You can try to do it yourself. Articulate Storyline and Articulate Studio are the software choices of many professionals. These are both easy to learn but both take time to master. I have been using Articulate Studio for 6 years and Storyline since it came out 3 plus years ago. Studio is easier to learn as it has many built in interactions. Storyline allows more freedoms and in my opinion can produce a better, more custom result.
Having freelanced for more than 5 years and having fixing many courses from other designers I can say that the result of many new designers, especially those who this is not their primary responsibility is hit and miss. Some are quick to pick it up and design something good and some are not.
As to cost of outsourcing a project is always dependent of time. Time is determined by the needs of the project. But the course can also can also be determined by budget set. Some budgets are larger and can allow for a more custom design and some budgets dictate a more traditional elearning feeling. Some projects have professional narration and some have no narration. Some budgets allow custom shot video and or graphics and some use stock photography.
So to better answer your question. There are many things you can do to creatively design a course to teach financial literacy for adults who challenges with literacy. I would suspect with the success of educators using tablet computers to teaching children that can not yet read a course can be designed to meet this need
You can do it yourself. But it might be more cost efficient to hire a professional that to experience the learning curve. Especially if this is not going to be your main focus. If this case you would become the subject matter expert who guides the designer.
Feel free to contact me and I can help steer you in the right direction.
Here is an example of a finance course that I designed and developed if you are looking for some ideas. I was also the subject matter expert on this one as well.
The course looks great. Thanks for the example. The content is applicable, however, the format and difficulty of the course would make the course not appropriate for my target group.
This course has been used successfully with students who have English as a second language. I am wondering if an e-course is the right way to go with low literate adults. I would think face-to-face sessions would be better.
I don't know the objectives of the particular course and have no experience with a low literacy audience but I don't see why eLearnings would not be effective whether an objective is to improve reading skills or some other skill. If improving reading skill alone is not an objective, then why not simply remove that barrier? In other words effective use Of graphics and audio, video… they can still see, hear etc. and be directed as needed in interactions.
Education has shown that a tablet computer is a great tool in education to teach the very young who have not yet began to read. There is also a lot of research to show that a tablet helps those with communication challenges like Autism. There is no reason not to implement a elearning for low literate adults when designed well would not be the proper tool.
I would make the course very graphic, use narration and possibly video to deliver the message. A good game could also be the right route for this. Have them make choices and those choices effect outcomes. Would be a really fun course to design.
I don't have experience with low literate users either but my thoughts were that if they are low literate adults then the probably don't have a lot of experience using online tools and might be overwhelmed with having to deal with both the content and the online navigation at the same time. Seems to me they would need a lot of support. Maybe a blended solution might be the way to go.
It is true that low literate adults will not have a lot of experience with online tools and will need some assistance. Therefore, a very intuitive format would be good.
I think it was confusing of me to write People with English as a second language (as I am). I mean people with low literacy and with possible low English skills.
Digital literacy is a very important skill. The use of multimedia for adult literacy is not only beneficial to help them learning certain skills, it also gets them more used to working with the computer, tablet and Iphone, which is very valuable in itself. Furthermore, many of these adults are quite clever, it is just that they never had formal schooling.
The challenge is to create a tool that is accessible, intuitive, interactive and graphic. Possible with the use of characters/storyline. It would be great if we could use a game format. There is not a lot on the market for this target group. I think the biggest reason is the difficulty of making money out of it, as it is unlikely this course could be directly sold to the target group. Anybody any ideas?
Creating this course would be very challenging and I need a lot of creative skills. I am still in the stage of gathering funds for the project, but I am looking forward to start the creating stage. If there are people interested in working on it, feel free to send me a mail.
Great project. I too believe this could be done (mostly) on your own. That being said, couple of thoughts...
1) Create a separate pre-course that teaches them how to use / navigate the courseware; no other learning objective than that. This approach will allow you smartly invest in animation/video where it's needed (see below) and save resources where it isn't. For example.... once you are sure everyone knows how to advance through the course, or open the interactions, you don't have to spend time/money with fancy animations and explanations al the other slides. Make sense?
2) If you are like many of us, respectable animation is one of those invisible lines we sometimes are loathe to cross. It may behoove you to hire someone to create the animations needed..... especially for your pre-course to show the learners how to use the courseware that follows. Imagine a cartoon for example that shows a learner at a screen, it zooms in for a close up and you see a hand moving the mouse over to the advance icon, then the screen changes like magic. Zoom back out to the wide shot and the learner clapping. You get the idea.
3) Visual visual visual. Even more than narration, visual communication is key with low English audiences. For example, have your advance buttons consistent, in the same place, intuitive looking, flashing when it's time to advance.... things like that. For content, choose (or create) visuals carefully, and use more of them than you might otherwise. THiS is also an area you may want to spend on if you are not feeling your illustration skills are up to par.... .remember it's unlikely you will find all the appropriate photos you need to convey concepts, so creating illustrations may be the way to go.
Hi my name is Dave, and I am interested in developing eLearning courses for those who provide therapy to kids with autism. Our son has autism and my wife is a trained in therapy.
If anyone knows of an example of a eLearning course for therapists who work with kids or adults with special needs, OR if you have a name of someone who may know of such a course, could you please contact me soon?
