Tips for developing an E-learning prototype
When you’re able to start developing your e-learning course, I usually recommend starting with some kind of prototype. A prototype is just a sample of your e-learning course which you’ll use to review together with your stakeholders and material experts to urge some early feedback, Also on confirmation, you’ll be ready to develop the course that you’ve envisioned in your mind. Thereupon being said, here are three simple tips you’ll follow which will assist you in developing a prototype for your e-learning course. Tip favorite, Make your prototype as simple or as complex as you would like. You know, it is easy to get trapped trying to work out which tool or format you ought to use when creating your e-learning prototype. and therefore the truth is, there is no standard you’ve got to follow. Whether you select to make an easy mock-up of your e-learning course on PowerPoint otherwise you prefer to develop it in your preferred e-learning authoring tool, your prototype aims to assist you with developing the functionality and therefore the look and feel of your e-learning course. Okay, so tip number two. Expect to form tons of changes and be willing to iterate on your design.
Usually, your prototype is that the first time you and your stakeholders and material experts are going to be viewing a functioning version of your e-learning course, and as a result, you will likely need to form some changes, either to how you’re presenting your learning content or how your course functions. Either way, don’t let this take you all of a sudden. Expect to form tons of changes along the way and be willing to iterate on your design. Okay, so tip number three may be a simple one. Always, and that I mean always, create a prototype. Here’s the thing. regardless of what proportion you think that you and your stakeholders and material experts are on an equivalent page about your e-learning course and the way it’ll look the way it’ll function and the way the training content goes to be presented, there’s always getting to be something they didn’t realize they wanted until after they’ve reviewed your prototype. What you do not want to try to do is wait until you’ve spent countless hours fully developing your e-learning course and you review it together with your stakeholders and material experts. Although it’d appear to be another step to an already complicated development process, creating a prototype will ultimately prevent time money, and frustration by supplying you with a deeper understanding of your stakeholder’s expectations. Okay, so those are three tips you’ll follow when you’re developing your next e-learning prototype.
How to create a wireframe prototype for your e-learning course
As you start developing your e-learning course, there could also be times when you want to check whether or not a selected quiet interaction or function will work without having to stress about spending additional time on the design and feel. In these situations, I like to recommend creating a wireframe prototype, which unlike the opposite sorts of prototypes only focuses on the functionality of your e-learning course. Let’s take a glance at one I’m performing on immediately. Here’s a course that I have been working to develop and on this slide, I even have a scenario interaction where the learner must select a key phrase from the customer’s response to a sales question. Now, once I was brooding about creating this, I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d be ready to make it work the way I wanted. So I quickly created this wireframe prototype to check it out. Now before we see if it works, I would like you to note that I didn’t put much effort into the design and feel. As you’ll see, I’m using some basic shapes here for the caption alongside a placeholder for the customer and even some placeholder content. and since I didn’t worry about the planning or the content, I used to be ready to create this interaction during a jiffy instead of a couple of hours. All right, so let’s examine if it works. once I click on one among the key phrases here within the customer statement, I should get a check down here at the rock bottom of the screen. And as you’ll see, it works, so that’s specialized.
Now if I keep clicking, once I find all three key phrases I should get a pop-up window telling me that I completed the interaction. And as you’ll see, this second statement I found didn’t give me a check, so that tells me I want to travel back and fix this. And once I click on the third statement, while I’m getting the check, it’s showing me the pop-up window albeit I only have two checks. So this tells me I got to return and continue performing on this interaction until I’m ready to catch on to figure the way I would like. And once I even have it working, I can then finish it off by worrying about the content and therefore the look and feel. All right, so that’s only one example of why you would possibly want to make a wireframe prototype. therefore the next time you would like to quickly verify whether or not you will be ready to get interaction to figure the way you would like, try saving a while by creating a wireframe prototype.
How to create a visible prototype for your e-learning course
As you’re starting to develop your e-learning course, one of the things you’ll want to be thinking about is the look and feel of your content, and this is true even if you’ve yet to finalize what you’re including in your course. And one way to do this is by creating a visual prototype that is focused 100% on the look and feel of your e-learning course. Let me show you the one I’ve been working on. I’m in the process of building this e-learning course on customer service, and while I’m still working with my stakeholders and subject matter experts on the content, I wanted to get a head start on designing how the course might look and feel, and how I might lay out the different types of slides I’ll include. As you can see, here’s a design I’ve been working on for the title slide of my course, which includes some character images, a title, and of course a start button.
I’ve also created a few different variations using different colors, fonts, and layouts, like this one and this one. Here’s another design I’ve been working on for a content slide, which, as you can see, I’m using placeholder text for the content, which is okay since I’m not focused on my content at this point. Finally, here’s one more layout I’ve been working on for a simple click to reveal interaction, and as you can see, when I click on these different tabs here, some content is revealed to my learner. All right, so that’s just one example of a visual prototype, which I can now send off to my stakeholders and subject matter experts to get their feedback. So the next time you need to focus on the look and feel of your course, even if you’re not finished developing your content, I’d suggest creating a visual prototype. By the time you’re finished, you’ll have a template and all you’ll need to do is insert your content.
