Ending a lesson/course
Jul 20, 2011
By
Kayla Burtch
Hey fellow heroes!
I am working on a lesson now, and getting tired of the same ol' same ol' "You have finished lesson 1, please proceed to lesson 2"
Was wondering what you usually do to signal the end of a lesson, and the end of the last lesson in a course.
My courses are usually not "quiz" based. There will usually be a task somewhere near the end of the lesson, the last page usually gives advice such as "this week at work..." but I want something that makes it clear to the learner that the lesson is over.
Any strategies you use?
11 Replies
Hi Kayla,
One thing I've done in the past is to use the concept of formal learning vs informal to end a lesson...
"Well done. You have completed the written part of this lesson but you aren't quite an expert yet. When you return to work..."
Then I offer them a challenge or suggestion or two for how to continue engraining the concepts taught.
Hope this helps,
Bob
Hi Kayla
Once I created fireworks in flash that I put at the end of the course!
Phil
@ Bob I like the "you aren't an expert yet" part. That could lead well to "buy more of our courses" lol.
@ Phil That sounds awesome. My courses are usually set in an office... I could have fireworks outside the office window
Kayla, this was the flash file I used to to build it, not my work I might add. I am lazy when it comes to flash and look first before I commit to building anything luckily this had the fla so I just changed the message, and added a particle mouseover
Unfortunately I cant find my file, it must be at work
Phil
Oh and here is where I got it from http://community.articulate.com/forums/62.aspx
Hi Kayla,
I usually create a "menu" page, that has all of the lessons artistically displayed.
Then, at the end of each lesson, I branch the user back to the menu page, where they need to select the next lesson.
Not only does this signal the end of a lesson, but it also helps the user know what to expect from the rest of the course.
Hope this helps,
Heidi
Kayla,
I often use a "Call To Action" slide, or slides.
This says, sometimes quite bluntly, "OK - you have now done the course part, but here's what you now need to do in time period xxx"
A good phrase to use is "You will be expected to...", and it's good if this is a phrase when you are setting expectations earlier in the course.
When I eventually get to the end of the course/module, I say "Many thanks for your time and attention", and then go to the outtro music".
That's how I do it most time anyway.
Hope that helps.
Bruce
I agree with Bob & Bruce; I currently end presentations with specific tasks to complete in the "real world"; or, perhaps, additional offline training activities. Depending upon the lesson, it's nice to provide a checklist of "on the job training" activities to consolidate the training material provided.
You could also go the Ferris Buehler route and actually tell them directly. "It's over, you can go home now"
In that vein, you could say it's over and list the next steps, or do one of those "special thanks" pages.
Also, depending on how whimsical your lesson is, you could go with a falling red curtain as well.
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