One of the most exciting things about having your own Learning Management System is the ability to create and distribute custom training content to your learners. Sure, Essential Learning provides the highest quality library of online courses available in our industry, but there are always courses that are unique to your environment. Instructional Design Technology has come a long way in the last few years and there is quite a bit of science to the art of creating quality online courses. Our Content design experts will help guide you on the path to creating your own content while giving you and your peers a place to share your own experiences and perhaps even your own content.
What the Heck is Chunking?
When you go to write an online course, it is critical that you understand the concept of chunking. What do I mean by chunking in this case?
Definition of Chunking: Chunking is a principle that applies to the effective communication of information between human beings. It is particularly useful in the domain of written communication. It was first put forward in the 1950s by a Harvard psychologist named George A. Miller. He published a landmark journal article entitled "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two". Miller studied the short term memory. For example, how many numbers people could be reliably expected to remember a few minutes after having been told these numbers only once. The answer was: "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two".
In terms of eLearning, chunking means breaking up the text and culling it down to the essential so readers do not see a solid block of text. Content should be presented in informational units that are small and easy to digest. Topics should address only one main idea. It is necessary to use plenty of subheadings and ensure that the main points are emphasized visually.
As you begin organize your course, start with creating an outline with all the sections and subsections. From there you can then begin to write each section.
Here is an example of an outline with headings and sub-headings:
Section 1: Overview and Objectives
Course overview
Learning objectives
Practice Vignette
Section 2: Defining Teams
What is a team?
Why is team work important?
Different types of teams
Basic features of a team
Section 3: Building a team
Growing into a team
Creating a team contract
Section 4: Stages of Team Development
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
Adjourning
Section 5: Building Team Trust
How does trust foster teamwork
Four elements of a trusting environment
Creating a culture of teamwork
Section 6: Summary and Review Exercise
Remember – when writing content for eLearning – less is more and Chunking is the key!