eLearning and visual communications consultant. Home of Diarmaid Collins, provider of freelance graphic design services.

eLearning Development

We learn through experience.

 

It’s how most of us develop and grow in both our personal and professional lives. eLearning should be more like that - learning through experience, rather than simply wading through content, hoping something sticks.

noun: elearning
learning conducted via electronic media, typically on the Internet"

I help develop immersive eLearning experiences that engage users. I want them to explore and experience the learning path in a more nuanced and natural manner. Gone are the days of content, content, content, quiz. People want to learn by exploring. By practicing, making mistakes, getting feedback and learning solutions, again and again.

Which is why it is so important to collaborate at an early stage and communicate what the goals of each learning experience are going to be. You probably have most of the material already – content, storyboard, graphics, video, and assessments but just need some assistance in putting it all together.

Allow me to help develop your course towards the right goal.

What is Instructional design?

Instructional design applies a systematic methodology (rooted in instructional theories and models) to design and develop content, experiences, and other solutions to support the acquisition of new knowledge or skills.

The eLearning guru, Cathy Moore, believes one should ask the following three questions before embarking on a project:

  1. Why does the course deserve to exist?

  2. What is it going to accomplish?

  3. What are the things people have to do in the real world to accomplish that goal?

These are very fundamental and profound questions that can dramatically alter the user experience. Instead of a typical “information dump” of a module, that consists of “content, content, content, quiz”, by openly and honestly contemplating these questions, one can tailor-make a learning experience that achieves definable, tangible goals.

The rather brilliant analogy she uses to illustrate the point is, rather than asking every hiker to know every tree, trail and elevation point on a mountain trek in order to assist their safety, one should show them how to read a map, and provide information points that they learn/navigate from along the journey.

Structuring your module to focus on the key elements required for the learning experience to be successful is paramount. It saves everyone’s time in the long run.

Creating a module does not have to be a daunting task or an overwhelming chore. By streamlining the content to strategically important information, and establishing a well-crafted look/feel that reflects your goals, we can develop eLearning experiences that attain dramatic results and that attract and engage the user

There is no doubt that video and animation are, by far, the best and most engaging methods to impart knowledge to an audience, for a number of reasons; people connect with video and animations as ‘stories’ far easier than reading lots of content; lots of information can be communicated very easily within a multimedia piece; clever use of video and/or animation can have a profound impact on an audience’s engagement; and, in the right context, videos can illustrate exactly what is needed to be explained or learned because the audience can see the full context and environment of a process being demonstrated.

Maybe you have your own footage, or maybe you can easily film what is needed using your smartphone, just remember it doesn’t have to be an epic well-lit masterpiece of visual storytelling - it simply has to help reinforce the learning experience.

I can help setup and organise storyboarding a shoot and assist in filming whatever is required, in order to achieve the desired result. It is often a lot less complicated than you might expect!

So, take a deep breath and dive in. The water’s fine! I am here to help.

 
 

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