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Rapid eLearning Design for Quick Rollout 5 BEST PRACTICES FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS

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Page 1: Rapid eLearning Design for Quick Rollout

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Rapid eLearning Design for Quick Rollout

5 BEST PRACTICES FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS

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ContentsUnderstanding the IDs’ World

Best Practice 1: Seeing the Big Picture – The Business Context

Best Practice 2: Working Efficiently with SMEs

Best Practice 3: Engaging Learners through Design Strategies

Best Practice 4: Working with the Right Authoring Tools

Best Practice 5: Standardizing and Scaling Up

Key Takeaways

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Instructional designers are an understated lot. Most of us who’ve been around eLearning for 10

years or more have no formal degree in eLearning and yet have jobs that require us to churn out

world-class, highly effective eLearning courses for which the target audience is people from every

background on the planet.

So how did we land up here anyway, given that we come from diverse functional backgrounds?

● Most likely, we were good at our jobs (the ones we got academic degrees for) and because we

were so good at it, we were asked to train others.

● And before we knew it, we were full time training professionals.

● With technology becoming a game changer and the advent of eLearning, this training function

has now extended to creating training material for online training or eLearning.

● We learned the ropes in record time, and transferred those skills into instructional design for

eLearning.

Now we’ve grown roots but face new challenges. The main one being – How do we move toward

rapidly churning out eLearning courses, without sacrificing quality or creativity?

Well, welcome to our world – a world we’ve been in for the past 19 years. In this book, we’ve

shared a few ideas on what worked for us and our customers. So what you will read about is not

theory, but theory tested on the road and distilled into best practices for application.

Understanding the IDs’ World

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Seeing the Big Picture: Training HELPS Achieve Business GoalsAs instructional designers, and maybe even as training managers, we sometimes tend to be a

bit removed from the larger business context. However, it is this big picture that should actually

determine our direction and drive our training effort. To begin with, we need to have a sound

understanding of where training fits in the overall scheme of things in the business context.

What does it do? And how?

To put it very simply, for any business to meet its typical business goals, it has to:

1. Sell more

2. Improve efficiencies

3. Stay compliant

Best Practice

01

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At the risk of stating the obvious, without training, it is impossible for any organization to achieve

its goals. And yet, if we are to take a hard and honest look at our own training effort, we can see

where and why we were involved in rolling out training that actually didn’t help achieve any of

these goals.

The many programs/courses that sometimes are rolled out without any tangible goals are the

main reason many stakeholders and learners sometimes view the training function with a degree

of suspicion. We can change all of that by being fully aware of the big picture and ensuring what

we do fits right into it.

But Where Do We Begin?

1. Aligning Learning Objectives to Business Goals

Desired Organizational Results

● Decreased turnover

● Increased employee

retention

● Enhanced employee

satisfaction

● Specific to individual job

functions

● Accelerate time to

proficiency

● Build core competencies

● Expedite productivity

● Focus on a single

enabling objective

● Recognize available

support

Desired Performance

Performance-based Objective

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2. Have a Blended Solution

If our mission is to accelerate proficiency, we should create a blend that will enable learners to

achieve the required level of performance (proficiency) as efficiently as possible.

In particular, we want to make sure our blends:

● Leverage the best of both approaches to maximize the benefits for each situation

● Streamline the time and cost required to reach proficiency

● Facilitate access to learning when it is needed, where it is needed, and just in time

● Appeal to and address different learning modalities

● Make learning a guided process, not a one-time event

3. Develop eLearning Curriculums

Planning for curriculum rather than standalone courses has the following advantages:

For the Learner For the SME For Your Organization

● Shows the big picture

— makes learning

meaningful

● Flow is based on learning

sequence rather than

ease of development

● Makes best use of SME

time

● Streamlined effort

● Easier to maintain

momentum and faster

rollout

● Better costing

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Working Efficiently with SMEsBecause most of our training content comes from SMEs, one of the most important things we

need to ensure is that we work efficiently with them as this reduces our time for developing

eLearning. However, before we start working with SMEs, we need to answer these questions:

Who Are They?

They are high-value professionals, with access to proprietary information, and their primary job

is NOT training. A few sample designations:

● Senior Director, Quality Assurance

● Clinical Operations Manager

● Marketing and Sales Manager

● Operations Specialist

● Senior Engineer

If you are to take a quick poll on the functional background of SMEs, you will find that very few

of them are actually from training and development. Does that sound surprising? Go on, check

out who are the SMEs for training in your organization. In all probability, almost none of them are

from L&D. Quite similar to the background of IDs in fact.

Best Practice

02

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Where Do They Find Time?

The biggest challenge is that eLearning experts MUST RELY on the SME for expert content

knowledge. And there are always 3 good reasons for SMEs not being available when you need

them most:

1. No time 2. No time 3. No time

Anyone who has worked with SMEs or is an SME knows this is the reality we must reckon with.

So when do SMEs do their reviews?

Saving SME Time

More involvement from the SME upfront leads to:

● Less required later

● More buy-in later

● Fewer problems in the course

Here is a simple process we came up with for maximizing the SME’s time and making their role

less demanding as far as their involvement in eLearning initiatives is concerned.

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Saving Time throughout the Process!

SMEs are typically involved throughout the eLearning process. However, we have found through

experience that when we cut down the time the SME needs to invest in the eLearning project and

minimize the touchpoints, the project is more likely to be rolled out on time, and even before. And

the SME is more likely to be an involved stakeholder for further projects.

Here’s a simplified process we at CommLab Inida have been using for some time now to ensure

the SME’s time is minimized for inputs, reviews, and signoffs.

Online Review

The quickest way to cut down the time for reviews is by sending the SME an online Review link.

This also ensures that if there are multiple SMEs for a project, all the feedback is captured in one

place, making it easier to implement it and resolve contradictions or inconsistencies in feedback

if any. Try it. Your SMEs will thank you for it.

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Engaging Learners through Design StrategiesAccording to the Workplace Learning Report for 2019 by LinkedIn, an astounding 94% of

employees said they would stay longer with a company that invested in their learning and

development.

Realizing the importance of emotions and the arts, learning is beginning to undergo a paradigm

shift from a traditional, linear, quantitative approach, toward synthesis, quality, and empathy.

Recall your most memorable learning experience?

I’ve sure most of the reasons for it making an impact can be summarized in the following:

● You were involved emotionally — either because you had fun, could relate to what was

happening, or were challenged to face your fears.

● The facilitator had shared anecdotes that made you laugh, used different media elements

(a chart, a video, a role-play exercise), or allowed opportunities for practice.

● The subject was your pet topic and you were intrinsically interested in learning more about it.

Here are three strategies to make your eLearning click.

Personalization The Power of Stories Empathy in Engagement

● Address learners by

name

● Provide avatars

● Design content-relevant

GUIs

● Scenarios

● Comic strips

● Metaphors and analogies

● Open navigation

● Clear instructions

● Diagnostic feedback

Best Practice

03

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1. Personalization — Make Them Feel Special

Call the Learner by Name.

Welcome the learner through a personalized learning experience by making him type in his or

her name. We can then pull this name up when giving feedback for assessments. A personalized

experience with little effort!

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Let your learners pick the avatar of their choice at the start of the course. Isn’t it reassuring

and refreshing to learn from and come across a familiar face? Use avatars of learners’ peers,

managers, experts, or people they can relate to.

Looks do matter, and the graphical user interface (GUI) is the first thing leaners will come across

in your course. Borrow elements from your course or elements and colors that’ll appeal to learner

demographics to make it an instant hit.

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2. The Power of Stories – Hook Them to the Learning

The best and most effective learning is achieved through stories. Luckily, we are all wired to

tell and listen to stories. A compelling narrative is all it takes to transform passive learning into

active participation. So, how do we do it?

Make learning experiential. Place learners in scenarios they are likely to face at work and let them

draw on the learning to take decisions and solve problems. Scenarios can be real or fictitious

and used to assess or teach learners.

A comic strip is a good way to engage learners. A bit of fun to reinforce the key points or to

highlights solutions will be welcomed by your learners. Use comic strips to highlight subtilities,

changes in moods and emotions.

Metaphors and analogies are tiny titbits of stories used to drive home learning by offering a

comparison with something known and relatable. Help learners internalize learning by spotting

the similarities or dissimilarities between the concepts shared.

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3. Empathy in Engagement – Step into Their Shoes

Next up is Empathy – an awareness of how the learner probably feels. Put yourselves in the

learners’ shoes and empathize.

Adults are self-directed and dislike being restricted. An effective eLearning course has open,

unrestricted navigation and gives them the option to access sections of the course they are

interested in.

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Ensure the course is intuitive and learner friendly. Have clear instructions for engagement and

interactives. You don’t want your learners struggling to figure out how to:

● Navigate through the course

● Use interactives

● Answer assessments

Finally, remember, we are not out to get our learners or rap them on their knuckles when they fail.

Encouraging, diagnostic feedback goes a long way as opposed to judgmental feedback. Don’t

just say whether they are right or wrong – give reasons to explain and reinforce learning.

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Working with the Right Authoring ToolRapid authoring tools, with their in-built templates, themes, and animations allow you to create

rich and interactive eLearning courses, with minimum technical expertise and effort. Further

good news is they no longer stretch budgets or require you to hire people with a programming

background.

As you are aware, there are many authoring tools available in the market. Here is a quick review

of the top 4.

Best Practice

04

Authoring Tools Good For…

Articulate Storyline 360 and Rise Articulate 360 has everything you need to develop

an eLearning course, right from kick starting course

development to collaborating with stakeholders to

review the course.

