Stating course length

Jan 30, 2012

I'm curious if in general you give learners an estimated time at the beginning of a course?  Or perhaps point out where the course time displays on the upper-left corner?  Or just assume learners will see the course time?

Thanks!

Ann 

7 Replies
blair parkin

We state course length for our product knowledge modules only because we have to take staff off the shop floor and we want to know the expected amount of time a course will take, plus the modules are pretty short in length 20-30 mins. We don't state length on soft skills as they are longer and the expectation is to work through them over time (with a learning journal)

blair parkin

We have it on the first screen when the module begins and isn't part of the narration. To get the length I have 1-2 people review the module, then we over estimate an approximate time based how they went. It will say something like "This module should take approx 20 min to complete"

For us it is only a guideline, so we don't put too much science or emphasis into it. Also by not including it in the narration we can easily update it if any content changes. A design idea I just had would be to put a clock icon in the top corner with est. time underneath. (might have to save that for next time)

Rich Johnstun

blair parkin said:

We state course length for our product knowledge modules only because we have to take staff off the shop floor and we want to know the expected amount of time a course will take, plus the modules are pretty short in length 20-30 mins. We don't state length on soft skills as they are longer and the expectation is to work through them over time (with a learning journal)


Same here. Most of the courses I build are for our field technicians so it's important that they know what their time commitment is going to be. 

Angie Johnson

Ann - we put all of the info on a blank Quizmaker slide and put it up in the Tabs section of the player. It's not narrated and the learner can click on it anytime within the course. We call it "Course Details" and include the length of time to complete the course, as well as information such as whether there is a final exam at the end of the course (which most times there is) and who to contact for questions. It works great for us and, like Blair said, it's easy to update since it's not narrated. Hope that helps!

-angie

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