From the course: Converting Face-to-Face Training into Digital Learning

General tips for developing digital learning

From the course: Converting Face-to-Face Training into Digital Learning

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General tips for developing digital learning

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- [Instructor] We've covered a lot of ground in this course. Tips and tools related to job analysis, virtual training, E-Learning, performance support, social learning, blended learning, not to mention our exploration of the different ways you can assess a person's learning. Because there are many strands to digital learning, I think it's worthwhile to give some general tips that apply to all of them. Identify what you love most about in-person instruction, and infuse that into your digital blend. Love connecting one-on-one with students? Fantastic, schedule regular one-on-ones, or hold virtual office hours. Or maybe it's creating small group activities that really gets your motor humming. Awesome, work 'em into a short weekly virtual session, or get students collaborating in a forum-type space, embrace technical glitches and adjust your timelines accordingly. I'm with you that it can be super frustrating when something is supposed to work but doesn't. If you're going to excel in digital blends though, you have to accept that technical glitches are just simply part of the game. Expect that they will happen and create some buffer in your timelines to deal with them. Mix up the way you present material. For me, this is one of the greatest strengths of digital learning. There are so many ways to get the information across. But if you're focusing on one aspect of digital learning for an extended time, say a longish virtual instructor-led course or a series of E-Learning modules, challenge yourself to find different ways to get the learner interacting with the content. Another tip is to modularize your content, which is a fancy way of saying break up your content into small chunks. There are so many good reasons for this. It's easier on you as a creator of content. It's better for your students who need frequent breaks to make sense of the material and not get overloaded with information. It also makes updating your learning program that much easier. And the last tip I have is to repeat the core ideas you want your learners to learn throughout the learning experience. Repeat the core ideas of the first virtual session in the second session. Repeat the main points of the first E-Learning module in a series in the last one. To paraphrase learning expert Will Thalheimer, "Repeating core concepts "throughout a learning experience is "a simple proven way to get people to remember "what we taught 'em." So here goes. Identify what you love and infuse it into your digital solution. Embrace the technical glitches. Mix up the way you present material. Modularize your content. And repeat your core ideas. Do these five things and you'll be quick on your way to developing robust digital solutions.

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