Phases of Successful eLearning Course development

In my previous article, The journey to eLearning, the first step to take when considering transitioning to eLearning is to convert your existing learning material into eLearning. If you’re opting to take on this massive yet exciting task yourself, rather than outsourcing a specialist – you’ll need to equip yourself with expert knowledge first.  This article covers the phases of eLearning course development – specifically using the ADDIE model in the instructional design process.

Before we get started, here’s what you need to know about ADDIE:

The ADDIE model is a five phase model for building effective learning and training material. Each letter stands for the five phases: Analyse, Design, develop, Implement and Evaluate.

Analyse

Think of eLearning development like starting a new business. Right after the conception of your idea you need to analyse a number of things: who will be your target market, what the objectives of your business are etc.  In eLearning, the analysis phase involves defining what is to be learned by the learners. You’ll need to study the requirements of the learners in great detail. During this phase, you must define the problem, identify the source of the problem and determine the possible solutions which can be provided through the eLearning modules

You can ask yourself the following to help you in this phase:  

1. What skills gaps are there in the organisation currently?
2. Who is this eLearning aimed at?
3. What do they already know?
4. What is the eLearning going to achieve?

Design

This phase can be considered the meat of the eLearning development process – you need to consider each topic within the course, what resources and media will be used, the actual content of the course and how you can evaluate its effectiveness (i.e. quizzes and tests). Remember that people learn in different ways – kinaesthetic, auditory and visual. So make sure that your course material meets the needs of these learning styles.

Development

The development phase is exactly that – development. This is where what was planned in the design phase comes to life. All the members of your team: graphic designers, technical developers, animators, and e-learning designers go through storyboards scripts and notes. Thereafter they’ll start producing the actual course using an authoring tool. The content is then evaluated to ensure that it meets the goals that were identified in the Analysis phase. This is sometimes referred to as testing the course.

Implementation

At this stage the courses have been built, it’s now time to launch and make them available to student on an eLearning platform or learning management system.

Evaluation

A system of feedback is necessary to ensure that the courses have met the needs of the organisation, students, and has been presented as effectively and with all the necessary tools and aids. An online survey, for example, can be used to get this feedback online from students and management levels.

In conclusion, ADDIE is an easy-to-follow model that gives clear, well-defined goals to ensure that you don’t miss a single element throughout the eLearning creation process. It can be used for eLearning projects of any size, but works best with large and complex projects. It has proven to be a very useful management tool, allowing for the design and development of large numbers of courses to a standard high quality.

Prefer to leave the eLearning course development to the experts? We’re here to help. Sound Idea Digital creates eLearning and Learning Management Systems, contact us today for a consultation.