Your First Custom Elearning Project
April 17, 2020
Looking to start your first custom elearning project? Learning Pool’s Senior Learning Designer, Faye Walton shares everything you need to know about how to get started and ensure your project succeeds.
The best projects are based on a strong partnership between the customer and the supplier, and at Learning Pool we pride ourselves on achieving this. In general, we take a “waterfall” approach to our projects, where each stage is signed off by the customer before the next. This forms the basis of the upcoming guidance, but we’re flexible to your needs and also embrace Agile approaches.
“So, where do I start?”
The best place to start is at the end! Have your outcome in mind rather than being led by the content. Consider the business objectives you want to achieve and the knowledge and skills that employees need to make this happen. A great process for this is called ‘Action mapping’, recommended by training designer Cathy Moore.
You can trust us to help you clarify these real-world goals and then collaborate with your Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to identify the ‘must-have’ content and activities to achieve them.
“What learning approach will work best?”
The next step is the design stage. This involves working with your supplier to decide the learning approach, visual design, functionality, structure and technical details. Our experienced Learning Designers can talk you through a range of learning approaches to suit your training need, budget and audience, e.g. scenario-led, gamification, interactive video, and theme or narrative-based.
We recommend creating a Design Specification document at this stage, containing all the agreed details for the project. This acts as a blueprint for development. If you’re happy with this, then the next step is for your supplier to create a prototype, i.e. a working version of the course, with placeholder content. This is a vital opportunity for you to get a sense of what the final course will be like and make any adjustments.
“What comes next?”
Now it’s time to script! The script details the exact words and images that will appear on each screen, usually in a simple Microsoft Word document. Providing feedback on the script before continuing to the build stage will help to avoid significant changes and delays at later stages of the project. We find two drafts is usually enough.
“How does it all come together?”
Finally comes the build stage. Your supplier will implement the agreed text, images and functionality for each screen of the course. At Learning Pool, we release the course for you to review and give you the chance to request any minor amends. We can do up to two rounds of amends before releasing the final version for sign-off.
And there you have it – your shiny new course that’s specifically tailored to your employees’ needs. With the right supplier to support you along the way, you’ll have a piece of training that not only feels relevant to learners but is memorable too.
“How do I know if it’s successful?”
Want to judge exactly how effective your training is? Try to identify a measure that’s linked to the change in business performance you’re aiming for and record this before and after the training is rolled out, to see if it improves. This measure could be anything from customer ratings to the number of reported accidents in the business. Our Learning Pool Learning Record Store is a vital tool for gathering and organizing this evaluation data.
Why not get in touch with us at Learning Pool now to begin your custom e-learning journey?
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