go along, pencil in
ideas on how you might fill those gaps.
Topic List:
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(8) Topics/Sub-topics
Now it’s time to revisit the list of topics you came up with earlier. Add topics you might have missed,
delete or scratch out topics that are unnecessary, and put topics and sub-topics together in
categories. Next we’ll see how to organize those categories.
Sub-topic
Sub-topic
Topic Sub-topic
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(8) Topics/Sub-topics
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
28
(8) Exercise: Chunking Content
Why does it matter how you organize your content? That may seem obvious, but let’s do a little
exercise to hit it home.
In the following demonstration, look at the list of words below for 10 seconds. Memorize as many
words as you can in this amount of time.
On a separate piece of paper, and without looking, write down as many words you can remember.
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(8) Exercise: Chunking Content Again.
Let’s do it again. Only this time I’ll chunk the words into categories across the rows by animals,
colors, fruit, and furniture.
On a separate piece of paper, without looking, write down as many words you can remember.
How did you do? You should have remembered more on the second list, and your recall should
have felt more organized.
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(8) Sequencing Strategy
By topic When material can be taught in any order consider presenting by topic.
By cause and effect When one topic effects another topic consider cause and effect.
Simple to complex When a topic builds consider going from simple to complex.
With a problem at the center When a topic has something to solve put the problem in the center and
build a scaffold around it.
Ideas:
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(8) Outline
The best way to get organized is to create an outline. An outline will help you to to see some order
to your content and see topics that might not necessarily fit into a structure and you can decide
where to place them. The outline will serve as a springboard for your course design and
development. It’s also a great communication tool if you’re working with a team. It’s a low risk, non-
resource intensive way to make sure you’re all on the same page. After you complete your outline
populate your Powerpoint template with headers.
Course Name:
Module:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
32
Unconscious Competence Check
Ten Questions
As you are going through this process ask yourself these ten questions of your major topics. In doing so
you might uncover areas of unconscious competence. I’m talking about those areas you know so well,
you don’t realize it was something your audience might need to delve into a little deeper, or in a different
way.
Question Notes
1 What are some of the areas that cause the most confusion?
2 What are some of the most common questions you will get about this
topic?
3 What are the common mistakes people make in this area?
4 What is the impact of making mistakes in this area?
5 What are the biggest gaps between what people should be doing and
what they are actually doing?
6 Do you have any stories, info-graphics, or examples that help
illustrate key points?
7 What content points might cause resistance or pushback?
8 Is there anything that might be considered new or revolutionary over
what they previously did or thought?
9 Are there any points they should have memorized after the seminar?
How can you emphasize these points?
10 Are there any points they should have reference to for later retrieval?
Do you know of any, or can you create a checklist, to-do list, tool, or
other job-aid?
33
(9) Objectives
Learning Objectives
In this phase of our project we will identify specific performance criteria that can be measured both
during and after the course. The Learning Objectives will provide us with a base on which to develop the
course and assessment questions.
• Give the attendees a full understanding of what they will be expected to know or do when the course is
complete.
• Help the instructional designer make sure all of the content has been included in the course.
• Help the instructional designer determine which components of the content are necessary and which
are not, then begin organizing and chunking the lessons.
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(9) Objectives Verb List Per Level
KNOWLEDGE (L1) COMPREHENSION (L2) APPLICATION (L3)
Restate Predict
Sort Prepare
Summarize Produce
Translate Relate
Transcribe
Use
35
(9) Objectives Verb List Per Level (continued)
ANALYSIS (L4) SYNTHESIS (L5) EVALUATION (L6)
36
(9) Objectives
Use this tool to identify the objectives for each lesson or module you will be teaching. These
objectives will be general, and will give the learner a list of what to expect during the course. Assign
each objective a level according to the key. Pick out the general objectives for each section of your
course and populate your Powerpoint. Then create objectives for each topic/sub-topic you
identified. You won’t present these objectives, but rather they will help you organize your course
and help you to determine which strategy to use to cover each topic. After you complete your
objectives explain how you will assess that the objective was completed successfully. Assessment
might come in the form of activities, exercises, or tests.
This is a formula a good recipe to follow, but you will know what objectives will best suit your
audience.
Lesson/Module:
Objective __.__
(L#___)
Assessment method:
Topic/Sub-topic:
Objective __.__
(L#___)
Assessment method:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this section you will:
Wireframing is a technique commonly used in the design and development of software apps and
websites. eLearning courses are as complex in many cases, so I would like to introduce the concept
to you where the purpose is to visualize and communicate the design and hierarchy of the course
content giving you a rapid way to plan the way you would like your audience to consume the
content. Use this tool to:
- create an agile, easy way to make big changes before spending a lot of time and money on
development.
38
(10) Wireframe
Begin with your topic/subtopics then decide which design elements to include per topic, and
identify and denote any gaps.
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Lesson Objectives
By the end of this section you will:
Think of the best and worst course you’ve ever completed. What did you like or dislike
about the course?
40
(11) Content Strategy: Case Study
What is a Case Study?
In a case study you are taking a particular instance and analyzing it to illustrate a principle. You are
giving the learner the opportunity to solve a problem, or to see how a problem was solved. They
need to use what they learned and apply it in order to understand or solve the case. Application of a
principle helps the learner to recall and use the principle later and under different circumstances.
Your case study should include someone your audience can relate to. It should include real data.
Typically, you set up the case from beginning to end, and give the audience the opportunity to
weigh in on the strategy for solving the case before the solution is revealed.
Ideas:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Stories
I love using stories when I design courses. Sometimes the stories are real, and sometimes they are
made up in order to make a point. I like to carry the story through the length of the course. In one
instance, I designed a course on Identity Theft. I invented a character named Bob, and we followed
him through the process of having his identity stolen. By the end of the course we saw him resolve
most of the issues, but along the way we watched what he had to go through to remedy the
problem.
Stories provide the learner an easy way to remember how a character used the learning principles in
a practical way. How do you write an educational story? You should begin by explaining a little
about the character and his/her circumstances. The character will encounter an obstacle, this is the
pivotal moment of the story where your audience will begin wondering what is next, and how the
story will resolve. Next your story will explain the ways in which the obstacle was overcome, and
finally the story will resolve with the lesson that was learned. This is just one way to approach
storytelling for instructional purposes.
Ideas:
42
(11) Content Strategy: Stories (continued)
Can you come up with an engaging story that will support the point you are trying
to teach?
43
(11) Content Strategy: Stories (continued)
Topic or Objective:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
44
(11) Content Strategy: Scenarios
What is a Scenario?
Scenarios are situations where you allow your audience to postulate on the possible outcomes
based on the decisions the characters make. For one client I used scenarios to help managers
understand what workplace harassment is and what it is not. I set up the scenarios, and asked the
managers to determine what would happen based on the different decisions each of the characters
made. Based on their response, I provided the appropriate feedback.
Topic or Objective:
Possible Scenario:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
45
(11) Content Strategy: Experiments
Ideas:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
46
(11) Content Strategy: Eavesdrop
Eavesdropping
I think there must be something in human nature that makes us want to listen in on the conversation
next door, but we know we shouldn’t. In this activity we give the learner permission to eavesdrop.
Here is a secret, (don’t say anything) we are motivating them to listen. This approach is particularly
useful in soft skill training. For example, ask the learner to click on or roll over a button to listen in on
a manager as he gives his first performance review. This is also a good method for customer service,
and technical support training.
Ideas:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
47
(11) Content Strategy: Cartooning
Include Humor
They say laughter is the best medicine. But did you know that laughter also helps your audience to
relax so they can learn? You don’t have to be a comedian. You want to be sure the humor is
appropriate and relevant to what you are teaching. Include a joke here and there to break the
content up into digestible pieces. The element of humor might be what you need to engage or re-
engage your audience. Before you begin creating your cartoon, try reading a funny blog, or
watching a humorous show. See if that helps you get the creative juices flowing.
Make a cartoon. If this isn’t your talent, draw it out and ask a graphic designer to complete it.
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
48
(11) Content Strategy: Social Media
Be Social.
Social media has given us another tool to use for educational or informational purposes.
Collaborative learning is nothing new, but how we use social media to encourage participants to
interact with each other is a more recent development. If you are teaching a course where there is a
final product, have the participants share a picture of the final product on one of the social media
platforms of your choice. Many people are already on Facebook and Twitter.
You might have the participants go to your Facebook page or group an post screenshots of the
product they created. For instance as a result of going through this workbook, you might post
screenshots or photos of the courses you came up with.
You could also moderate a chat on Twitter. Choose a hashtag for everyone to use at a given time.
For instance you might tell your audience to meet on Twitter every Thursday at 5pm PDT and use a
particular hashtag.
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
49
(11) Content Strategy: Quotes
Good quotes can be inspirational and pack a lot of wisdom in a small space. Use quotes throughout
your presentation or course, but don’t overdo it. Less is more in this case. Give your audience a
quote they can hold on to throughout your presentation to keep them focused and motivated to
listen and learn.
Topic:
Quote Idea:
Topic:
Quote Idea:
Topic:
Quote Idea:
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
50
(11) Content Strategy: Choose an Adventure
Final Outcomes/Destinations
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Matter Expert (SME) on one of the topics? Write down possible interview questions and a rundown.
Go back to your
wireframe and identify
places where you might
include an interview.
Add to your Powerpoint.
Rundown:
52
(11) Content Strategy: Brainstorming
Create a Storm in Your Brain
Brainstorming can be used to aid you in the creative process when you are devising activities, but it
can also be used as an activity for your audience in creating knowledge at a higher level of
competency. You are giving them the opportunity to move from comprehension to synthesis and
application. There are a number of ways to approach brainstorming, but like creativity you need to
give yourself and your audience the chance to let judgement go. So, anything goes in
brainstorming. Sometimes individual brainstorming is more effective than group brainstorming
because in a group not everyone is playing by the no judgement rules. However, when you get a
few people together to brainstorm, you can overcome some of the hurdles you encounter because
another person’s perspective spurs you to think differently, or entertain ideas you might not have
thought of. My suggestion? Do both and when you pull together the group, try to choose people
who are on board. Set expectations up front that this is a safe place to be creative.
