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Modulul 5: Creați propriul vostru e-curs

Sumar

Participanții la modulul față în față vor acumula deprinderi practice și cunoștințele necesare pentru a crea propriul modul de e-curs. Participanții vor parcurge 5 faze:

Analiza

Concept

Dezvoltare

Implementare

Evaluare

Conținutul acestui modul servește ca și model sau șablon pentru a ști cum se administrează și dezvoltă un e-curs urmând fazele enumerate mai sus. Toate modelel de câmpuri și tabele sunt urmate de un exemplu.

Participanții vor parcurge primele două etape (Analiza și Conceptul) înainte de întâlnirea față în față planificată, urmând ca apoi în timpul întâlnirii față în față să se concentreze pe ultimele trei faze (Dezvoltare, Implementare, Evaluare).

Expected Results

Throughout this module the participant will learn how to:

Prepare his/her first e-learning module, from analysis to evaluation phase.

Master the process needed for creating a successful e-learning course.

Use blueprint provided in this module for creation of other e-learning courses

and e-materials.

Implement e-learning in practice and encourage learners through motivational

methods provided.

Evaluate learners’ knowledge or skills and improve e-learning course.

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1 Analysis

1.1 Defining target groupDefining target group for e-learning is the first step in developing and implementing successful e-learning course. Based on defined group characteristics, further steps in analysis and following phases will be prepared.

1.1.1 Target audience and their characteristics

As described in Module 2 there are several characteristics of target audience to take into account when developing an e-learning course. We can gather required information by several ways, such as interviews, questionnaires, open questions, etc. Detected characteristics should be written down.

EXAMPLE: Target audience and their characteristics for the Business Negotiation e-

course

Target audience for e-learning Business Negotiation are typically:

Business people, adult learners between 30 and 60 years, they participate voluntarily, they have basic or advanced IT knowledge, that have higher education and are working in management.

1.1.2 Previously acquired knowledge

It is of foremost importance to take into account the level of their previously acquired knowledge – overly simplified or complicated materials will water down learners’ interest. We must try to incorporate as many target group’s wishes as possible to automatically enhance learners’ interest and attract their attention.

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EXAMPLE: Previously acquired knowledge of target group for the Business

Negotiation e-course

Our target group has a lot of practice and experiences in communication, some also in the field of Business Negotiation. However, they lack detailed knowledge and skills on the topic.

1.1.3 Technical equipment

Knowing the technical equipment your target group has at its disposal will serve as a guideline for the selection of technology and media. One should identify the computer equipment capacities, prerequisite knowledge and skills for e-learning material management, etc.

EXAMPLE: Technical equipment target group limitations for the Business

Negotiation e-course

Our target audience works in environment, sometimes with lack of some technical equipment, such as headphones. We must take this into account, when preparing e-learning course and choosing appropriate e-learning tools. If we, for example, decide to choose a webinar we must offer a learner also a possibility to use a phone instead of headphones when attending the webinar.

1.1.4 Learning constrains for the selected target group

We must consider all of other learning constrains our target audience has, such as time schedule, learning location limitations, accessibility issues or other defined constrains.

EXAMPLE: Target group Learning constrains for the Business Negotiation e-course

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Business people are highly active throughout the working day. Therefor it is recommended to develop mainly an asynchronous e-learning course and implement fewer synchronous sessions (e.g. webinars), mainly in evening time.

1.1.5 Target group skill deficiencies

Are there any skill deficiencies our target group has, such as lack of IT knowledge? Based on such assumptions we must consider developing a user friendly and simple to use e-learning course.

EXAMPLE: Target group skill deficiencies for the Business Negotiation e-course

It is possible that small part of target audience lacks some basic IT knowledge or skills, necessary for attending e-learning course. We must take this into account when choosing appropriate e-learning tools and technology.

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2 DesignThe design phase covers the complete design of the e-learning solution, from training methodology, learning objectives to curriculum and planning activities. In this phase we must consider and select appropriate media for every activity and learning objective, determine appropriate interactions, which should encourage learners to explore further.

