Some important things to consider

There are two things to consider here when designing e-Learning courses.

• Diverse learning styles
• Diverse capabilities

Learning styles

Learners tend to use a mixture of learning styles with a preference for one or two styles depending on the context. These are usually recognised as

• Visual and verbal
• Visual and non-verbal
• Tactile and kinaesthetic
• Auditory and verbal.

You could ask the developers you are working with on e-Learning content the questions in the checklist to ensure the course supports diverse learning styles.

There is a simple explanation of learning styles.

Diverse capabilities

Learners accessing training through e-Learning may have a range of disabilities. They may also be at different levels in terms of their learning. So it is important to have some prompt questions for developers to make sure that the courses you develop offer ways of differentiating activities as much as possible according to individual needs and abilities.

You should refer to NHS CfH Accessibility Statement.

There is a range of accessibility guidelines and checklists available to help you do this.

Checklist for learning styles

To ensure that you do not alienate any of your potential learners your e-Learning resources need to appeal to learners with different learning styles. Organising the content of your e-Learning resource in a linear way will not address the needs and preferences of all of your learners.

Instead utilise the interactivity provided by the technology and make use of links and hyperlinks to allow the learner to use different routes to access the content. So you need to ask:

• Can learners choose their own route through the learning resource?
• Can they repeat sections of the resource to reinforce their understanding and knowledge?
• Can they omit sections of the resource which cover material that they already know?
• Can they omit sections which are not relevant to their own learning goals?

Checklist for accessibility
Your e-Learning resources should be designed to be accessible to all of your learners including those who are visually impaired. Some simple questions need to be asked of your developers.

• Have learners the choice of using the keyboard or the mouse to navigate?
• Have you provided alternative text which can be read by screen-reading software?
• Do you use clearly laid out text, presented in chunks?
• Do you provide text descriptions for all graphics?
• Do you provide text only and/or audio only alternatives?
• Do you ensure that pages will print in a clear format?
• Do you use a high level of contrast between the text and the background?

See www.nln.ac.uk/materials for a more detailed explanation can be found on the National Learning Network web site.

The interaction of the learner with the materials is one of the most significant factors affecting how well the learner progresses and succeeds. Therefore a clear teaching and learning approach has to be the foundation of the materials' design.

Designing resources to support diverse learning styles and capabilities

The resources you develop should enable differentiation in subject, level, in learning styles, learning rates and access to learning. They need to be designed to be sufficiently flexible to allow different modes of use, and they should appeal to those on whom the embedding of this technology into mainstream learning depends - those who teach, support and guide the learners.

The following criteria have been created by the NLN for the design of resources:

• The learning objectives should be clearly stated for the benefit of tutors and for independent learners within both the resources and the tutor documentation.
• The content should take the learner from the known to the new learning in appropriately sized stages.
• The content should follow a clear strategy to achieve learning but need not be linear in design; a didactic approach to learning and the development of electronic page turning should be avoided.
• The content should help the learner to reflect on, review and digest new learning and not just regurgitate facts.
• The content should test performance to see if learning objectives have been met. This should not be limited to multiple choice questions and similar devices but should comprise a range of techniques. (For Level 3 materials in particular, some questions should be designed for reflection and self analysis.)
• The resources should motivate the learner.
• The design should stimulate responses from the learner.
• The content should demonstrate how new knowledge and skills can be applied to real problems and situations.
• The resources should include activities for the learner and keep the learner involved – they should generate a desire in the user to learn and to continue to completion.
• The resources should provide a variety of strategies to accommodate different preferences in learning style.
• The language should be appropriate for the target audience.
• The resources should provide useful and supportive feedback based on the learners responses.
• Media (e.g. video clips, sound files, animations) should be appropriate to the learning objectives and not be used gratuitously.
• The resources should provide appropriate help facilities for the learner.
• The content should be accurate, valid, up-to-date and without errors.

Related Resources

•  
  NLN Page - Pedagogy
  

  Page from the NLN website which lists the pedagogical elements to consider when developing materials

  http://www.nln.ac.uk/?p=Pedagogy
•  
  AbilityNet
  

  AbilityNet is a national charity helping disabled adults and children use computers and the internet by adapting and adjusting their technology. This page lists a wide range of useful fact sheets.

  http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/athome_factsheets