Digital Learning Design Programme

Course details

Details

We're experiencing rapid change in the way we learn and consume information, with traditional media becoming fast outdated...

ensure you’re prepared with CIPD learning arm’s new five-day Digital Learning Design programme. Aimed at a wide-ranging audience, you’ll be provided with both the competence and the confidence you need to create engaging digital learning content.

Regardless of your organisation’s chosen learning strategy, digital learning content, in all it’s forms – from web pages to videos, PDFs to quizzes, slides to interactive scenarios, will play an ever increasing role, whether that’s in the classroom, on the job, on the move or at home.

Special Features

First-class tutors

The Digital Learning Design programme was written, developed and is delivered by one of the UK’s leading learning and development specialists, Clive Shepherd.

A real workshop

You will not be spend all your time exploring theory. This programme is highly practical to ensure you gain the confidence you need to further your learning independently.

Network with like-minded professionals from diverse backgrounds

This programme provides you with a unique opportunity to meet and share your experiences with like-minded professionals from a variety of organisations, helping you to develop ideas and solutions that you can use back at work.

Be inspired

Hear from a variety of guest speakers, from leading designers to media specialists, and find out how these professionals work with digital learning in their day- to-day lives.

Enhanced learning

Your learning will be enhanced through presentations and in-depth discussions, along with demonstrations of the skills and tools you’ll need. 

Practical and applicable

For your learning to work, it has to be relevant to your workplace. That’s why our programmes focus on providing you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to apply your learning back at work straight away. You’ll explore your own needs and issues, as well as share experiences, challenges and insights with other participants and your expert tutor.

Course Tutors

Mr Clive Shepherd

Clive is a consultant specialising in e-learning, blended learning and business communications. He works with a broad range of public and private sector organisations, helping them to effectively harness the benefits of technology for workplace learning. He established his interest in interactive media while Director, Training and Creative Services for American Express in EMEA. He went on to co-found Epic, one of the UK’s major producer of custom e-learning, where he won many industry awards. He is now widely acknowledged as one of the UK’s foremost experts in e-learning, with hundreds of published articles to his name and a number of successful books, including The Blended Learning Cookbook and The New Learning Architect. He speaks regularly at major international conferences and contributes regularly to his blog, Clive on Learning. He was recognised for his Outstanding Contribution to the Training Industry at the World of Learning Conference in 2004 and for four years was Chairman of the eLearning Network.

Who is it for

This programme is ideal for you if you’re:

• a learning professional looking to improve your skills in the design and development of various forms of digital learning content
• an existing designer and/or developer looking to formalise your understanding of the key principles of effective learning content design and of the processes of design and development
• an existing designer and/or developer looking to broaden your skills to encompass a wider range of content types
• a subject matter expert who wants to be able to create your own learning content or work effectively with others who will be doing this for you
• a learning and development professional aiming to improve your understanding of the principles of effective learning content design and of the processes of design and development, so you can better manage these activities.

Benefits

On completion of the programme, you’ll be able to:

• work effectively with a project sponsor to determine the learning requirements, the characteristics of the target population and the logistical constraints.
• determine whether digital learning content will add value, the form(s) that this content should take, and the skills, tools, time and budget required to design and develop the content; and
• communicate a clear, logical and concise proposal to the project sponsor outlining all of the above;
• establish a design and development process that will deliver the content to the required standard within budget and timeframe, ensuring adequate provision for inevitable changes in the light of new information, shifting business needs, developing ideas and learner feedback.
• work with subject expert(s) to determine the technical content that needs to be covered, but without surrendering the initiative in terms of design, and always with the needs of the learner in mind.
• provide an approved proposal for digital learning content and, in consultation with other specialists, where necessary, develop a design for the content that clearly describes the end product in terms of learning objectives, learning strategies, structure, use of media, technical format, scope/scale and other information needed by the project sponsor and other stakeholders to progress with the development of the content.
• write clearly and concisely for screen and voiceover.
• create or source suitable imagery (photos, illustrations, diagrams) and perform whatever simple edits are required to suit the intended purpose.
• record audio to a high quality and perform simple edits to this audio.
• describe the conditions necessary for successful shooting of video material.
• create a screencast that clearly explains the use of a software application or website.
• effectively combine text, images and other media elements to create slide shows, web pages and PDFs that conform to established design principles.
• effectively integrate interactivity into multimedia materials in order to create tutorials and scenarios that conform to established design principles and deliver on their learning objectives.
• write test items that validly and reliably test the achievement of specific learning objectives.

