Are You Forgetting These 3 Things When Developing eLearning Content?

Developing an optimal eLearning course requires many considerations, including participants’ education levels and technical proficiencies, the eLearning platform and tools that participants will utilize, and the language participants speak (or don’t). It’s easy to miss critical steps in eLearning course design. Lionbridge’s eLearning experts share three things people often forget when they create eLearning content.

#1 Consistent Visual Design in Your eLearning Content

Sometimes, developers forget about the visual elements in eLearning course design. Consistent visual design throughout the course, GUI, and navigation is more than a nice-to-have. A course offers a more predictable, effortless user experience via strong design. This effect requires using the same styles for these elements:

• Font
• Background
• Button
• Capitalization
• Icons

With consistent design, users will have less difficulty navigating the course. Inconsistent design may also hurt the course’s credibility. Disregarding design principles will be obvious to users, even if they aren’t designers themselves. People may be unable to articulate why a design isn’t well executed, but they will have a general impression that something is wrong. When users see that the course has a shortcoming, they may wonder if it has other issues. This could lead to a lack of confidence in the course content, including concerns about inaccurate or incomplete information.

#2 Sufficient Repetition in Your eLearning Content

It’s well-documented that humans benefit from repetition when learning. In fact, some people need repetition to learn certain kinds of material. Repetition helps the brain move information from the subconscious to the conscious. It also helps build the learner’s confidence and reduces the learner’s stress. This effect occurs because repetition creates a familiar experience. When developing an eLearning course, it’s ideal to incorporate adequate repetition. (The caveat is to avoid so much repetition that participants are bored.) Repeating crucial or challenging information at least three times is often ideal. Note that repetition doesn’t have to feel like repetition. eLearning content can state information multiple times via different formats (a quiz, text to read, a video, etc.).

#3 Accessibility

Learners have many diverse needs and challenges. Creating accessible eLearning content for a variety of people is critical for a successful overall course. Some learners have permanent disabilities, like blindness or deafness, but others may have temporary challenges. For example, a participant may be unable to use the sound on an eLearning course because they’re in a public space and forgot their headphones. Benefitting groups with either temporary or permanent challenges will help ensure a course is effective for all participants, for many iterations. Thus, organizations using the course are more likely to get the desired impact and ROI out of it — without incurring extra costs. Course developers can ensure their eLearning content is accessible to everyone with these tactics below.

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