Storyline 360 is part of Articulate 360 and lets you

create compelling interactions. You can build and

publish your eLearning course to the responsive player

with a single click.

Rise is a fully responsive web-based authoring tool and

is a part of Articulate 360.

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Authoring Tools Good For…

Adobe Captivate Adobe Captivate 2019, the latest version of the tool,

has made designing immersive learning experiences

a reality. It is possible to import a 360° image or 360°

video into a virtual reality (VR) project in Captivate.

Add text labels and interactive hotspots to the screen.

Lectora Online Lectora Online is a cloud-based authoring tool that

harnesses the power of the desktop-based authoring

tool and also collaborative features that enable the

creation and review of eLearning content anytime,

anywhere.

iSpring iSpring Suite is one of the most popular authoring tools

to convert PowerPoint decks to eLearning. The biggest

advantage offered by this tool is that it is integrated

within PowerPoint and that makes it simple and

user-friendly.

Parameters to Map in Your Authoring Tools for Easy Instructional Design

Before selecting a tool, check for these 6 parameters

Ready to

Use Templates

Easy

Translations

Responsive

Output

Accessibility

Quick

Authoring

Online

Review

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● Does the tool offer responsive templates for different screen layouts, interactivities,

and assessments?

● Layouts – Welcome screen, learning objectives screen, summary screen

● Interactivities – Click on images/tabs/numbers, slideshow, sliders

● Assessments – Drag and drop, multiple select, sorting/matching

● How easy is it to develop responsive courses using the tool? Does it just offer a responsive

player or a fully responsive output?

● Does it enable quick authoring through its in-built asset library? What are the graphical assets

available? How frequently is the library updated?

● Does the tool offer translation-friendly features? How does it ease the translation process?

● What features does the tool offer to develop accessible courses? How easy are the features

to work with?

● Does the tool offer scope for online reviews? How easy is it to be used by facilitators and

SMEs?

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Standardizing and Scaling Up It’s better to plan long-term for eLearning design and development. This will help you stockpile

the resources you can reuse – building a library of assets. There are 3 main components that’ll

help you do this.

1. Style Guide

Have a style guide capturing your organizational standards in terms of both text and visuals.

This will ensure your courses are standardized, with a uniform look and feel.

Best Practice

05

Specif ications of Textual Elements

Specif ications of Visual Elements

Size of headers, body text, instructions,

bullet style, and fontBranding colors

Formatting, alignment specifications Logo color and placement guidelines

Grammar and preferred English usage

(American vs. British)Preferred fonts

Usage of abbreviations, acronyms, dates,

units of measurement and currency

Colors to be used for backgrounds,

instructions, hyperlinks, accent colors

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2. Templates

Even if you use templates offered by authoring tools, customize them over time. Personalzie

them and build a library of reusable assets for different screen layouts, interactivities, and

assessments.

Just plug and populate these templates with the content, replace images and you will be good to

go – for all projects.

3. Check the Outsourcing Option

If you lack resources for in-house development and/or are unable to meet your requirements for

a quick turnaround of eLearning courses with existing resources, outsource the development

effort.

A vendor proficient in leveraging authoring tools will ensure your timelines are met. However,

check for a good vendor with a strong background in training and instructional design.

Note: These are some aspects – that save you time – you can outsource, such as:

● Development of courses from production-ready storyboards

● Legacy course conversions, including Flash to HTML conversion

● Development of media assets such as animations and videos

● LMS administration and support

● eLearning translations

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Key Takeaways

Always have the business goals aligned to your training

Standardize and scale up

Connect with learners emotionally

Come up with ways to save SMEs’ time

Choose an authoring tool that helps you design well and fast

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ABOUT US

www.commlabindia.com

Get in Touch

CommLab India is the most sought-after global leader for its rapid eLearning solutions. It has been ranked

first among top providers of Rapid eLearning and Blended Learning Solutions for 2020 by eLearning

Industry.

With our formidable authoring tools expertise and decades of experience in corporate training and

instructional design, we offer rapid eLearning solutions for speed, scale, and value…with any authoring tool!

What we do:

� Convert ILT material into instructionally sound, visually appealing, engaging eLearning curriculums, virtual sessions, and other digital learning formats.

� Convert legacy courses developed in Flash or any other authoring tool to HTML5, even without the source files.

� Translate English eLearning courses into 35 international languages – both text and audio.

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Want to Become an eLearning Champion?

Get it Now

Don’t miss this eBook that is filled with practical insights,

implementation ideas, best practices, and more. Explore how

you can align L&D with corporate strategy to design and deliver

online training programs that will help employees stay current,

competitive, and contribute to your organization’s bottom line in

today’s dynamic business environment.

‘Become an eLearning Champion’, dedicated to learning

professionals, is a distillation of CommLab India’s 20 years’

experience in instructional design, eLearning, corporate training,

and technology-enabled learning.