How to create a functional prototype for your e-learning course
Once you’ve finalized your learning content and the look and feel of your e-learning course, you must regularly send it off to your stakeholder and subject matter experts to get their review and feedback. Now I don’t recommend waiting until you’ve developed your entire course before you do this. In my experience, it’s best to send your course out for review as you develop it. Now a method to try to do this is often by creating and iterating on a functional prototype. And unlike the opposite sorts of prototypes, a functional prototype may be a fully developed and dealing sample of your e-learning course. Let’s take a look at an example that I need to send off for review. So I have this course here on customer service and I’ve created this functional prototype to send off for my stakeholders and subject matter experts to review. Now, whenever I create a functional prototype, there are a couple of things I prefer to incorporate. First, you can see here that I have the title slide for my course, which is pretty straightforward. Now if I click here to start the course, you’ll see that I’ve gone ahead and created the course menu. Now I should mention, not all of these menu items work since I’ve yet to create them, so I’ve disabled these items here so that my reviewers don’t try to view the parts of my prototype that aren’t yet developed.
All right, so if I click this first menu item, I’ve built this first section here which, as you’ll see, is a presentation slide that will eventually include some audio narration to go along with these animations. Okay, so that looks pretty good. If I proceed to the next slide, you’ll also see that I’ve included a simple click-to-reveal interaction which will give my reviewers a sense of how the interactivity will work within my course. In this case, my learners will click on each of these pulsing icons to reveal information about the customer journey. And finally, you’ll see that I’ve built out a sample decision-based interaction where my learners will need to select the correct response to a customer’s question. If I select one of these options, I’m provided feedback on my selection. All right, so that’s an example of a functional prototype that includes samples of the many different types of slides that I’ll be including in my fully developed e-learning course. By taking the time to develop a functional prototype, you’ll have something that you can send off to your stakeholders and subject matter experts to review and iterate on until you’ve developed the entire course. How to create a visible prototype for your e-learning course
As you’re starting to develop your e-learning course, one of the things you’ll want to be thinking about is the look and feel of your content, and this is true even if you’ve yet to finalize what you’re including in your course. And one way to do this is by creating a visual prototype that is focused 100% on the look and feel of your e-learning course. Let me show you the one I’ve been working on. I’m in the process of building this e-learning course on customer service, and while I’m still working with my stakeholders and subject matter experts on the content, I wanted to get a head start on designing how the course might look and feel, and how I might lay out the different types of slides I’ll include. As you can see, here’s a design I’ve been working on for the title slide of my course, which includes some character images, a title, and of course a start button. I’ve also created a few different variations using different colors, fonts, and layouts, like this one and this one.
Here’s another design I’ve been working on for a content slide, which, as you can see, I’m using placeholder text for the content, which is okay since I’m not focused on my content at this point. Finally, here’s one more layout I’ve been working on for a simple click to reveal interaction, and as you can see, when I click on these different tabs here, some content is revealed to my learner. All right, so that’s just one example of a visual prototype, which I can now send off to my stakeholders and subject matter experts to get their feedback. So the next time you need to focus on the look and feel of your course, even if you’re not finished developing your content, I’d suggest creating a visual prototype. By the time you’re finished, you’ll have a template and all you’ll need to do is insert your content.
How to create a functional prototype for your e-learning course
Once you’ve finalized your learning content and the look and feel of your e-learning course, you must regularly send it off to your stakeholder and subject matter experts to get their review and feedback. Now I don’t recommend waiting until you’ve developed your entire course before you do this. In my experience, it’s best to send your course out for review as you develop it. Now a method to try to do this is often by creating and iterating on a functional prototype. And unlike the opposite sorts of prototypes, a functional prototype may be a fully developed and dealing sample of your e-learning course. Let’s take a look at an example that I need to send off for review. So I have this course here on customer service and I’ve created this functional prototype to send off for my stakeholders and subject matter experts to review.
Now, whenever I create a functional prototype, there are a couple of things I prefer to incorporate. First, you can see here that I have the title slide for my course, which is pretty straightforward. Now if I click here to start the course, you’ll see that I’ve gone ahead and created the course menu. Now I should mention, not all of these menu items work since I’ve yet to create them, so I’ve disabled these items here so that my reviewers don’t try to view the parts of my prototype that aren’t yet developed. All right, so if I click this first menu item, I’ve built this first section here which, as you’ll see, is a presentation slide that will eventually include some audio narration to go along with these animations. Okay, so that looks pretty good. If I proceed to the next slide, you’ll also see that I’ve included a simple click-to-reveal interaction which will give my reviewers a sense of how the interactivity will work within my course. In this case, my learners will click on each of these pulsing icons to reveal information about the customer journey.
Finally, you’ll see that I’ve built out a sample decision-based interaction where my learners will need to select the correct response to a customer’s question. If I select one of these options, I’m provided feedback on my selection. All right, so that’s an example of a functional prototype that includes samples of the many different types of slides that I’ll be including in my fully developed e-learning course. By taking the time to develop a functional prototype, you’ll have something that you can send off to your stakeholders and subject matter experts to review and iterate on until you’ve developed the entire course.