CREATING ONLINE TRAINING COURSES
Our goal is to work with the budget you have to create a solid eLearning design and development process that meets your training or education learning objectives.
5 COURSE DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS
To help answer these two critical questions we created 5 unique Instructional Design / Course Development packages. The difference between these five options depends on the amount of subject matter, the amount of sophisticated multi-media involved and the time it takes to create original content for your online courses.
The MEDALLION and BRONZE packages are for organizations that are small or working on a limited budget.
Both options provide modern and clean SCORM and HTML5-compliant courses containing text content, interactive eLearning elements, some video and audio content, assessments and supporting photos and graphics.
The SILVER package builds on the BRONZE option and is for organizations that want to add more interactive eLearning elements and additional video and audio, that requires more detailed editing, to their online courses.
The GOLD package builds upon the SILVER option and typically includes very custom multi-media elements that highlight content or drive learner engagement in the courses.
The PLATINUM package is really the GOLD option on steroids and would typically involve the addition of much more custom animations and interactive digital content. PLATINUM projects require a very detailed Statement of Work (SOW) to develop a quote.
Our quality eLearning design services identify the essential steps involved and establishes a sound foundation for continuing your eLearning course development into the future.
HOW IS OUR eLEARNING DESIGN DIFFERENT?
We build a prototype of your online courses at NO COST before you ever have to sign a contract. And, we give you access to over 250M multimedia files that we have in case your course content needs a facelift.
Our instructional design team will work with your SME to CONVERT ONE MODULE of the education or training course you have planned into a online course prototype and load that into your eLearning Learning Management System. From there you and your team can assess the course design, how the content presents in the LMS and advise on changes or enhancements you may want.
When you become a customer, the SME and our instructional design staff will continue to work together to draw up eLearning design blueprints for all the online courses you plan to develop.
Our thinking is that starting with our Instructional Designers and eLearning Developers in this eLearning Design Free Trial gives you a chance to see what it's like to work with us, assess the quality of the course module we build together, and then test that content in the LMS with your pilot group.
WHY BOTHER WITH INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN?
Building online courses without an Instructional Designer or a course design document is like building a house without an architect to draft the blueprints.
You need Instructional Designers to draft the eLearning design plans for your online courses.
An Instructional Designer, working with an experienced eLearning developer and using the latest instructional design models and eLearning authoring tools, knows how to create online courses that will be engaging and meet your training or learning objectives.
They also know they have to cover the small things like ensuring your eLearning courses are both SCORM and HTML5 compliant.
WHY DOES SCORM AND HTML5 COMPLIANCE MATTER?
WHY DOES SCORM AND HTML5 COMPLIANCE MATTER?
Because organizations will change their technology to keep up with their evolving needs or new developments in the market.
SCORM standards ensure that your courses can be easily and seamlessly uploaded or downloaded from any of the leading LMS on the market.
HTML5 compliance enables you to offer mobile learning or mLearning. That means your learners will be able to access the material from any device - smart phones, tablets, laptops or desktops.
We think using Instructional Designers and an eLearning developer is critically important even if you are just test-driving our products and services in your Unlimited Free Trial of our Learning Management System. So, we assign them to you on Day 1 to start working with your Subject Matter Expert (SME).
The Instructional Designer and your SME will assess the goals of your training or education courses and your content and discuss the essential steps needed to create quality online courses. The goal is to organize the content in ways that make the acquisition of training skills or education knowledge more effective, efficient and engaging for the learner.
WHAT DOES eLEARNING DESIGN INVOLVE?
We bring together years of experience with custom eLearning design to create solutions that meet your company’s unique needs. The mission is to create a learning experience that is accessible and presents a mix of content, activity and results throughout the course.
Needs Analysis: This process can be a set of simple discussions with your team or a more in-depth, detailed assessment of previous training courses or education programs, the intended learning outcomes and the profile of the learners.
Understanding your target audience or learner, what they already know and mapping out what skills or knowledge they need will enable your Instructional Designer and eLearning developer to create a more effective experience. This assessment will become a key part of your eLearning design plan and what we want to get the participants to achieve.
WHAT ARE LEARNING OBJECTIVES?
WHAT ARE LEARNING OBJECTIVES?
These are expected outcomes for each course module or topic and for the whole course itself. They detail what you want your participants to know or be able to do when they complete their eLearning courses.
During this part of the design process our team works with your SME to identify 3-4 or more objectives depending on the length or the course and the topics covered.
Doing this will also help ensure that the content and activities you want the learner to interact with in their online courses support the goals and outcomes of the course.
WHAT SHOULD LEARNING OBJECTIVES LOOK LIKE?
| Specific: What it is that we want the learner to achieve | ||
| Measurable: You must be able to measure the learners progress towards the objective. | ||
| Achievable: Setting realistic goals and giving the learners adequate time and materials to achieve them. | ||
| Relevant: Should be relevant to what the person, team, department or organization needs to achieve. | ||
| Timely: Having a target date or a time-frame for when they should be completed. |
HOW WILL YOUR USERS LEARN?
HOW WILL YOUR USERS LEARN?
While you proceed through the eLearning design stage you will want to think about the approach you will use to engage course participants. These can include storytelling, inquiry, scenarios or case studies, and a host of other options.
As you think about and decide what is most suitable you need to consider whether the material or activity is transmitting facts, ideas, a defined procedure or more subjective skills. Then you need to figure out a way to make the material relevant to whatever environment the learner functions within.
Finally, you need to ask how you can be sure the learner will not only understand but also master the learning objective. Creating your eLearning storyboard or course design document will be one of the essential steps in the eLearning development process as you map out how text, pictures, activities and other course elements will be arranged, look and act on each screen and how the learners will be assessed.