2.1 Choosing appropriate e-learning formDifferent forms of e-learning are explained in detail in the Introduction module of Train for Trainers seminar. Choosing the correct form of e-learning is one of the crucial steps in developing an successful e-learning course and must be carefully chosen based on the characteristic and constrains of target audience.

2.2 E-learning course delivery optionsUsusally we choose the mixture of following options

Asynchronous

o Self-study basic content materialo Recorded Audio and Videoo Advanced multimedia learning objectso Online sources (hyperlinks)o …

Synchronous

o Live Classroomo Virtual Classroomo Videoconferencingo Webinarso Distance Coachingo …

2.3 Project planSuccessful and efficient project management is very important in the process of the e-learning materials development. One or more people – depending on the scope of work, can manage project. Project management is needed throughout the process of building content.

When preparing a project plan for e-learning we must consider the selection of activities, selection of in-house and outsourced experts who will work on the

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development of e-learning materials, how to ensure good cooperation, how to set the timeframe for the working tasks, prepare a financial plan and assess progress during implementation and at the end of the project.

2.3.1 Timeframes, tasks and project plan

Before we start creating our e-learning content, it is recommended to have at least a basic project plan with defined tasks and timeframes. It will help us at monitoring our progress and reaching our goals more clearly and efficiently.

Task Deadline Description

EXAMPLE: Project plan for the Business Negotiation e-course

Task Deadline Description

Review of already created learning material

15.8.2014 Check for already created content and sources

Learning objectives 20.8.2014 Define learning objectives

Defining curriculum 1.9.2014 The author will define curriculum based on target group, e-learning goals, etc.

Preparing basic text content for e-learning course

10.10.2014 The author will write basic text content for e-learning course based on defined curriculum

…

2.3.2 Defining budget

Before we start building our e-learning materials, we should identify the main financial sources from which we can eventually draw additional financial means, and the maximum budget we cannot possibly exceed. Financial budget also depends on anticipated size of potential target groups and the price they are willing to pay for the e-learning course.

We should have a very clear idea regarding the amount of money we can afford or wish to invest into the development of the e-learning materials. Several factors depend on the budget, including the selection of people who will work on the project, type of technology and media to be used (open code or payable software), purchase of copy rights if necessary, etc.

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Cost breakdown:

Staff cost (salaries, travel expenses, daily allowances, etc.).

Potential purchase of new software or hardware.

Material cost (workplace, photocopying, postage, internet connection, etc.).

Subcontractors.

Provisions for unforeseen expenses.

It is recommended to prepare a budget management table in which we define budget for every expected task defined in project plan.

Task Estimated expenses Real costs

EXAMPLE: Budget plan for the Business Negotiation e-course

Task Estimated expenses Real costs

Review of already created learning material 200 € (8 hours) 150 € (6 hours)

Learning objectives 100 € (4 hours) 100 € (4 hours)

Defining curriculum 150 € (6 hours) 150 € (6 hours)

Preparing basic text content for e-learning course

500 € (20 hours) 500 € (20 hours)

…

2.4 Learning objectivesIt is strongly recommended to prepare a separate table for each learning objective; such table will serve you as a guideline and will help you evaluate your work.

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Learning objective Knowledge or skills to be acquired

Tools for Practical Implementation

EXAMPLE: Learning objectives for the Business Negotiation e-course

Learning objective Knowledge or skills to be acquired

Tools for Practical Implementation

To prepare for successful business negotiation

Evaluating the negotiating situation

Forming the aims

Gathering information

E-learning content, video clips, online group communication tool

…

The main learning objectives are further subdivided into individual study unit objectives. All this serves to increase the transparency, which facilitates performance assessment at a later stage. It enables learners to form concrete ideas about the benefits of the course, knowledge application in their daily, personal or professional life. Thus, it is important to present learning objectives in a straightforward fashion, to offer them concrete and practical knowledge and skills.

