six ‘rules of the road’ for designing ilt and elearning
TRANSCRIPT
About the Author
Kathy Sherwood is the Director of Leadership and Organizational Development for InfoPro Learning. Prior to InfoPro Learning, she was the founder and senior partner of a global leadership development company for more than 20 years.
Kathy’s specialty is creating a customized blend of workshops, coaching, simulations, and e-learning tools to provide leaders and managers with a competitive advantage, while also maximizing the return on training investment for their organizations
The 8 Top Reasons to Opt for Custom eLearning
Transitioning from instructor-led to eLearning instructional
design may be daunting because it appears to require a new
mindset. But while the technology provides new options not
available in an ILT (instructor-led training) class, many of the
instructional design principles remain the same.
The 8 Top Reasons to Opt for Custom eLearning
The Six ‘Rules of the Road’
The 8 Top Reasons to Opt for Custom eLearning
1. Know Your Audience
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
1. Know Your Audience
Know your audience and what they will be doing with the learning following
the course. Consider what’s “nice to know” and what’s “essential to know”
and the duration of the learning event.
This will guide your learning objectives and high-level design that should be
signed off by key subject matter experts and stakeholders before you get into
the development of the course itself.
The 8 Top Reasons to Opt for Custom eLearning
2. Chunk Your Content
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
2. Chunk Your Content
Chunk your content into sizeable and logical components (we call them
modules and within them are lessons). Once the course design is completed,
lay it out in sequence and ensure it flows logically, and that there are varied
activities (see more about potential activities below). We suggest an activity
every 5-7 minutes for ILT programs and every 1-2 minutes for eLearning.
The 8 Top Reasons to Opt for Custom eLearning
3. Provide ‘Milestones’ that
Learners Must Pass
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
3. Provide ‘Milestones’ that Learners Must Pass
Provide “milestones” that learners must pass before they advance to more-
difficult content. This may include self-assessments, demonstrations or role-
play activities, all of which can be done in either venue. As the content gets
more complex, continue to roll-up the information into a visual depiction and
summarize before completing the course.
The 8 Top Reasons to Opt for Custom eLearning
4. Provide Reinforcement or
“High-Touch”
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
4. Provide Reinforcement or “High-Touch”
Provide reinforcement or “high-touch” ideally by the managers of the
participants before the learning event (to ensure readiness for the learning
and an understanding of the context for the learning or WIIFM) and following
the event (to ensure application to the workplace and motivation for
continuous learning).
The 8 Top Reasons to Opt for Custom eLearning
5. Vary Activities
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
5. Vary activities
Vary activities by considering such possibilities as:
• Role Plays/Skill Practices – can be done in both elearning and ILT, this proven
activity provides a workplace scenario and offers the opportunity to practice a set
of skills or concepts before trying it out on a customer, client or direct report.
• Video – recognizing that this is a “passive” technology, it can be made more active
through post-viewing debriefing, testing, etc. The more customized, the more
interesting to the viewer (both in the classroom and on the screen) but can be
tough on the budget.
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
5. Vary activities
Vary activities by considering such possibilities as:
• Tutorials – in elearning, students click through the content at their own pace,
listening, viewing, and interacting with self-assessments to check understanding.
SCORM-compliant tutorials can interface with your preferred learning management
system to record and report student progress. SCORM content also can be moved
to new delivery systems as your needs and infrastructure evolve. In classroom
training, these are the content presentations interspersed with activities (every 5-7
minutes) to ensure active involvement.
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
5. Vary activities
Vary activities by considering such possibilities as:
• Simulations – both in eLearning and in the classroom, simulations advance the
level of learner involvement because they change the conversation; decisions made
by individuals and teams change the narration and the course of the simulation. The
development of a computer-based simulation integrated in eLearning is optimum
but expensive. For classroom training, purchasing generic computer-based packages
is less expensive than building custom ones. Building “low-tech” simulations can be a
cost-effective and a highly effective alternative for classroom training, especially to
demonstrate topics such as enterprise-wide systems (SAP), teambuilding, etc.
The 8 Top Reasons to Opt for Custom eLearning
6. Remember that Learners
Prefer to be in Control
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
6. Remember that Learners
Prefer to be in Control
Always remember that learners prefer to be in control of their own learning,
so opening up the environment to provide choices or paths that are not
always linear can be more engaging and fun. Adult learners bring with them so
much experience – regardless of age – that we can provide a truly
memorable path for continuous learning when we give them an opportunity
for choices whenever possible and regardless of the venue.
Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
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Six ‘Rules of the Road’ for Designing ILT and eLearning
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