But that’s not all! Every course will provide you with a host of opportunities to develop new skills, gain valuable insights and share experiences with other participants. 

Programme

Monday

AM 09.30 - 12.30

• Welcome and introductions / overview of the week

Session 1: The role of digital learning content

• Practical exercise: Analysing the requirement

Session 2: Analysing the requirement

• Group practical assignment 1: Create a slide show to communicate with pictures only

PM 13.15 - 17.00

Session 3: Media chemistry: working with the media elements

• Review practical assignment 1
• Practical workshop: Graphic design and typography (guest expert)
• Group practical assignment 2: Create a PDF or web article (planning only)

Tuesday

AM 09.30 - 12.30

• Inalise practical assignment 2 and review

Session 4: Writing for the screen and for voice

• Practical workshop: Recording and editing audio (guest expert through to mid-afternoon)

PM 13.15 - 17.00

• Group practical assignment 3: Create a podcast
• Review practical assignment 3

Session 5: The design and development process

• Group practical assignment 4: Create a narrated slide show (planning only)

Wednesday

AM 09.30 - 12.30

• Finalise practical assignment 4 and review

Session 6: Working with subject-matter experts

• Group practical assignment 5: Create a screencast
• Review practical assignment 5

PM 13.15 - 17.00

•  Practical workshop: Shooting and editing video (guest expert for whole afternoon)
• Group practical assignment 6: Create a video
• Review practical assignment 6

Thursday

AM 09.30 - 12.30

Session 7: Creating e-assessments

• Group practical assignment 7: Create an e-assessment
• Review practical assignment 7
• Practical workshop: Building interactive content (guest expert)

PM 13.15 - 17.00

Session 8: Documenting design

• Group practical assignment 8: Create an interactive tutorial
• Review practical assignment 8

Friday

AM 09.30 - 12.30

Session 9: Creating interactive scenarios

• Group practical assignment 9: Create an interactive scenario

PM 13.15 - 16.00

• Review practical assignment 9

Session 10: Evaluating the effectiveness of learning content

Review and close

What hardware and software will you need?

Please note:  if you have difficulties loading any of the below on to your laptop then don’t worry,  we will help you during the programme or make sure you are able to work with someone who does have the necessary tools.

If you have one, you should bring your own laptop, whether this is a Mac or runs Windows - a tablet will not be adequate for media creation.

Ideally you will have a relatively recent version of Microsoft Office (2007 or later). If you have an alternative Office suite (iWork, Google, etc.) - you can save in Microsoft Office-compatible formats.

You will benefit from some audio, video and graphics editing tools. If you do not have these sorts of tools, we can suggest the following:

• Audio: Audacity for Windows or Mac - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
• Video: Windows Movie Maker (Windows) or iMovie (Mac)
• Graphics: Paint (Windows) or GIMP for Windows or Mac - http://www.gimp.org/

You will also benefit from access to an e-learning authoring tool – either one that your company uses or one of the following recommended tools downloaded on a free trial:

• Articulate Studio or Articulate Storyline - https://www.articulate.com/store/trial-download.php (Studio is the easier tool to use)
• Adobe Captivate - http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/captivate.html

It will also help to bring a memory stick.

If you are lucky enough to have a stills or video camera and any accessories (such as a tripod) then bring them along too. Make sure you remember battery chargers and any cables needed to get the media off your camera and on to your laptop.