2.5 Curriculum and learning activities for e-learning courseFor the sake of transparency, it is of outmost importance to set up a transparent study structure, which will facilitate learners’ use of e-learning materials. You should prepare a table of contents, divide the e-learning contents into study sequences, prepare guidelines, plan motivational elements and provide clear definitions of the terms used.

Learners should be always in control of the e-learning materials they are using, keeping an outlook over the study content as a whole. If e-learning materials are not used in the established sequence, the table of contents (curriculum) will help them search for the desired lesson. Transparency of e-learning materials has positive impacts on learners’ motivation for work and studies.

Even during the material selection phase, one should keep in mind that materials will have to be subdivided into steps, and thus they will not be used in their original form. Study units represent logical sequences of steps, and different steps together represent a certain whole.

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Selection of study paths depends on you and the learning objectives you set out to achieve:

Linear Study Path.

Activity Oriented Study Path.

Learner-Friendly Study Path.

Study Path Based on Learners’ Level of Knowledge.

Research-Based Study Path.

Learning unit E-learning form, tools or activities

Duration Learning goal

EXAMPLE: Curriculum example for the Business Negotiation e-course

Learning unit E-learning form, tools or activities

Duration Learning goal

Business Negotiation Basics

What is Business Negotiation

History of BN

Crucial BN steps

Webinar 2 hours Get to know basics regarding Business Negotiation

Preparing for Business Negotiation

Virtual Classroom 2 hours The meaning of preparation in BN

…

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3 Development

3.1 Template with prototypeIt is recommended to prepare a prototype or template (e.g. storyboard) for e-learning course. Later on, when we develop our e-learning course, we will use the visual identity defined in the template for all of the elements used in e-learning course.

If we are developing custom e-learning course we can also prepare special user interface and user experience.

3.2 Creating contentWe must prepare training materials based on defined curriculum. For every specified activity we prepare content, scenario for interactive or multimedia elements or other learner activity, exercises for learners, scenarios for case studies, etc. When creating the content, it is highly recommended to take into account the methodological and e-didactical tips described in Methodology and Didactic module and also e-learning form used for specified activity.

Activities are integrated into e-learning materials when we know they will be used for e-tutor supported e-learning courses. E-learning materials have to be adapted to learners’ capacities, have to motivate them and enable them to work independently.

All activities start with preparations (selection of materials, group formation), continue with action (implementation of the main study activities, work) and end with a reflection (reflection about the new knowledge).

Activities should foresee the participation of all learners in order to make the e-learning materials more appealing to them. Here we are no longer merely preparing e-learning materials, but rather supplementing them and structuring the implementation of the e-course.

There are two types of activities – synchronous and asynchronous:

Synchronic activities are time dependent and independent of study place. All learners simultaneously study the e-learning materials guided by a teacher or an e-tutor. Learners are guided in their studies by the tutor who answers their questions on-line. This type of learning is comparable to the classical classroom learning situations; however, this form of learning is much more relaxed and informal. Learners are normally much more active in the context of synchronic activities, compared to the classical contexts were they are

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sitting in classrooms. In virtual classrooms learners use top quality study tools, such as audio and video recordings, chat rooms, interactive boards, etc.

Asynchronic activities allow learners to study at any place and any time; learners are free to decide, how they wish to study the e-learning materials, and are almost completely free. They are further supported by a teacher and other students, with whom one communicates through forums or debates. Most of the time they do not communicate directly (live). Learners would normally receive answers to their questions within several hours or days, depending on the protocol agreed with the tutor. It is recommended to generate answers within 24 hours.

3.3 Additional knowledge & External linksExternal links are paths that lead to web sites you find interesting and that could prove to be useful for the learners. Such links are mainly considered a helpful tool for the learners to consolidate, deepen or upgrade their newly acquired knowledge, etc.

