It is important to develop a consistent way of structuring distance learning materials. This helps people to make decisions about what to do and how to find things. We can divide the structure into three parts:
Introduction
Body of the material
Ending the module
Introduce the module
Make sure that learners move on to the learning part as quickly as possible. However, you must also make sure that they know what the module is about and that they have any other information they need before starting. It is therefore useful to develop a standard approach to introducing a module.
Always start with a consistent series of sections. Here is a suggested sequence.
Title page
Make the title page attractive and engaging. Make sure that it tells the learner what the course is about. Avoid making it too flashy.
Who the course is for
Make it clear who the course is aimed at. This should state what job grade is necessary, what level of experience is required and any previous training that should have been completed.
Objectives of the course
Explain to the learner what they are going to learn; this is what is known as a learner's objective. Stating objectives here shows the relevance of the course to the learner and hence increases motivation.
For example, a learner's objective for this workshop could be:
- You will be able to follow a systematic process for developing paper-based distance learning.
The three part method for writing training objectives is appropriate for the design process, but is not suitable for writing a learner's objective. These must be written in a more welcoming style.
Opinion is divided as to whether a learner's objective should be written in behavioural terms. The example above is written in this style, but an alternative wording could be:
- This course aims to show you a systematic process for developing paper-based distance learning.
This does not specify a behaviour on the part of the learner.
For behavioural objectives:
- It makes the purpose of the training very clear.
Against:
- Learners concentrate on the exact behaviour specified and ignore other important information.
It is not clear who is correct, but there is general agreement that learners do perform better if they are told at the start of the lesson what they will be learning. This is probably because it allows the learner to relate this new subject to their existing knowledge, a factor in increasing motivation.
However you decide to do it, the most important thing is to make sure that this section makes the learner realise that the course is highly relevant to them.
Instructions on using the materials
Provide the learner with information they need to use the materials. For example:
- Is there a pre-test that they should try?
- Where will they find answers to questions?
- Are there are any other sources of information they will need?
- Do they need to involve a supervisor or line manager at any time?
Relate the course to the learner's existing knowledge
Provide a brief introduction to the course that shows how this material builds on what the learner already knows. This is another way to increase motivation.
It may also be appropriate here to tell the learner that if they do not already have this level of knowledge, that they may not want to carry on.
Offer a pre-test if appropriate
A pre-test may be a good idea if you think that some people starting the course may not be qualified in some way. However, a pre-test is probably not necessary if you are confident that everybody starting the course is qualified or that they must complete it anyway.
Present the body of the material
The body of the material will be made up of the presentation of information and questions to check understanding.
There are some general aspects of design that you should try to follow.
Give the learner signs of progress
If you are designing paper-based materials, the learner
will get a sense of progress just by looking at the balance of pages read
and pages still to read.
However, with computer-based materials this visual feedback is absent. In
such cases you will need to capture data about the learner's performance that
you can use to give them dynamic feedback on their performance.
Introduce, explain, summarise
Learners feel more comfortable with new information if they know what the scope of the information is. So at the start of a new subject provide a brief explanation of what the subject is and what the learner will cover (which is a similar principle to introducing a module with the learner's objectives). At the end of the subject provide a summary of the key points.
Move from the known to the unknown
People assimilate and understand new information by matching it with what they already know. So always:
- start with what people know and move on to what they do not know
- start with the simple and move on to the complex.
There must be a clear end to the material. This should include a summary of key learning points that should relate to the individual performances identified in your pyramid analysis. Some studies have shown that learners learn more from a summary of key learning points than from the main body of the tutorial! So do not leave the summary out.
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(C) Bryan Hopkins, 2005