E-Learning Heroes - Advice and ideas from the Articulate Community

As the title says, I am wondering if you guys create a navigation slide/scene so that users know thier way around the course. If so how do u create it.

Anyone like to share any examples

Hi Sid...

I typically like to include some sort of navigational direction for the learner; however, I don't like to force them to watch it unless they need it. So, I like to put my navigation (I like to call it 'Controls Slide') as a tab in the player. I usually use the Labeled Graphic engage interaction for this. At the beginning of the course, as part of the intro slide, I'll point out that they can reference the "Controls Tab" if they need any help using the course controls.

I've attached an example (FYI, I had to blur out a few area to protect the company's content).

Hope this helps!

-Tim

Hey Sid,

I usually do not mention it unless I do something weird in a course.  I always mention that there is a 'resources' button in the corner where learners can find additional information, but I usually do not mention 'click continue to move on' unless the course requires it.

In courses where the navigation is more free, i provide instruction on the menu page.  Usually I provide instruction on the course rules as the course progresses.

-Eric

In terms of Navigation we need to tread a fine line between:

1> Being helpful, and:

2> Treating our users/learners like idiots.

Tom wrote a great post on this in May 2011.

These are the people who will probably finish the course and then look at iPads, phones etc. - do they REALLY need to be told how to Navigate?

I think Navigation is perhaps useful if there are things that need to be done in the course, (download a worksheet for example).

My "standard is now to tell learners that "...if they need an help with Navigation, click this link here <animated arrow>", and leave it as that. Clicking the "Navigation link, usually top-right fires off a Storyline lightbox, with an image of that course, (not a generic one...), which has 4/5 Hotspots on Hover, which Trigger explanatory voiceovers.

Hope that helps.

Bruce

Engage is a great tool for creating quick overviews of the course player and options. Here's an a related thread that links to some examples shared by users.

Navigation is necessary, if there are things that need to be done .

Hi Karen and welcome to Heroes.

I am not sure what you mean. Are you talking about "instructions" or "Navigation"?

Could you please elaborate?

Even if there are "..things to be done", it is possible through clever wording/script/voiceover to encourage people to (for example), click on some options without specifically telling them how to do it.

Once again, a warm welcome to the Heroes Community.

Bruce

Hi, am speaking about navigation, it really helps if the user know their way around the course.

The courses we develop currently for our client has navigation instructions. It is requested by our client so we have to have them in every course we develop for them. But we do have a button that allows them to skip these instructions if the want.

@Jerson - I agree completely, at the end of the day the client has the last say, no matter what I advise them to do.

@Karen - here's an example of my point...

Once or twice a year, my family and I hire a cottage. Each time we talk to the owners they say "There is a key in a keysafe that gives you access to the cottage, here's the code, give me a ring if you have any problems". Never have they had to explain that a key has a handle, then a long shank, is usually made of metal, the direction that it gets put into the lock, and what purpose the lock has.

This is very similar to a piece of eLearning, IMHO. I have taken many hundreds of online courses, and I think that on every one I have pretty much figured out for myself what > and the various other navigation symbols and words mean, that "Resources" (for example) might have some useful things in it, and that "Exit" means I can leave the course that way.

I think there is a huge case for the user exploring the course, however, if there is (for example) there is a menu on the left-hand side, do we really need to explain what it is?

For me, Navigation is like "...a quiz at the end of a course..." - we should ask whether it REALLY has any point, and whether it is required. I think in many cases that Navigation can probably be replaced by other things, such as good and obvious design principles combined with the intelligence of our users.

Bruce

Exploration is fun.

As long as we follow UI convention there should be no need for navigation instructions.

Most LMs's are a nightmare to navigate, if they have got as far as loading the course do we really need to hold their hand along the way?

LOL - a very good point!

Bruce

I do because my organization is very immature in the use of elearning.  This is the first year for a library of online courses posted on an LMS. 

We did help files for how to use the LMS itself, and we include a standard set of instructions for use of the courses (turn on your audio, clicking on Attachments tab, using radio buttons to move around, clicking on the Transcript tab, etc.).  As the employees become more sophisticated in the use of elearning, we'll move these standard instructions to a tab. 

We do allow learners to click off the navigation instructions slide if they already know and want to move forward, though.

I have to include some navigation directions in each course.  This is for those folks I call the door knob people. 

I heard rumors that they existed, but had never seen them myself till one foggy fall morning.  They had replaced all of the door knobs in our office with handles, and one lady was confused on how to open the door to the conference room now that the knobs were gone.  She just stood in front of the door looking bewildered.

So, in anticipation of the phone calls or emails I may receive from my "door knob" people, I include some basic description, but allow anyone to quickly skip past it.  In fact, It is a very plain scene on a white back ground, to try and separate it from the course itself.

"Door Knob People".

My favourite phrase of 2013 so far...

Bruce

I don't include elaborate explanations since my audience is used to the naviation in our courses. However, I do add direction on a slide if it is different than the normal navigation. I usually do this by using animation with a handwritten font and an arrow saying something like "Click Here to See More".

I think that this depends on the audience. There're some people out there lucky enough not to have done any e-learning course till now .

I explain navigation only when there's something that's not obvious, when the audience has low level or when it's asked by the client, who's always right.

Belen Casado