What do E-Learning Designers Need to Know About Working with SMEs? #474
Working with E-Learning SMEs#474: Challenge | Recap When it comes to building courses, your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) hold the keys to your success—you can’t do much without them. They’re the folks who not only bring their expertise to the table but also help you fine-tune those storyboards and quizzes and break down the intricate processes that make your training actually work. But here’s the catch: if they’re not fully on board or are dragging their feet, they can quickly become a major headache. The trick is figuring out how to turn those challenging SMEs into your biggest allies. And that's this week’s challenge is all about! 🏆 Challenge of the Week This week’s challenge is to share a short demo or interaction that helps e-learning designers collaborate more effectively with their SMEs. You can take it in any direction you like—whether it’s creating a slide with your favorite quote about working with SMEs, building a microlearning course, or even a whack-a-mole game (SME Edition). ✨ Share Your E-Learning Work Comments: Use the comments section below to link your published example and blog post. Forums: Start a new thread and share a link to your published example. Personal blog: If you have a blog, please consider writing about your challenges. We'll link to your posts, so your great work gets even more exposure. Social media: If you share your demos on Twitter or LinkedIn, try using #ELHChallenge so your tweeps can follow your e-learning coolness. 🙌 Last Week’s Challenge: Before sharing your favorite tips for working with SMEs, take a look at the final examples from the e-learning game show series: E-Learning Quiz GamesRECAP#473:Challenge|Recap 👋 New to the E-Learning Challenges? Theweekly e-learning challengesare ongoing opportunities to learn, share, and build your e-learning portfolios. You can jump into any or all of theprevious challengesanytime you want. I’ll update the recap posts to include your demos. Learn more about the challenges in thisQ&A postand why and how to participate in thishelpful article.The Essential Guide to Working with Subject Matter Experts
If you’re like most e-learning developers, working with subject matter experts (SMEs) is one of your toughest challenges. But don’t worry, we’re here to help. Download this e-book to learn effective strategies for partnering with your SMEs to create awesome e-learning. You’ll learn how to get the information and feedback that you need—and how to make collaborating on courses a positive experience for everyone. In this e-book, we’ll discuss how to: Set the right tone Get the right content Set expectations with all project partners Handle objections from SMEs Keep the project on schedule Wrap up your collaboration And much more6 Interactive Dos and Don'ts for Working with SMEs #474
Working with E-Learning SMEs RECAP #474: Challenge | Recap This week's challenge asked course designers to share their favorite tips for working effectively with subject matter experts. Jodi M. Sansone Example | Download | Jodi M. Sansone | Website | @jodimsansone Shelby Breece Example | Shelby Breece Thierry EMMANUEL Example | Thierry EMMANUEL | Website Jonathan Hill Example| Jonathan Hill | Website | @DevByPowerPoint Kate Golomshtok Example | Kate Golomshtok | WebsiteE-Learning Storyboard
Do you need help organizing content and resources into a slide-based e-learning course? Before you start developing, download and customize this Microsoft Word Storyboard template to clearly outline the learning content for your Subject Matter Experts. If you found this document helpful, then check out:Make Working With SMEs a Breeze with These 3 DownloadsProject Kickoff Questions
Are you starting a new project, but aren’t sure what to ask your Subject Matter Experts? Then download and customize this project kickoff questionnaire to help guide the conversation. If you found this document helpful, then check out:Make Working With SMEs a Breeze with These 3 DownloadsE-Learning Project Plan
Set clear expectations from the start with this E-Learning Project Plan. Download and customize this Microsoft Word document to help you and your Subject Matter Experts get on the same page. If you found this document helpful, then check out:Make Working With SMEs a Breeze with These 3 DownloadsWhat To Do When Your Course Has Too Much Content
Sometimes creating an e-learning course is like packing for a trip: it’s easy to keep adding, adding, adding … until your e-learning “suitcase” is bursting at the seams. And guess what? Most learners go numb when slide after slide is stuffed with text and images and ideas. The volume of content overwhelms their drive to “unpack” key messages buried in all that information. And when learners can’t focus on what’s important, how will they ever apply what you’re trying to teach them? Content overload, at both the slide level and the course level, is one of the most common e-learning mistakes. What can you do to avoid it? Here are few ideas to consider. Avoid Making a Course Have an SME who’s really, really insistent that every last piece of their content needs to be in the course? It