External links can also become part of the study materials; e.g. learners have to click on the link and write an opinion about the web site or analyze it, answer questions, etc.

Additional study resources are the resources you did not integrate into the e-learning materials, because either they are too extensive, or for any other reason. Additional study resources are files attached to the e-learning units or steps. These can include different tables, instructions for exercises, diagrams, pictures, word and PDF files, etc.

3.4 Creating interactive and multimedia objectsWhen creating multimedia or other interactive objects we must consider and prepare several things:

1. Defining technology. In this step, we must select appropriate tools for multimedia or interactive objects creation, as represented in Module 3.

2. Creating scenario. After the selection of tools and technology, we must prepare scenario for advanced objects. Scenario must be written in detail, with defined appearance, operation, usability, content, etc.

3. Using chosen tools and creating multimedia object. We must develop multimedia content based on defined scenario.

4. Debugging. After development, it is crucial to test and improve created objects.

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3.5 Creating knowledge assessmentIn the e-learning context knowledge assessment is even more important than knowledge assessment in the context of traditional forms of education. Short quizzes are useful tools for continuous knowledge assessment; quiz results and other feedback is instantly generated. This chapter will guide you through the process of quiz development, knowledge assessment and types of quizzes that can be used for knowledge testing and assessment, etc. Most importantly, you will learn how to prevent cheating in the e-learning context.

Knowledge can be tested in different ways. Quizzes can be assessed by:

A software (independently) – in this case feedback for learners is generated

automatically

An e-tutor – such an assessment is the most adequate and thorough, but

feedback is not generated immediately

Student to student – speed of feedback exchange is also lower in this way,

because students normally need even more time to check the results and

provide an assessment

Self-assessment – students will receive feedback when they decide to look up

the correct answers

When building up quizzes for knowledge testing purposes, you should also think about:

How many times can learners take the quiz (one or more times), and if they can take it more than once, which results will be taken into account (the best, the last, etc.);

Will you set a time limit (with time limitations you also limit the cheating potential) or not.

We have mentioned that the main purpose of testing learners’ knowledge is to get feedback - for both learners and e-tutors. Learners can see what they still have to study, and e-tutors can see which topics caused most difficulties to the learners. Knowledge testing and assessment types were already discussed in previous lessons; now we will look at the types of tasks and assessments.

Sound advice for sound quiz building:

Questions should be clear and intelligible – pay attention to punctuation,

because punctuation marks can completely change the meaning of a

sentence.

Tell you students how many answers they have to select, so that they do not

waste their time in vain.

Explain complex terms and concepts.

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Write simple sentences.

Ask only one question at a time.

Look for knowledge, do not seek the lack of it

Test practical knowledge – relate the questions to real-life situations (e.g. job).

If you cannot think of a good example, ask yourself why you are asking the

question!

Underline important words – e.g. when you are looking for the wrong answer:

‘Which statement is incorrect?’

Multiple choice questions should have equally ‘credible’ answers. If all

answers, except for the correct one, are similarly composed, students will be

tempted to take a guess.

Do not ask questions too easy to answer.

3.6 DebuggingDebugging is the last in the process of e-learning content creation. We must test and debug materials and procedures, with goal to maximize quality of e-learning and to minimize potential problems in implementation phase.

Bug Description

EXAMPLE: Bug report for Business Negotiation e-course

Bug Description

Preparing for Business Negotiation

Users are having problems with understanding the topic, mainly with chapter 2.1

…

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3.7 Pilot phaseIt is recommended to implement e-learning to pilot group of learners and to gather feedback and recommendations. It is necessary that a pilot group of learners represents the target audience. Every learner from the pilot group must write down his observations, thoughts, comments, suggestions, etc. in the provided table.

E-learning task Comment (suggestion)

EXAMPLE: The survey and remarks for the Pilot Business Negotiation e-course

E-learning task Comment (suggestion)

Preparing for Business Negotiation I suggest to use more infographics.

…

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4 Implementation

So, we’ve developed our e-learning course and it’s time to use it in practice.

