Information-based course

Apr 11, 2012

I'm new to this forum and newish to e-learning projects. I've been tasked with managing an online course focused on organizational awareness (the mandate came from above and is non-negotiable). Can someone offer general tips or point me to resources that will help ensure an effective approach to a knowledge- or information-based e-learning course? I've come up largely empty when searching for advice on this kind of module, so I'm happy to find this community. 

11 Replies
Natalia Mueller

Hi Carole! Welcome!

If this is mandated and information based, you may want to consider a nice clean click-n-read. Did I just hear a collective gasp from the community?! Click-n-read courses have their place and IMO, this is it. 

So where are you right now? Do you have all of the information that needs to go in it? I'm guessing you still need to plan the design. For that, I highly recommend using David Anderson's (an Articulate staff member) mind-mapping method (free). Here is a link to the community downloads where you can get the template he uses (also free).

Since you said you're newish to elearning projects, another great (also free) resource available here Is David's full series of tutorials on Building Better Courses (free). These even include source files so you can practice along with the tutorials. Even if you don't do that, they are definitely worth watching. They do focus on the Articulate development tool, but even if you aren't using that you can get great design ideas and PowerPoint-as-elearning-tool tips.

Another good one I recommend to anyone is Dump the Drone (free) by Tom Kuhlmann, VP of the Articulate Community. 

And of course - this community, where you will find an abundance of super nice people willing to help.

(I probably should have just started by telling you all of the resources I am referencing are free)   :)

Melanie Sobie

Hi Carole,

I have a hard time trying to plan and design an information-based elearning like you describe - and I totally understand these type of non-negotiable assignments that come from above. (I work for a government agency also!) 

My first recommendation is to decide up front to limit the time and effort you will put into developing the module. Keep it simple. No audio, like Natalia said, a click-and-read. I devote more of my time and effort towards elearning projects where I have defined goals and learning objectives that are related to performance improvement outcomes, etc.

You might want to take a look at a couple of examples of information-based modules. Here's one that has no audio that is very good, and is not the typical click-and-read. 

http://www.kineo.com/kineo-press-releases/free-e-learning-module-on-lilly-ledbetter-fair-pay-act.html

Carole Manny

These are fantastic suggestions! Thank you so much for your help! I have most of the content I need for the course, and now that I've started looking through the resources you both have pointed me to, I have many ideas for developing it with creativity and focus. And this is the kind of evidence I need to help convince the SMEs not to throw in everything.

Rebecca Fleisch Cordeiro

Carole, thanks for asking the question. Otherwise, I wouldn't have seen the answers .

Natalia, I've been through the mind mapping and Building Better Courses tutorials (and am appreciative of all of them) but hadn't yet seen Dump the Drone. What great ideas Tom has there (no surprise, eh?). I think I'm actually going to send a tweet out about that one. I especially liked how when I clicked on a certain spot, I heard Tom's voice saying, "Now you've clicked on the green section" or "you clicked on the wrong one"...somehow I felt like he was looking over my shoulder.

Melanie, you're right, the Kineo presentation also provides some creative ideas.

TX to all 3 of you.

iTechLibrarian ;-)

Melanie Sobie said:

Hi Carole,

I have a hard time trying to plan and design an information-based elearning like you describe - and I totally understand these type of non-negotiable assignments that come from above. (I work for a government agency also!) 

My first recommendation is to decide up front to limit the time and effort you will put into developing the module. Keep it simple. No audio, like Natalia said, a click-and-read. I devote more of my time and effort towards elearning projects where I have defined goals and learning objectives that are related to performance improvement outcomes, etc.

You might want to take a look at a couple of examples of information-based modules. Here's one that has no audio that is very good, and is not the typical click-and-read. 

http://www.kineo.com/kineo-press-releases/free-e-learning-module-on-lilly-ledbetter-fair-pay-act.html



@Melanie - Was this module created using Articulate?

Bob S

Hi Carole,

Welcome aboard!

The best advice is to always ask.... What do you want them to be able to DO after taking the course that they couldn't do before.

Not... what do you want them to know.

This isn't always easy for info-dump type course requests. But it's the touchstone you can always come back to over and over with SMEs and Stakeholders. If the piece of info they want included doesn't help the learner DO something critical to their role, then omit it altogether or at least put it just as a resource.

Defining what the learner needs to be able to do, and how best to bridge that skills/knowledge gap is what sets us apart and brings value to our stakeholders.

Hope this helps and good luck with the project!

Bob

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