may be because they’re focused on pushing information at learners, rather than coaxing out the kind of thinking that leads to behavior change. Your job as the e-learning expert is to help SMEs see all the different ways you can structure content to focus on the learner and, ultimately, to impact their performance. Try suggesting non-course options, like: Job aids: A simple quick reference or at-a-glance chart is often far more effective than a course. Digital performance support: An online glossary of terms, a troubleshooting guide, or a short software simulation might be all learners need to get up to speed. Break It Down Numerous studies (Miller, most notably) have shown that the human brain more easily digests information when it’s provided in manageable chunks. That’s because our working memory—the place where our brains process information—can only handle so much at once. Here are a few pointers for breaking down content in a way that makes it more manageable. Prioritize content: If the learner needs to be taught information to pass a quiz at the end of the course, maintain a focus on that most crucial content. Focus on the learning objectives: If the goal of the course is for learners to be able to assemble widgets, move the ancillary “ancient history of widgets” into a format that’s optional … you know, for those viewers who are really, really into widgets. Avoid content overload: A simple tabs or process interaction can be a great way to organize lots of related content in a way that’s inviting for learners to explore. Manage content: Break out individual lessons into mini-courses. Make It Compelling It’s tempting to lose sight of the goal and think of courses as content containers rather than change catalysts. Transforming your content into something that’s inspiring and actionable means you need to make it compelling. As Tom Kuhlmann points out in this classic Rapid E-Learning Blog post, you’ve got to “give the learner a reason to use the information.” So, how do you that? Use problem-solving: People learn the most from trying and failing, experimenting, and playing with the possibilities. Transform passive lectures into active learning by giving folks a problem to solve. Have lots of data to share? Pull out the most important facts and support them with an eye-catching graphic. Infographics are much better at conveying information than bullets. Keep your writing snappy. Ditch superlatives that distract learners and don’t add value. Swap out wordy phrases for more succinct ones. Even small changes—replacing “click the next arrow to proceed” with something snappier and more inviting, like “see what happens next,” can make your content easier to read and understand. Ready to Streamline Your Content? Longing for some clever ways to streamline content? Look no further than E-Learning Heroes for examples, ideas, and inspiration. Here are a few resources that you might find especially helpful. Intrigued by the idea of creating interactive job aids? Take a look at these great examples from our past E-Learning Challenge—Using Interactive Job Aids in E-Learning. Want to avoid overwhelming learners with content or confusing them with poorly organized content? Use these four strategies from Nicole Legault for organizing e-learning content. Not sure how to make your interactions more compelling? Check out these fabulous pointers from Nicole Legault. How do you deal with content overload? We’d love to hear your ideas and field your questions in the comments below. Enjoy this article? Follow us on Twitter and come back to E-Learning Heroes regularly for more helpful advice on everything related to e-learning.Rise 360: A Course for Stakeholders on the Review Process
If you’re like 25% of e-learning developers, the review process is the most difficult part of your job. Now, thanks to Review 360, it’s easier than ever before. A great review tool makes the process run a lot more smoothly, but why not take it a step further by educating reviewers on the e-learning development process, their role within it, and how to give clear, relevant feedback? Here’s an example of a simple course on the review process you could send to your reviewers to help get them up to speed. Like this course? Click here to send a copy of this course to your Rise 360 dashboard.Feel free to share this course oradapt itbased on your internal review workflow. If you don’t have access to Rise 360, sign up for a free, 30-day trial of Articulate 360.7 Reasons Stakeholders Love Review 360
