eLearning

If you're involved in the design of instructional materials (e.g., you're a trainer, instructor, instructional designer, or subject matter expert), you may feel a strong push to learn how to develop these materials too. Should folks who design online instructional materials also be able to develop that instruction… using authoring tools, programming, graphic tools, etc.?

I have a strong opinion about this, and I think my opinion makes sense. But first, an analogy to set the stage, okay?

Imagine hand-writing a document and giving it to your secretary to produce. You look over the finished product and, oops, the third paragraph isn't right. So you write on the draft and hand it back to be redone. Uh-oh, the fourth paragraph needs some rework, too. Redo. Switch the fourth and seventh paragraph. Redo. Get the picture?

The scenario I'm describing might have been normal 15 years ago, but it's not common today. Why? Folks who write documents have come to rely on word processors and most find that writing and editing with them has many advantages… like the ability to see how things look/feel/sound and make edits on the fly. Less rework, better results, less time. The word processor has essentially become a critical cognitive tool for thinking and writing.

Now imagine the same scenario with online instructional materials. You draw storyboards or script the content and hand it to someone else to build. And when you see it, you realize that it isn't quite right and the learner would be better served with a slightly different process. So the storyboards get modified or the content gets rewritten, and the developer makes the changes, and then new information comes to light, and the storyboards get modified again…

Here's my main point: Just as word processing skills potentially produce faster/better documents, authoring skills potentially produce faster/better instructional materials. Development isn't just the next phase after design—development augments and improves design. Authoring tools, like word processing tools, are critical cognitive tools in the process of bringing instructional ideas to fruition.

If you are able to do at least some of your own development, you'll

• know what is possible/optimal,
• recognize the implications of various design and development decisions,
• understand geek-speak and be able to converse with technical folks,
• be better prepared for managing the development process,
• know how to build some materials and fix some problems without having to wait on others, and
• design better online instruction.

Worthwhile? I think so.

What skills are we talking about?

Let's talk first about the range of skills that online instructional materials require. Then we'll take a realistic look at that range of skills and develop some conclusions about what kinds of skills an average Joe (trainer/instructor/instructional designer/subject matter expert) might easily acquire.

Here are skills that are often needed for building online instructional materials:

• Instructional design
• Information design/architecture
• Internet technologies
• Graphic/visual design
• Technology infrastructure
• Software development (authoring, programming, multimedia, database development)
• Project management
• Human computer interaction/usability
• Learning theory/instructional strategies

That's a pretty broad range of skills, right? Don't get nervous… not all skills are needed for every project. And some of the higher level IT skills will almost always require the high level skills of someone well trained in those areas. Simple sites can be and are often developed with some pretty basic design and authoring skills. Complex online instructional materials are often built, of necessity, by a team with diverse skills. These types of sites often need the skills of a graphic designer, tech writer, information architect, photographer, system administrator, video/sound engineer, programmer, multimedia developer, and usability tester.

What's reasonable for the average Joe?

So let's say you want to be able to do the whole shebang for smaller projects, as well as prototype and manage larger projects. To script (script? Ugh.) good documents, the average Joe needs decent writing skills plus respectable word processing skills (the ability to change printer toner cartridges doesn't hurt either). In addition (in addition?), the average Joe who develops online instructional materials needs

• competence with instructional design processes,
• insight into the difference between writing for the Web and writing for print publication,
• a decent understanding of Web usability and accessibility issues,
• respectable knowledge of applications of learning theory and instructional strategies for online learning,
• awareness of graphic design principles and their influence on learning,
• the ability to talk geek-speak with the IT folks involved in development and implementation, and
• the ability to build prototypes for online learning projects using a few development tools.

Yes, it's a lot. A lack of skills (and not knowing when to involve others) is one of the reasons that most online instructional materials are pretty dismal. There I said it: some online instructional materials are dismal. Just remember that dismal sites are also produced by folks with LOADS of technical skills but none of the other skills. This is why you need access to a well-rounded skillset—and why you may have to be the person to jump in there and pick up the missing skills.

So here's some good news… designer/developers of online instructional materials (and designer/developer wannabes) all start somewhere. My skills improve each year, from training, working on different kinds of projects, learning from others on the teams I work with, and from reading books and articles and trying new things. We all need to start somewhere, to learn, to keep learning, and so forth. Just as with any other area of expertise. No surprises. One major benefit of all this learning is that it's also great fun.

Getting started…

I'm going to limit my comments here on how to add authoring/development skills to your repertoire. See the articles I wrote for Online Learning Magazine for lots of information about how to gain many of the skills I mentioned.

If you're just starting to venture into instructional development, I recommend you start by learning HTML (check out this phenomenal tutorial at the Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/ ). It's easy to learn and provides enormous insights into the workings of the Web and web pages. And it will have a ripple effect on helping you with future development skills.

Writing HTML, HTML Tutorial
www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/

Then learn Dreamweaver MX. Dreamweaver is an extremely powerful tool for building websites and it's the one I teach my clients and students. Why not learn a specialty authoring tool that was built just for creating online learning instead? Good question. Here's the answer: Dreamweaver is the standard in the web development industry and the sky's the limit for what you'll be able to do with it or integrate into it (video, Flash, streaming media, programming, etc.). Use one of the online learning specialty authoring tools and you're limited to what the tool designers think is important for you to develop. Not a good long range plan, IMHO.

This location on the Macromedia site has some good starting places to learn their tools, and about e-learning in general:

Macromedia's eLearning Designer and Developer Center
www.macromedia.com/resources/elearning/

Okay, those are some great starting skills. You may not be the best ever at development but you will be able to do some decent things and will be able to think about your pages and site in a realistic way, which will ultimately improve the quality of your design. So what's next?

As you get comfortable, you should consider learning Macromedia Flash. The learning curve might be a little steep for some, but it's worth the effort—see my article on this subject.

Also learn some basic JavaScript. Dreamweaver will do a lot of this for you (a wonderful, wonderful product feature) but you should at least learn how to read and re-use others' scripts and make them do what you want. Check out http://www.javascript.com/ to get a sense of the enormous variety of free scripts that are easily available on the Web.

You might also want to learn CourseBuilder, Macromedia's free e-learning quiz and assessment extension that works with Dreamweaver MX.

After all this (or maybe sooner), you may want to consider learning how to use software simulation tools too because almost everyone I work with needs to use the Web to teach application and software skills. I especially like RoboDemo, which outputs as Flash and is VERY easy to learn. That's a good start and shouldn't take a lifetime.

RoboDemo Outputs Flash Files
ehelp.com/products/robodemo/

Think you're just a designer? Think again. "Design," in this environment, implies multiple skills: organizational and learner analysis, project management, media selection, learning theory, information design, multimedia design, instructional strategies that optimize different media and meet different learners' needs, and much more. It's a lot to learn and even more to keep up with, but you won't be bored. After all, the most important skill we learn may well be the ability to keep up with constantly changing needs.

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About the author

Patti Shank is an instructional technology consultant (and faculty member). She can be reached through her website: http://www.learningpeaks.com.