Design
       
  How is the Design phase like architecture?  
  List the tasks associated with lesson preparation and compare the design phase's output (storyboards) to architecture and building construction.  
     
  This module contains 7 lessons, inlcuding a review quiz and an assignment. By the time you have completed this module you will have learned how to complete the design phase of an e-Learning course.

  
Design: Creating the blueprints for learning
 

You've completed the Analysis phase and are now ready to begin the Design phase. To organize your thinking and help you visualize the e-Learning creation process, take a look at the following graphic.

 
   

   

In this representation, the Subject Matter Expert (SME) is the person with knowledge of the subject. You are the instructional designer whose role is to take the SME's content and design it into a format that will make sense to learners. The Web Developer role will be discussed in Module 4 of this course, Development.

Notice that the arrow between each role points in both directions. This is to emphasize that none of the roles occur in isolation. Rather, the more open the communications are between each player, the better the chances are that the learning will accurately reflect the SME's knowledge.

  
What does the design phase involve?
 

The Design phase involves lesson preparation which includes:

  • organizing and sequencing your content
  • writing proper anticipatory sets and learner objectives
  • writing appropriate lesson transitions
  • preparing review and/or assessment questions
  • preparing learner assignments

The output from the Design phase is in the form of storyboards. If you think of a building construction analogy, storyboards are to web developers as blueprints are to contractors (e.g., plumbers, masons, and electricians). Click the storyboard image to see the actual storyboard that was used by the web developer to create this lesson. The yellow highlighted areas you will see in the storyboard are notes written by the instructional designer to the web developer.

  
   
Storyboard Blueprint

First things first
  

Prior to storyboarding, you need to answer six questions:

  1. What are the components and elements of a lesson?
  2. How much content should each lesson contain?
  3. What is the proper ratio of text to audio, graphics, and interactivity.
  4. How are objectives written?
  5. What is the structure of a storyboard?
  6. How will you assess the learner's knowledge of the objectives when they have finished the lessons?

These questions are addressed in the remainder of this module.

  
Optional reading
  

For further reading on this topic you can access the following
on-line resources:

http://www.learningcircuits.org/2002/jul2002/elearn.html
Next lesson
   In the next lesson, you will see the four components of a lesson and describe the instructional functionality of each.