Ways to Brainstorm
1. Group Brainstorming: Leverage the ingenuity of several people. Create a risk-free environment
where individuals can feel it’s safe to share their ideas.
2. Individual Brainstorming: Brainstorming on your own can be very effective because you don’t
have to worry about what others think.
3. Reverse Brainstorming: This one can puzzle the brain as you are trying to do the opposite of
your goal. If you want to solve a problem, try figuring out ways to create the problem.
4. Rolestorming: Pretend to be someone else while you brainstorm to remove the obstacle of
fearing what others think.
5. Brainwriting: Have individuals write their ideas and avoid having anyone dominate the
conversation.
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Go back to your
wireframe and identify
places where you might
include a brainstorming
session. Add to your
Powerpoint. 53
(11) Content Strategy: Checklists
Check it Off
Adult learners are task driven, so checklists are not only a great way to give your audience an
overview of what will be covered in your class, but also give them the satisfaction of completing
something and seeing progress which may keep them motivated. The flip side of that is if you
overwhelm them with tasks, they may quit altogether because they aren’t able to complete all of the
tasks. So be reasonable when deciding what to include on your checklist.
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Go back to your
wireframe and identify
places where you can
compile a list of action
items. Add to your
Powerpoint.
54
(11) Content Strategy: Tips
Tips
Sometimes we need to use long passages of text to convey the information we need our audience
to learn. In many cases, this can cause overload and brain fatigue to the point that your audience
isn’t paying attention to what they are reading. You can insert tip notes and icons as a way for your
readers to take a short brain break. Tips and icons break up the text in your course or presentation
so that your audience does not experience brain fatigue.
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Go back to your
wireframe and identify
places where you want to
highlight a specific piece
of knowledge. Add tip
notes to your
powerpoint. 55
(11) Content Strategy: Ask the Expert
This approach is effective in technical training as well. A learner would simply compare answers to
an expert answer. It is also a good way to gauge if learning is occurring. When these exercises are
used throughout your course you should see the learner making progress in his approach to new
problems. You could keep it as simple as revealing the answer on a click in Powerpoint. But better
yet, capture the answer from the expert on video. Video adds an additional level of engagement on
the part of the learner.
I used this method to relay wisdom to the learner with videos strategically placed throughout the
learning experience. As the learner was grappling with the decision of how to handle a problem, a
video of a coach would display with timely wisdom on the topic, specifically how he would handle
the scenario.
Go back to your
wireframe and identify
places where you can
infuse wisdom from an
expert. Add expert
advice to your
Powerpoint.
56
(11) Content Strategy: Additional Resources
Additional Resources
Once upon a time we called the act of visiting different websites a “webquest.” It might be time for a
new name, but the activity is still valid. Allowing your audience to visit applicable websites, videos,
apps, etc. gives them the freedom to discover more about your topic out on the world wide web. A
good practice is to provide them with initial resources or links, then let them explore.
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Go back to your
wireframe and identify
places where you want to
provide additional
resources. Add links to
your Powerpoint.
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(11) Content Strategy: Visual Enhancements
Visual enhancements give your course that added flair. They break up the content so that your
audience doesn’t experience text fatigue. Visuals also serve to cue your audience in to important
things to remember, action items, and much more. Be careful not to use visuals just to fill a space,
or to create eye candy. Visuals should serve a purpose, and should enhance the learning
experience.
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EXAMPLE OF VISUALS DESCRIPTION
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EXAMPLE OF VISUALS DESCRIPTION
DEVELOPMENT NOTE
Go back to your
wireframe and/or
Powerpoint and identify
and add visual
components or
placeholders.
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(12 & 13) Complete, Test, and Launch
You might go through two or three rounds of rough drafts before you complete and launch your
course. The first draft is what you’ve been putting together up to this point. You should have what is
close to complete. As you continue to add pieces, present it to your team or to potential audience
members. This is so you don't get far down the road only to find out you completely missed the
mark. The process is iterative. Present the close to completed version to a mock audience, make
final changes, then launch your course.
Lesson Objectives:
By the end of this section you will:
Congratulations!
You are almost finished! But don’t stop here. It’s important to end
well and be sure that the materials you created resonate with your
audience.
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(12 &13) Complete, Test, and Launch
RECORD AUDIO/
FINAL DRAFT COMPILE
VIDEO
Since this process is iterative, you are never really done, but the changes you make as a result of
going through the process should be minimal. What’s best is now that you understand the process
you can apply it to your next project with ease.
Sabina Love is an expert in instructional design and technology. She has been
instrumental in helping various teams develop significant online programs that
allow her clients to compete in the marketplace. Her programs are educationally
sound and engaging. Her 15+ years of experience in information system
implementation, training delivery, eLearning design and development make her a
well-rounded education specialist skilled in the application of eLearning
technologies to a variety of industries including healthcare, IT, banking, business,
broadcast journalism, and education.
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