Question: We are an India-based company and we want to start an eLearning project on product manufacturing, but we are not sure how to get started? Please guide us.
Thank you for your email question regarding how to start building an eLearning program. Here are some ideas to help you get started:
- Identify your learning Objectives: Type up a master list of the core concepts you want to include in your training. Group the concepts by subject area. It is sometimes helpful to type learning objectives in the form of a question (like a test or quiz) that you would want your learners to be able to answer upon completion of the training.
- Identify your existing content and any gaps: Gather all of your existing material/source content. This may be in the form of Word documents, PowerPoint files, PDF files, photographs, etc. Note next to your learning objectives whether or not you have existing content that covers these topics. This is often referred to as Content Gap Analysis. You are looking to determine how much content you have and what content you need to have written.
- Create a first-draft: I recommend that you use a tool like PowerPoint to produce the best and most complete first-draft version of your courses. Include the key points as bullet points on the slide and type up whatever narration/lecture content you would say in the narration section.
- Record a lecture: Using a tool like WebEx, GoToMeting, or PowerPoint’s build-in audio recording feature, have a trainer deliver and record the training as you would deliver to a new student.
- Deploy what you have or engage a partner: Sometimes the above is good enough to get started. Oftentimes if you create the above you can then engage a professional eLearning development company (like LearningDeveloper.com) to come in help you transform your existing content into a great looking and memorable eLearning experience. The more work you do on your end the less expensive it is to engage an outside resource to assist you.
This is simply one example of how you can get started as there are many ways to approach content design and development. I hope that you find the above information useful and wish you success in your eLearning initiative.