I am a newbie to elearning, seeking for your help....
If I have a course to develop about explaning software product concepts/features/benefits from using it, and teaching how to use it too, who in your practice to write the voiceover script? Internally, I do not have such product expert, of course, I have some references from client (product user guide/help,etc.).
Another topic from my mind, what's your practice whether to base slide contents on script, or script basing on slide contents? I mean, write script first or design slide contents first?
This can be a deep rabbit hole so I'm going to attach some materials posted in another conversation that may help you with the design and development process.
To your first question, if you are not a subject matter expert yourself, you are going to need the client to provide someone to review and sign off on the course content. Since you are new to elearning, you may want to get an outline approved before you do a lot of work only to find out that's not what the client actually has in mind. More often than not, even if a client seems to not care as long as you get the main content in there, they often have a great deal of opinion once they actually see something.
In general, it's a good idea to know what is going into the course before you begin determining the graphic representation of it. You can certainly capture ideas along the way - a storyboard is good for this- but if you start with designing slides you often end up either 1. forcing the content to match the existing graphics and layout or 2. doing a lot of redesign once you see what the content actually calls for. You always want the content of the course and the needs of the learner to drive the design, not the other way around. That can certainly shift once you gain more experience andI'm sure someone can think of an exception but it's a good standard to start with.
That goes into your second question- It's much easier to change text than an entire course, so develop your outline to make sure you are covering the right elements. Then develop that into a script and get that approved by the client. You're client may want a storyboard review process. They may prefer prototypes of the course. It's a good idea to make sure you're on the same page with your client as to what type of look and feel the course has. You can develop the most engaging, fantastic course ever created and if it's not what the client wanted, you can find yourself back at square one. Even if they don't know what they want, you can bet they have some type of expectation based on other elearning they have seen. This is where storyboards &/or prototypes can save you a lot of time in the long run - and the storyboard can be created in a document or in the development tool. That's your choice.
I hope you find this helpful. Welcome to the community. There is a TON of fantastic experience and resources here to help you along the way.
2 Replies
Hi Anson,
This can be a deep rabbit hole so I'm going to attach some materials posted in another conversation that may help you with the design and development process.
To your first question, if you are not a subject matter expert yourself, you are going to need the client to provide someone to review and sign off on the course content. Since you are new to elearning, you may want to get an outline approved before you do a lot of work only to find out that's not what the client actually has in mind. More often than not, even if a client seems to not care as long as you get the main content in there, they often have a great deal of opinion once they actually see something.
In general, it's a good idea to know what is going into the course before you begin determining the graphic representation of it. You can certainly capture ideas along the way - a storyboard is good for this- but if you start with designing slides you often end up either 1. forcing the content to match the existing graphics and layout or 2. doing a lot of redesign once you see what the content actually calls for. You always want the content of the course and the needs of the learner to drive the design, not the other way around. That can certainly shift once you gain more experience and I'm sure someone can think of an exception but it's a good standard to start with.
That goes into your second question- It's much easier to change text than an entire course, so develop your outline to make sure you are covering the right elements. Then develop that into a script and get that approved by the client. You're client may want a storyboard review process. They may prefer prototypes of the course. It's a good idea to make sure you're on the same page with your client as to what type of look and feel the course has. You can develop the most engaging, fantastic course ever created and if it's not what the client wanted, you can find yourself back at square one. Even if they don't know what they want, you can bet they have some type of expectation based on other elearning they have seen. This is where storyboards &/or prototypes can save you a lot of time in the long run - and the storyboard can be created in a document or in the development tool. That's your choice.
I hope you find this helpful. Welcome to the community. There is a TON of fantastic experience and resources here to help you along the way.
-Natalia
Many thanks Natalia of the in-depth details! I own you a drink
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