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.
STEP 1: PLANNING
The first step in writing your online course is planning. Planning involves many things including completing a needs analysis, identifying your goals and objectives, and writing your learning objectives and course description.
What is needs analysis? How is it completed? Why is it important?
In simplest terms, a needs analysis includes all the activities used to collect information about your students' learning needs, wants, wishes, desires, etc… The process also sometimes involves looking at the expectations and requirements of other interested parties such as the managers, administrators, customers, and other people who may be impacted by the training program. A needs analysis can be very formal, extensive and time consuming, or it can be informal, narrowly focused and quick. Some of resources for conducting a needs analysis may include surveys and questionnaires, test scores, and interviews.
The information gleaned from a needs analysis can be used to help you define course goals. These goals can then be stated as specific teaching objectives, which in turn will function as the foundation on which to develop the content, materials, tests, assignments and activities. Basically, a needs analysis will help you to clarify the purposes of your language program.
Reflection Moment:
Have you ever taken a class that has made you wonder, "Why am I here?"
How do you think students can help convey to their teachers what their needs are? When you are in a class, do you think about what you need to get out of it? What things do you do to either make your needs known or meet those needs on your own?
Next week we will look at the next part of Planning which involves identify goals and objectives for your online course.
Stay tuned for more information soon!