We assume that at this stage you have already chosen the platform on which you will create training. If you haven’t done so yet, a separate article will help you choose a distance learning platform.
Registration on the platform and initial settings
When you find an interesting platform, you usually want to test it before you pay. Most eLearning platforms give you free access for a trial period. You upload your content, test the functionality, and decide how to proceed.
Creating courses and training programs
Before populating the platform with content, it’s important to develop a training structure. Training programs are formed from the training materials. Programs consist of ordered courses, and courses consist of sequential lessons of different formats and content.
Let’s look at the structure using corporate training as an example. The owner of a company needs to train employees who work in three different positions. He creates three training programs – “Sales Manager Training,” “Accountant Training,” and “Executive Training.” Each program has several courses that help employees gain certain skills and knowledge. For example, a new manager is told general information “about the company,” then detailed information “about the position,” “about the product,” and “the sales technology algorithm.” These are four separate courses, which consist of a certain number of lessons.
In this way the entire structure of the training is built. At this stage, you need to put the programs and courses in the right order. In the next step, you fill the courses with lessons.
Creating course elements
Lessons are the elements that make up an online training course. The course builder built into the platform allows you to create lessons. You choose the type of lesson and fill it with content. Lessons can be theoretical or practical. Theoretical refers to material that only needs to be viewed, read, or listened to. Practical ones require the student to perform additional actions to solve the task at hand.
As a theoretical lessons it is usually possible to create text blocks, upload various files, use audio and video, import documents from the cloud, upload external web pages, embed webinars and even include interactive elements in the e-course in SCORM format. Read more about content development and design in this article on how to create an online course.
For hands-on lessons, you can create online quizzes or practice assignments. Tests involve selecting the correct answers from the suggested answers. They can be of different types and are checked automatically by the platform. Assignments imply getting a detailed answer from the student. Checking these answers is done manually by a special expert, who is assigned to the course.
Setting up user roles
Usually there are three main user roles on platforms. These are student, trainer (or teacher) and administrator. Each of these roles has different functionality. For example, the student role is created directly for learning. In this role, you can take courses and programs. Trainer interacts with students – checks their answers to assignments, in the case of synchronous learning is engaged in conducting classes or webinars. The role of the trainer can be a training methodologist, teacher or other responsible person who has enough knowledge to train students. The administrator has full access to the features of the system. He can create courses and programs, manage users and track global training statistics.
When the first course is created, the administrator can add new users to the training platform and assign them a course. Students have access to the desired section and can begin learning. If there are elements in the course that require manual checking, a trainer should be immediately assigned to check the answers promptly.
Learning Management
There are different kinds of reporting on the platforms. For example, there is summary reporting for all students and courses, there is detailed reporting for each student or for each course. On some platforms, there are reports for each student within a certain course.
The administrator can generate the necessary reports, see the overall picture and improve the efficiency of training.