10 Replies
You can try to do it yourself. Articulate Storyline and Articulate Studio are the software choices of many professionals. These are both easy to learn but both take time to master. I have been using Articulate Studio for 6 years and Storyline since it came out 3 plus years ago. Studio is easier to learn as it has many built in interactions. Storyline allows more freedoms and in my opinion can produce a better, more custom result.
Having freelanced for more than 5 years and having fixing many courses from other designers I can say that the result of many new designers, especially those who this is not their primary responsibility is hit and miss. Some are quick to pick it up and design something good and some are not.
As to cost of outsourcing a project is always dependent of time. Time is determined by the needs of the project. But the course can also can also be determined by budget set. Some budgets are larger and can allow for a more custom design and some budgets dictate a more traditional elearning feeling. Some projects have professional narration and some have no narration. Some budgets allow custom shot video and or graphics and some use stock photography.
So to better answer your question. There are many things you can do to creatively design a course to teach financial literacy for adults who challenges with literacy. I would suspect with the success of educators using tablet computers to teaching children that can not yet read a course can be designed to meet this need
You can do it yourself. But it might be more cost efficient to hire a professional that to experience the learning curve. Especially if this is not going to be your main focus. If this case you would become the subject matter expert who guides the designer.
Feel free to contact me and I can help steer you in the right direction.
Here is an example of a finance course that I designed and developed if you are looking for some ideas. I was also the subject matter expert on this one as well.
What your teachers never told you about managing your money
Thanks Nancy,
The course looks great. Thanks for the example. The content is applicable, however, the format and difficulty of the course would make the course not appropriate for my target group.
This course has been used successfully with students who have English as a second language. I am wondering if an e-course is the right way to go with low literate adults. I would think face-to-face sessions would be better.
I don't know the objectives of the particular course and have no experience with a low literacy audience but I don't see why eLearnings would not be effective whether an objective is to improve reading skills or some other skill. If improving reading skill alone is not an objective, then why not simply remove that barrier? In other words effective use Of graphics and audio, video… they can still see, hear etc. and be directed as needed in interactions.
Sent from my iPhone
Education has shown that a tablet computer is a great tool in education to teach the very young who have not yet began to read. There is also a lot of research to show that a tablet helps those with communication challenges like Autism. There is no reason not to implement a elearning for low literate adults when designed well would not be the proper tool.
I would make the course very graphic, use narration and possibly video to deliver the message. A good game could also be the right route for this. Have them make choices and those choices effect outcomes. Would be a really fun course to design.
I don't have experience with low literate users either but my thoughts were that if they are low literate adults then the probably don't have a lot of experience using online tools and might be overwhelmed with having to deal with both the content and the online navigation at the same time. Seems to me they would need a lot of support. Maybe a blended solution might be the way to go.
It is true that low literate adults will not have a lot of experience with online tools and will need some assistance. Therefore, a very intuitive format would be good.
I think it was confusing of me to write People with English as a second language (as I am). I mean people with low literacy and with possible low English skills.
Digital literacy is a very important skill. The use of multimedia for adult literacy is not only beneficial to help them learning certain skills, it also gets them more used to working with the computer, tablet and Iphone, which is very valuable in itself. Furthermore, many of these adults are quite clever, it is just that they never had formal schooling.
The challenge is to create a tool that is accessible, intuitive, interactive and graphic. Possible with the use of characters/storyline. It would be great if we could use a game format. There is not a lot on the market for this target group. I think the biggest reason is the difficulty of making money out of it, as it is unlikely this course could be directly sold to the target group. Anybody any ideas?
Creating this course would be very challenging and I need a lot of creative skills. I am still in the stage of gathering funds for the project, but I am looking forward to start the creating stage. If there are people interested in working on it, feel free to send me a mail.
thanks,
Hanne
Hanne,
Great project. I too believe this could be done (mostly) on your own. That being said, couple of thoughts...
1) Create a separate pre-course that teaches them how to use / navigate the courseware; no other learning objective than that. This approach will allow you smartly invest in animation/video where it's needed (see below) and save resources where it isn't. For example.... once you are sure everyone knows how to advance through the course, or open the interactions, you don't have to spend time/money with fancy animations and explanations al the other slides. Make sense?
2) If you are like many of us, respectable animation is one of those invisible lines we sometimes are loathe to cross. It may behoove you to hire someone to create the animations needed..... especially for your pre-course to show the learners how to use the courseware that follows. Imagine a cartoon for example that shows a learner at a screen, it zooms in for a close up and you see a hand moving the mouse over to the advance icon, then the screen changes like magic. Zoom back out to the wide shot and the learner clapping. You get the idea.
3) Visual visual visual. Even more than narration, visual communication is key with low English audiences. For example, have your advance buttons consistent, in the same place, intuitive looking, flashing when it's time to advance.... things like that. For content, choose (or create) visuals carefully, and use more of them than you might otherwise. THiS is also an area you may want to spend on if you are not feeling your illustration skills are up to par.... .remember it's unlikely you will find all the appropriate photos you need to convey concepts, so creating illustrations may be the way to go.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Hi my name is Dave, and I am interested in developing eLearning courses for those who provide therapy to kids with autism. Our son has autism and my wife is a trained in therapy.
If anyone knows of an example of a eLearning course for therapists who work with kids or adults with special needs, OR if you have a name of someone who may know of such a course, could you please contact me soon?
Thanks!
Dave
david.elsinger@efca.org
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