Deciding on content

Train 4 Business - E-Learning and Video Production

Train4Business develops bespoke training and promotional products.

For UK industry
The E-learning solution, CBT & mixed Training, CBT, Multimedia and Video Production
For small, medium and large enterprises
With access to a wide variety of subject experts
Using UK voice-over artists where required
Our products can contain text, audio, video, animation, PDF, HTML, photographs

- Train4Business - UK e-learning solution Design -

On these pages, you'll find information about the content that can be included in an E-learning project & some of the the decisions and information required. To look at other articles, click on the 'info' button on the left.

What you can include & how to decide

You can include almost anything you want. Text, photographs, PDF & HTML files, voice-overs & music or other audio files are no problem. MPEG1 video at 10 megabytes/minute (meaning a ten minute video occupies around 100Mb of disc space) is feasible on CD or DVD & even streaming media can be used via a network or internet connection. You can link to websites and animation, 3D graphics and interactivity are all possible.

With all these available, there is a danger of producing a technological showcase rather than an effective training piece.

The main point is the same regardless of the medium used; Content is king. It isn't so much "What can you include?" but "What should you include?"

Choosing the content, its structure & the interactivity involved is a complex matter & it needs to start from a consideration of the the learner and the business objectives. Get it right & the objectives are met & the learners will enjoy the experience. Get it wrong & no-one will be happy.

Many of the same 'rules' of learning design apply to e-learning, just as they do to any educational venture. Even though an e-learning product may be used by a wide group of people from different backgrounds and with different educational abilities, it's important to have a 'target group' in mind. Defining the background, education, current competency and expectations of this target group will help to focus the designer on the most appropriate methods and so forth.

Some other key points:

There is a danger with computer based material that graphics or effects will be included for their own sakes. If these are over-used they can be very distracting.

Music can enhance a production but where it is intrusive or used throughout, it can lessen the impact of the main material.

In the classroom, a trainer will very rarely do anything for more than about twenty minutes without a significant change of pace, media or method. In computer based instruction, the same requirement for variety should be considered but on a shorter timescale.

The advice given to would-be presenters remains true for e-learning - "Tell them what you're going to tell them" "Tell them" "Tell them what you've told them"

It's important to quickly establish why the user needs the information - what's in it for them and make sure that this is made clear to them

A useful method of deciding which material to cover is to divide it into "What MUST be covered" "What SHOULD be covered" and "What COULD be covered"

The objectives need to be formulated in terms of what the user will be able to do at the end of the training, to what standard and under what conditions

These are just a few of the issues that can help to decide on the content and structure of a piece.

Another useful way of thinking about content is to try to analyse how you want the end-product to be used. Is it a 'one-shot' piece or do you want people to refer to the material over a longer period of time?

A one-shot product needs to be of the moment and can be self-contained, whereas a product that you want people to use over time might best be implemented by having links to your intranet which holds material that can be updated as required.

Some customers have found that by including some of their operational forms & procedures in training pieces the training stops being a 'one-hit' wonder and becomes a useful reference. Employees can refer to a training piece when they like, print-off forms and revisit explanations when necessary.

At T4B, we start with the learner & the objectives. We build in media where it is necessary, not just because it's pretty. Above all, we are dedicated to learning solutions that deliver operational objectives - and we're just as happy to produce a training video for use on a traditional course as we are to develop stand-alone content.