As a course creator, you want to make sure the e-learning you create hits the mark—that’s why getting feedback from subject matter experts (SMEs) and stakeholders is an essential part of the course development process. But without the right tools, providing feedback can be time-consuming and complicated for reviewers. In many cases, reviewers receive a copy of the course as a file—like a PDF or Word document—and add comments in the file before sending it back to the course creator via email. By the time they’re done, there are multiple versions of the file and a lot of back and forth. If they want to interact with the content, they have to install an app or sign into a Learning Management System (LMS)—adding another layer of complexity if they don’t already have an account. And each time there’s a new version of the course to review, they have to track down the updated file. With all those potential obstacles, it’s no wonder getting timely feedback from reviewers can be such a struggle! Luckily, there’s an Articulate 360 app that removes all those barriers and makes the project review process easier and faster for everyone involved. Review 360 was specifically designed to collect feedback on e-learning—which is what makes it so handy. Let’s explore a few of the top reasons reviewers love using it! 1. It gives them easy access to course content. Nowadays, there’s an app for everything. And while that’s great, it often means there’s yet another thing to download, install, and manage. Thankfully, Review 360 is web-based, which means reviewers can access courses and provide feedback directly in their web browser. There’s no app to download, install, or run past an IT department—all reviewers need is the link to a project to access the content. And they don’t even need to have an account to provide feedback. To leave a comment in Review 360, reviewers simply need to provide an email address. 2. They get to experience the course like a learner. Reviewing a course without interacting with it—like in the case of a Word document version of a project—leaves room for confusion and misunderstanding. If reviewers can’t click, tap, and swipe through the course, how can they get a feel for the course flow? And if there are multimedia elements included—like audio or video—how can reviewers preview them? Review 360 solves those issues by allowing reviewers to go through courses just as a learner would, so nothing gets missed. They can take quizzes, run through scenarios, and watch videos—giving them a clearer picture of the learning experience. 3. It clarifies their feedback by adding context. Instead of reviewing a project in an LMS and providing feedback in a document or via email, Review 360 lets stakeholders do everything in one spot. And what’s even better, screenshots accompany all comments, so course creators know exactly what reviewers were seeing at that exact moment in time. This means that instead of toggling between screens or spending time trying to explain which part of the course their feedback relates to, reviewers can focus on the course content. 4. It makes it easy to provide course creators with additional resources. Reviewers can also add attachments to any comments they make. This makes it easy to point course creators to other resources and files—like a replacement image—to save time and reduce confusion. 5. It removes extra steps from the review process. Thanks to built-in notifications, the course creator receives an alert when a reviewer leaves a comment. That way reviewers don’t have to worry about letting them know there’s feedback to check out. And because reviewers receive notifications when someone replies, it’s easy to know when others react to comments or provide updates. 6. They can easily loop in other team members. Sometimes reviewers need a second pair of eyes—or even a third—to take a look at something. Thanks to the ability to tag others in comments by @ mentioning them, it’s easy to loop folx into a conversation in Review 360. By tagging other reviewers or course creators in a comment, everyone can collaborate and brainstorm in one spot—and Review 360 documents their ideas for future reference. 7. They can view every version of a course in one spot. As you incorporate feedback into a project, you can publish new versions of the project to the same review link. This saves reviewers from having to track down a new URL each time there’s a new version to check out. Instead, they can bookmark a single Review 360 link and refer to it whenever there’s an update to the course. But the old versions and their comments aren’t deleted—Review 360 keeps track of the version history. Thanks to this feature, reviewers can compare prior versions of the course to the current version and see how the content has evolved. Wrap-Up Next time you have a project that needs reviewing, publish it to Review 360! Without downloading an app or logging into an LMS, reviewers get the full course experience and can focus their time and energy on providing feedback rather than tracking down links or sending countless emails. And as a course creator, you’ll benefit from quick and contextual feedback—freeing you up to focus on all the other things on your to-do list! What are your favorite things about Review 360? Share your thoughts in a comment below. And to learn even more about collecting and providing feedback on e-learning, check out these helpful articles: How Stakeholders Review Projects in Review 360 Still Publishing to Word for Your SME Reviews? Here’s How and Why to Transition to Review 360 Who Should Review Your E-Learning Course Before Launch? 5 Steps to an Easier E-Learning Course Review Process Want to try Review 360, but don’t have Articulate 360? Start a free 30-day trial.And subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest product updates, e-learning examples, and expert advice directly in your inbox.