4.1 Organizing e-learning courseWe must gather all the necessary information about learners, for example name, surname, e-mail address and other. This is crucial for preparing access to e-learning courses, webinars, web conferences, etc. Most of those technologies are requiring user registration, before use. After the preparation of user accesses, we inform users with their login data and additional instructions about using the selected technology.

4.2 Motivating learnersMotivation is one of the greatest issues in learning, but even of greater importance in e-learning. Role of mentor is therefore of a critical importance for successful implementation of e-learning. As a mentor we can use several methods for motivating our learners, such as:

Publish requirements and set expectations.

Establish relevance for the virtual learner.

Provide continuous encouragement.

Assess e-learning.

Provide organizational support for the virtual learning process.

Provide rewards and recognition for learning participation and success.

Publish success stories and case studies.

We can implement and integrate some of the above methods already in the development phase when preparing content.

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5 EvaluationThe purpose of evaluation is to measure the effectiveness of the delivered e-course. Each e-course should evaluate at least two levels: learners’ reaction and learning outcome.

More details are available in Module 4: Roles, Rules and Evaluation.

5.1 Learners’ reaction

Main source for evaluation of learner’s reaction is feedback by learners, performed

by questionnaire or online survey. Another significant source is observation by the

trainer through trainer’s notes made during the e-course.

Collecting of data is followed by the analysis of data with the interpretation of the

results. Finding of e-course improvement measures is of great importance.

Found weaknesses Measures for improvement Priority

EXAMPLE: The survey and remarks for the Business Negotiation e-course

Found weaknesses Measures for improvement Priority

Webinars were too short Reschedule the e-course design and consider joining 4 short webinars in 2 longer ones

2

Some questions in final test are ambiguous

Find ambiguous questions, analyse correct ansewers ratio, consider revising questions

1

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5.2 Knowledge and skills assessmentDirect result of attending the e-course should be increased knowledge or new developed skills. Common methods of measuring such results are knowledge tests and assigments. It is very important that assessment is aligned with learning objectives, i.e. that it measures the expected outcomes set in the design stage.

As a record we should keep the evidence of assessment results. In a table below the example of such evidence is shown, however the assessment of skills cannot always be measured in absolute ways. The score could be a more descriptive one and could function more as a feedback to the trainee. A proper evidence design should be considered.

Nr. First Name

Last Name

E-mail Course Name Date Score Result

EXAMPLE: Scores of assessment test for the Business Negotiation e-course

Nr. First Name

Last Name

E-mail Course Name Date Score Result

1 John Doe [email protected] Business Negotiation

08.09.2014 88% Passed

2 Mary Johnson [email protected] Business Negotiation

09.09.2014 57% Failed

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6 References:

InSync Training, 2014. 101 Tips to Motivate the Virtual Learner

http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/index.html

From Idea to E-course in Five Steps. dr. Tanja Arh, mag. Matija Pipan, mag.

Rok Kokalj, Urša Mekiš, David Rozman.

Cathy Moore Blog. Cathy Moore. 9.5.2014. http://blog.cathy-moore.com/

Becoming a Rapid E-Learning Pro. Kuhlmann, Tom. 9.5.2014.

http://cdn.articulate.com/images/blogs/rel/downloads/Insiders_Guide_To_Bec

oming_A_Rapid_E-Learning_Pro.pdf

E-learning methodologies: A guide for designing and developing e-learning

courses. Beatrice Ghirardini. 9.5.2014.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2516e/i2516e.pdf

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http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/i2516e/i2516e.pdf

http://cdn.articulate.com/images/blogs/rel/downloads/Insiders_Guide_To_Becoming_A_Rapid_E-Learning_Pro.pdf

http://cdn.articulate.com/images/blogs/rel/downloads/Insiders_Guide_To_Becoming_A_Rapid_E-Learning_Pro.pdf

http://blog.cathy-moore.com/

http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/index.html

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