Knockout These ELearning Dev Mistakes

By: Justin Ferriman • October 29, 2015
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thick-skinA lot goes into creating an elearning course.

If you’re not careful you can spend a lot of time creating your course in a way that isn’t beneficial to the learner.

Surprisingly, this can be quite easy to do.

Whether you’re creating your course using rapid elearning development software like Articulate Storyline, or if you’re using a program like LearnDash, there are some common pitfalls to avoid.

As the elearning developer it is your job to constantly be analyzing your course content to ensure that you are limiting these mistakes.

The good news is that if you do find them they are usually pretty easy to fix.

Also, if you people haven’t started taking the course then there is no harm done so don’t beat yourself up too much!

Even if people are taking your courses it is still a good idea to clean them up.

However, you should take note of when the changes are made so that you can account for any reporting changes for people who take the course after this point.

Common ELearning Development Pitfalls

Content Lacks Clarity – It’s easy to get so involved in the creation of the course that you forget it all starts with clear and simple objectives. Try to avoid going on tangents and branching away from the main goals of the course.

Information Overload – Sometimes it’s not necessary to explain every little detail. Understand the background of your audience and tailor the content for them accordingly. If they are already familiar with the general concept of the content then you don’t need to go to great lengths to provide supporting details.

Irrelevant Images – Everyone is guilty of this at some point. It usually happens when there is a text-heavy part of a course and we feel the need to break up the content with an image or two. When designing elearning you should be able to identify the value that images provide to the course. If it doesn’t help the learner, then replace it with one that does.

Terrible Font – Not all fonts are created equal. Some fonts are better for computers while others are better for print. Do your research to understand which fonts would work best in your course.

Lack of Media Variety – It goes without saying that text and images are a given for any elearning course. Don’t ignore other mediums like audio, video, and simulations. Used properly these can have a positive impact for your course.

Reference:
ELeap Training

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter