Just got my first elearning project using Storyline. I have been going through the steps of creating content flow and storyboards and it is a lot of material to cover. It could potentially make for a really long course. 3-4 hours maybe (or longer?)
My question: Should I create one long course that learners can leave and come back to or split the course up into several elearning mini-courses?
My thoughts would be either split the course into mini modules as you suggested but make sure that they all look like they belong together (style/tone etc).
Or keep the course as a whole but break the content into manageable chunks and ensure you build in natural break/pause points at least every 30 mins for example an end of section quiz or section completion. This will give the learner a sense of progression and encourage them to return to the course at a later point to continue.
I think there's a fine balance and it really depends on whether the course is mandatory or not.
You can often create longer courses that are successful if they are mandatory and designed with natural break points that both show progression and give the learner a chance to take the information away and digest it.
However, optional modules should be shorter- I think 10 mins is a bit too strict in terms of course length because once you take into account the 'learner time' to complete interactions you're only really looking at a few slides worth of content.
Maybe it would help to look critically at your content and proposed method of delivering it and see if you can reduce the content without losing value or even make some of the less essential content available as an external resource for those who want more information.
A "course" can be any length - as has been said, it all depends on how you split it up for consumption purposes.
A course can have sections, modules, breakouts, Reference material etc., and as Harri says, "learner time" is an important consideration. 2 minutes may be appropriate for an online job aid, but maybe your course sections need to be longer.
I have an entire course that is complete in 4 minutes - you have to make it appropriate to the teaching, and that 4 minutes completes a specific requirement.
I have built very successful 4-5+ hour courses before - however they were split into multiple sections off multiple (hub) menus, and could be taken in stages.
They are only "punishment" if there's not perceived benefit to the learner community.
Also consider production pain in the equation for sizing outputs. A 3 or 4 hour module in a single publish will take quite awhile to publish after each change. Breaking this down into 15 - 20 minute sections can really help in production and maintenance as well as setting up modules that hold attention and can possibly be reused in other configurations.
Also consider production pain in the equation for sizing outputs. A 3 or 4 hour module in a single publish will take quite awhile to publish after each change. Breaking this down into 15 - 20 minute sections can really help in production and maintenance as well as setting up modules that hold attention and can possibly be reused in other configurations.
+1.
The "massive" courses I built were - in reality, loads of smaller modules packaged in a very clever way by a 3rd party, using technology that I never really understood.
Also, one thing I would suggest is that once you have completed a first draft of your storyboards, review them to see if there is anything you can cut out that is not essential to the performance objectives for the course. Also check to see if some of the content might be served up in a different way such as a job aid.
a tight editing of the text and any audio or video script also helps to cut out extraneous stuff.
Thanks everyone. I will break it up into smaller lessons for all of the reasons you guys stated.
The course will be mandatory and will also be a repository for resources. I'm not sure how that's gonna work right now. I guess they can print whatever resources they want? A lot of the tasks will become job aided.
We don't like to create courses longer than 45 minutes. In reality, most of ours are no more than 30. We've started breaking up larger courses into bite size chunks as was suggested above and it's gone down really well with learners.
I would definitely split it into 4-5 courses. 4 hours straight is way too long. There's no one on this planet who could concentrate into something for such a long time without a break.
11 Replies
Hi Tim,
My thoughts would be either split the course into mini modules as you suggested but make sure that they all look like they belong together (style/tone etc).
Or keep the course as a whole but break the content into manageable chunks and ensure you build in natural break/pause points at least every 30 mins for example an end of section quiz or section completion. This will give the learner a sense of progression and encourage them to return to the course at a later point to continue.
Hope this helps
Depends how the organisation and the time available to the learner.
Consider it from the perspective of a learner who has been told 'You need to take this course'.
Nicholas
Longer than 3-4 hours straight through?
That would be cruel and unusual punishment IMO.
Nicholas
I think there's a fine balance and it really depends on whether the course is mandatory or not.
You can often create longer courses that are successful if they are mandatory and designed with natural break points that both show progression and give the learner a chance to take the information away and digest it.
However, optional modules should be shorter- I think 10 mins is a bit too strict in terms of course length because once you take into account the 'learner time' to complete interactions you're only really looking at a few slides worth of content.
Maybe it would help to look critically at your content and proposed method of delivering it and see if you can reduce the content without losing value or even make some of the less essential content available as an external resource for those who want more information.
Hi Tim,
A "course" can be any length - as has been said, it all depends on how you split it up for consumption purposes.
A course can have sections, modules, breakouts, Reference material etc., and as Harri says, "learner time" is an important consideration. 2 minutes may be appropriate for an online job aid, but maybe your course sections need to be longer.
I have an entire course that is complete in 4 minutes - you have to make it appropriate to the teaching, and that 4 minutes completes a specific requirement.
I have built very successful 4-5+ hour courses before - however they were split into multiple sections off multiple (hub) menus, and could be taken in stages.
They are only "punishment" if there's not perceived benefit to the learner community.
Also consider production pain in the equation for sizing outputs. A 3 or 4 hour module in a single publish will take quite awhile to publish after each change. Breaking this down into 15 - 20 minute sections can really help in production and maintenance as well as setting up modules that hold attention and can possibly be reused in other configurations.
+1.
The "massive" courses I built were - in reality, loads of smaller modules packaged in a very clever way by a 3rd party, using technology that I never really understood.
Also, one thing I would suggest is that once you have completed a first draft of your storyboards, review them to see if there is anything you can cut out that is not essential to the performance objectives for the course. Also check to see if some of the content might be served up in a different way such as a job aid.
a tight editing of the text and any audio or video script also helps to cut out extraneous stuff.
Thanks everyone. I will break it up into smaller lessons for all of the reasons you guys stated.
The course will be mandatory and will also be a repository for resources. I'm not sure how that's gonna work right now. I guess they can print whatever resources they want? A lot of the tasks will become job aided.
Thanks again for the suggestions.
Tim
We don't like to create courses longer than 45 minutes. In reality, most of ours are no more than 30. We've started breaking up larger courses into bite size chunks as was suggested above and it's gone down really well with learners.
I would definitely split it into 4-5 courses. 4 hours straight is way too long. There's no one on this planet who could concentrate into something for such a long time without a break.
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