Basics - creating an effective e-learning course (First attempt, don't judge :-)

Over the years of experience in Training and developing content in lieu of stakeholder requirement, I realized creating an effective e-learning course has become a vital part of my job role.

In today’s digital age, online learning has become slightly more popular than before. However, not all e-learning courses are created equal. Few aspects of training remain effective and relevant in a classroom set-up per say an instructor led program.

I was fortunate to have received guidance and tips from my managers or experts who’ve been designing content for over a long time. It makes me happy to share these tips that may be available online for all, but it upholds better relevance when it’s shared out of experience. You may choose to read this and think that it’s typical but nothing extra ordinary that can’t be found online as such, it could speak sense to someone else who may be attempting to stem themselves in this world of writing and seeing someone sharing their experience on how strategized it makes you, even while sharing your thoughts on creating e-learning training programs.

These are few things I kept in mind while developing my first e-learning program:

1.      You need to set a clear learning objective:

The most important thing to keep in mind is the WIIFM factor for your learners. Think about it, if there is no clear objective or indecisive mindset on what you want your learners to achieve after attempting your e-learning program, you’d only be wandering on the thought of why you even created one, when there is no appropriate audience to advantage of all the efforts you put in to contribute to effective learning. Set SMART learning objectives, it simply means that your objective to develop an e-learning content should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant & time-bound.

2.      Make sure to use multi-media elements:

Imagine if you only had to watch a video that kept displaying texts in the form of bullet points, stanzas, or quotes. I can assure you; this will be a lullaby that’ll put the audience into a deep sleep. This is the reason why interactivity and engagement become the two most important pillars for your e-learning program to stand still and relevant. Engage your learners by introducing multi-media elements like images, videos, audio clips, quizzes & games. All these elements help break up the content and make it more interactive and engaging along with retaining information.

3.      Device friendly:

Everybody has access to phones, tablets, laptops, or desktops. As a content designer & developer, it is imperative to have your audience access the modules at their convenience. It is a mobile first world currently hence, creating an e-learning module that is easily accessible on mobile is vital to be kept in mind. Everyone wants to learn on the go, and that’s when mobile learning content comes in handy as they do it at their comfort and allows them time to retain as much as possible because they attempt it in their choice of place and time.

4.      Evaluate the effectiveness of your course:

Finally, it’s important to evaluate the effectiveness of your e-learning course. This means gathering feedback from your learners, tracking their progress, and analyzing the results. By evaluating the effectiveness of your course, you can make improvements and ensure that it continues to meet the needs of your learners.  

FYI: There are several platforms that a creator can use to design and develop a training program, such as:

LMS (Learning Management System) e.g., Azure,

Authoring Tools e.g., Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, Lectora, etc.

Video Conferencing Platforms: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, Google Meets, etc.

Content Management Systems (CMS): WordPress, Drupal, etc.

Social Learning Platforms (SLP): Edmodo, Schoology, Google Classrooms, etc.

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