You have selected a Learning Management System. Now what?

Once you selected your LMS you then need to convert your learning content into Elearning content.

You have 2 choices when creating elearning content. The first choice, you can do it yourself. The second choice, you can contract a company to do it for you.

Creating your own e-learning content is not a simple task and you should keep the following things in mind when making the decision.

1. Do I or someone within my organisation, have the technical knowledge to author e-learning content?
2. How complex is the material I am converting to e-elearning content?
3. Would I like video and audio with my content?
4. Would I like the content to be interactive?
5. The more video, audio and interaction within the content adds to the complexity, and therefore, adds to the resources need to create it.

If you decide your organisation has the technical ability to create your own elearning content you then have to decide which authoring tool to use. And as with Learning Management Systems, there are many elearning authoring tools on the market to choose from. When choosing the authoring tool, always keep your audience in mind. Don’t get too advanced in technology if the user is much more remedial.

 

Some tips for creating your e-learning content.

Before you begin developing your course content, identify five to ten course learning objectives.

Ask yourself what outcomes you would like your learners to achieve upon successful completion of your course.

The user experience

The user's experience is more important than the content. Always develop with the user in mind, and make sure the navigation is intuitive. An advanced user may want to move ahead quickly, while a novice user may want more hand holding. While it takes more resources to develop a package that users can control, it will truly benefit the users if you do.

Success

Whatever tool you use, it is important to engage students from the start. Immediate success builds self-esteem, and gives the courage to go ahead. Most learners, and especially adult learners, are afraid of failure, so present them with a short test or learning activity that they cannot fail at. Following this up with immediate, positive feedback will fill the students with excitement, and motivate them to go ahead with the more challenging material.

Tell Stories

Use metaphors, analogies, stories, and patterns to enhance enjoyment, relevance, engagement, and understanding for the student. The best learning comes from experiences stimulated by deep emotions. The level of emotion will influence how the learner will allocate attention, remember, and ensure retention and recall.

Resources

If you decide that you do not have the resources at hand to create your own content you will need to contract a company to do it for you.

It is wise to spend time when selecting a company to create your content. In your research, you will find that prices for custom content services differ greatly from one vendor to another. Be sure to ask the vendor for examples of previous work and other companies they have done work for.

It is a must that you develop a good working relationship with the vendor built on communication. Creating effective and engaging content is a result of a tight collaboration between the content experts and the content creators.

On a final note, do not expect to be successful at this because you are a good live classroom trainer. Seek out successful e-Trainers for advice.