Need an e-learning course to train a mass of learners pronto? Just copy-paste content from a training deck onto an authoring tool, add voice-over reading out the onscreen text, incorporate some nice graphics, then click <Export>. Voila! You have an e-learning course.

If only developing an e-learning course is this straightforward. The reality is that a training deck without a trainer can lead to many unanswered questions and confusion. For instance, how does one piece up the message behind seemingly unrelated bullet points, or decipher the meaning of a diagram without proper labels or explanation? Misdirection works, but only when performing magic tricks; it can backfire spectacularly when applied to e-learning courseware development.

What are the possible pitfalls of this slapdash approach to developing an e-learning course?

1. Not being clear about how your business goals should be translated into learning goals

This can result in

• unclear parameters in terms of content to be included or curated, which in turn can result in…
• information-dumping, which leads to…
• a longer e-learning course than you set out to (hence, expending excessive resources including funds and man hours)
• low or negative return on investment

2. Not articulating who your target learner is, or ignoring them

This can result in your learner 

• being unable to relate to the scenarios and characters presented
• finding it hard to grasp learning points as there is so much use of unfamiliar acronyms and terms
• (who is disabled) being unable to access content because of their disability i.e. not considering WCAG guidelines

3. Not putting much thought into learner/user experience

This can result in

• clunky navigation, confusing menus, hardly visible/redundant buttons
• confusion on how to proceed into, within, and out of the course
• the course only working on laptops and not mobile devices (i.e. not mobile responsive)

      And all of the above can result in:

• lack of confidence by learners on whether they have completed all mandatory learning
• learners not achieving 100% completion, or clicking <Next> without any real learning, just to get a ‘Completion’ status for the sake of it

4. Not achieving learning effectiveness

This can result in

• lack of meaningful activities that will test learners at regular checkpoints throughout the course
• learners clicking on options in quizzes without really understanding what the questions are testing them on
• learners being unable to apply what they learned in the course in order to respond correctly to the quizzes
• learners getting wrong options without comprehending the reasons why
• meaningless assessment results that cannot be used by trainers and training heads for any post-learning evaluation

5. Not ensuring technical integrity, including compatibility testing

This can result in

• Unusually long load times, broken links/navigation, images that do not appear or videos that do not play
• (Worst case scenario) the courseware not being playable across different LMS environments

So, the next time you’d like to develop and e-learning solution, you may wish to reconsider the convenient e-content approach and, instead, invest in a more informed and proven development system.