You might think you have designed effective e-learning courses but the true test is not while staff takes the course but when they apply what they learn on the job. If the course has indeed been effective than the lessons will easily be integrated into the workplace and you will know that your investment in e-learning courses has paid off.



Let us start with creating the curriculum that focuses on what your company needs to get out of the courses and bring to the job.

1. Mangers need to meet and discuss the objectives of the company and then decide how to work to train employees to meet those objectives. This should be a period of questions and answer so that the solution is good.

2. Break down skills based on the needs of the job. Then relate each training skill directly to the job skill and list objectives in terms of those skills. In other words don't just say that Excel is needed list the components in Excel that are needed such as creating a workbook or using formulas.

3. Blend your curriculum by deciding as a group what has to be off offered. Decide what topics can be handled with minimal support right through to needing one on one support to master.

4. Chunk e-learning into a curriculum of courses rather than one very long course that employees are suddenly blocking out completely because they are simply overwhelmed.

Next, you need to prepare your students.

1. Start by demonstrating how the e-learning courses work and how to incorporate your e-learning with your job-site.

2. Sell the benefits of e-learning to the staff because if you get them to buy in they will learn much quicker.

3. Make sure that your students have the right resources.

Here are some helpful tips to make learning interactive which means your courses are going to be more effective.

1. When you are designing content you need to engage the student as much as possible. Various media formats, digital pictures, clip art, and audio will all help capture the student's attention. Of course what you have to offer will depend on your budget.

2. Include case studies, analogies, surveys, or anything else that provokes thought and then understanding.

3. Include lots of tests and quizzes that help drive the lesson home and improve the effectiveness of the course.

4. Use real world examples and be sure to include documentation and photos.

5. Include practice times so that the skills that are being built can be practiced are more easily retained.

6. Create job related exercises that coincide with the training sessions.

7. Listen to the feedback from your students and use that feedback to improve future courses. You can gather their feedback through surveys, interviews, or informal questioning.

E-learning has been around for at least a decade but it has only been in the past few years that we have seen impressive changes to e-learning. In addition, with these simple tips for creating effective e-learning courses your staff will be on board in no time.