New to everything - need some guidance!

Hi Sid, and welcome! Great idea to put some thought into that kickoff meeting - it's such a great opportunity to set the project in a positive direction! I'd recommend taking a look at the Project Kickoff questions that are available for free here on the Heroes site... you can find the document in the Project Management & Planning section of the Downloads area. I think you'll find that document to be a great spring-board from which to plan your meeting. Feel free to browse the rest of the Downloads too... there are some really helpful tools there that can make your project go more smoothly.

Thanks Jeanette for the welcome and the link, this document will surely help?

Besides the downloads sections. is there anywhere else where I can get free templates?

Doc  Havis - thanks for the tips and the Cathy Moore reference.

I would add a couple more questions, and by the way, everyone has provided solid advice.  Cathy Moore is a fantastic resource.

Ask your SME's:

1. How will the learners prove to you that they have mastered these skills?  What kind of action from the learner would indicate "mastery"? What does "mastery" here look like?

2. How can we provide them with effective practice and feedback to get them to "mastery"?

Basically the flow should be something like this: Learning Goals ->Assessment Strategy -> Teaching and Feedback Strategy-> Content/Resources

@Sid - you asked about other places to get free templates — we add new ones in the Downloads area here pretty often; you can also find lots more that Tom Kuhlmann has posted previously on his Rapid E-Learning Blog . If you go there and use the search window to search on "free template," you'll get this list to browse through, which contains a lot of great resources.

@Jeanette - Thanks again for the direction, I will look through the list and see if anything stands out that I can use in the course. 

@Ryan - thanks for those questions, it will definitely be useful.

In SME meetings (although hard sometimes) I think the best thing to do is listen. Listen and ask clarifying questions.

I especially like to ask visual clarifying questions.

For example ask them to describe the color they see. What are the key images, or themes.

When I think nature I think of a large field of green grass and a willow or oak tree that sways in the background. You may see a brook with colorful pebbles and tadpoles and minnows in a covered forest.

When it comes to activities find out what activities they did and consider if you can repeat them or expand upon them with Engage or manually in PPT. I also ask visual questions here.

Some times it is also good to ask about feelings. Silly to some but essential. What mood do you want the learner to leave with. What is the seriousness of the project. Is it uplifting and silly? Or serious and clean lined. What is the mood of the company you are working for?

With this specific content i would consider what are the key messages that we want to repeat and reinforce from the original training. What is the performance change we need to accomplish or new knowledge that must be learned?

I am working on a similar project on a different topic. I have 6 modules that I will be placing in elearning from training taken live. It is performance changes so we are focusing on reinforcing the message and the key changes we want. In the end the sessions will go from 30min to 1 hour down to 10 min to 15 min reminder bits.

Look forward to chatting and hearing how it goes.

@Zara - thanks for the suggestions.

I had a meeting with the SME's and I am still tying to absorb all the info.

The Program is part of the University continuing education non credit course.

Basically they want their instructors/facilitators  (not professors) to take course to show that they know how to teach adults.

Its been decided that the program will  be in 3- 4 parts, each probably 20-30 min long.

First course - Adult learn differently  - Adult Learning Theory

Second course  - Student engagement 

Third - Class Room Management 

Fourth - Time management/syllabus/agenda

Now for the meeting this is what I got - they would like

1. The users to move freely: for eg. if I am on slide 3 and I want to go to slide 15 I should be able to without any restrictions.

2. if there is a scenario and 3 choices and they have to choose 1. if they choose the right answer they want to be able to move to the next slide or question, and not have to see what other options were. (hope this makes sense)

3. If some one decides to skip through and go to the end and give the quiz which they want at the end and gets a question wrong they want it to be directed to the page where that was covered.

4. They actually did this exercise where they would pass a ball to the student in class and there will be a question and they have to answer it. and pass it around amongst themselves without involving the instructor. they want to somehow show that on the online course. I don't know if any animations are there which will help show this? They though if nothing else then they would gather some participants and shoot the video demonstrating that exercise and  embed that video into the slide.

Any other ideas? What template design would best meet these requirements. I am new to this so I feel overwhelmed, but some of you experts can show me how this can be achieved easily.

Much appreciate the help.

Oh !!! forgot to mention - 

They don't want any clipart, avatar style graphics is fine, but not the old style Microsoft clipart.

Also, they want to text to also be able to speak, they have to be in compliance with ADA. So how can I have the text to speak. Do i have to record or there is a way for the computer to speak the text?

Just bumping so I can get some reply !!! ope its ok to bump