Education Module Case Study

This demo is the result of a proposed proof-of-concept for Red River College (RRC). The goal was to simulate an education module based on one of their distance education courses.

eLearnerEngaged saw an opportunity to demonstrate a more engaging learning experience.

RRC saw an opportunity to be exposed to a learning module, based on real course material, that would raise the bar for their distance education.

…eLearnerEngaged provided us with an excellent vision for what’s possible in e-learning. Their sample module featuring effective visuals, narration, and engaging interactivity is something we definitely want to emulate here at Red River College. Great work!
- Michael Farris, Learning Technologies Group, Red River College

Note: This demo was developed in seclusion, without the iterative quality reviews that make up real client work. There is no doubt that reviews increase quality tenfold.

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Notebook: Lessons Learned

Since releasing this demo, we’ve received a tremendous amount of feedback from instructional designers and e-learning enthusiasts. The most engaged coming from the active Articulate community.

The following are some of our lessons learned and feedback received.

It’s all about the whiteboard

90% development momentum came from brainstorming at a whiteboard. These 1 to 3 hour sessions catapulted development from stagnate Photoshop mock-ups to tangible creation.

It’s best to break a module up into higher level sections, then partake in whiteboard sessions to bring out the details of each. Reviews allow for piecing the overall vision together.

Bottlenecks

Though this was not client work, we did carry out this project within a standard process. In this process we noticed momentum shifting. Here are two areas that slowed development the most:

Copywriting (Storytelling) - This is obviously a profession of its own, not a skill expected from a graphic or instructional designer.

We recommend scoping out script and storytelling during project initiation. It will cause a bottleneck if left in the hands of someone unskilled.

Because it’s an important part of engagement, outsourcing should be considered.

Photoshop / User Interface - Once the goal is to step away from bulleted lists, typical of PowerPoint, and sadly, e-learning, you’re in the realm of user interface and graphic design. Much like copywriting, the right professional can facilitate this area in time and quality.

Graphic Design

Feedback associated with graphic design has been extremely positive.

That said, it’s easy to design graphic elements for the sake of eye candy. Moving forward, we anticipate a stricter design criteria, with the overarching theme: simplify.

We’d prefer to lean closer to an Apple style of design, while drawing inspiration from interactive media.

Activities

This demo features two activities, the Mission Report Activity and the Glucose Activity.

Articulate Storyline allowed us to incorporate any activity we imagined.

Activities only required a bit more “whiteboard” planning than information sections. As a result, we anticipate future projects will incorporate more interactive narratives.

Our goal was seamless activities within information sections – we didn’t want the user to feel like we took them out of the learning environment.

Narration and Use of Humor

For this demo, we looked forward to taking advantage of narration and humor.

These features are routinely left out of e-learning; the “narrative” being they are unnecessary.

Search the web for “humor” or “narration” plus “e-learning” and you’ll return mostly cautionary tales. Most from a corporate perspective – erring on the side of caution due to policy or fear, with few examples.

So, we attempted to engage with a humorous narrator/guide.

And overall, it has been our most rewarding feedback; giving us not only experience, but clearer product vision.

As with other areas, we expect the use of narration and humor to be improved through quality reviews (checklists) and iterative user testing.

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