Module 4: Lesson 2 Design Principles

Welcome to Lesson 2, Design Principles

This lesson will provide you with a summary of concepts and supporting templates in the
following two areas:

Design principles for multimedia eLearning courses.

The step-by-step design process.

In this lesson, you will also find some useful links and resources, as well as a section to test
your knowledge.

Design Principles

Design Process

Check Your Knowledge

Resources

Download the Toolkit

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Design Principles

eLearning multimedia design

There are two main design principles used for eLearning multimedia design. These are:

Instructional Design Mayer's Principles for

Principles Multimedia Design

Instructional Design Principles

These principles are based on Gagne's Nine Levels of Instruction, which you learned about in Module
Two. Out of the nine levels, we have focused on the five main instructional design principles and created
a Digital Learning Institute template based on these.

Below you'll find flashcards with all five principles in the correct order. You can view these by selecting
the number beside each level.

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Hook: Anticipatory Set

The hook for the course/resource helps the learner answer the question why? What is in it for me?
How will this course benefit me in my job today or how will it progress my career?

The hook sets the scene or climate for your eLearning course.

It’s like a mini advert for the course: it needs to sell the benefits and the learning experience.

The hook can be statistics, a story, or you could position a role/person that the learner can relate to. It
can also be about mapping out the benefit statements.

After the hook you want the learners to make a buy decision and make them feel that the next 20
minutes will be worth it!
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Instructional Input and The Stimulus

The nuts and bolts of the eLearning course.

It gives the learner a clear sense of how the course will be structured, what the experience will look
like and how will they navigate through it.

Is important to guide the learners through the content, without overwhelming them. Allow them to do
a deeper dive if they want to.
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Guided Practice

This is where we challenge the learners off the back of the content.

We use scaffolded activities or scenarios that learners can relate to; ask learners to make
decisions/choices with the consequences of their choice that can serve as feedback.
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Close and Evaluate

This might be a summary of key takeaways or learning points from the online course or a form of
assessment such as a quiz.
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Next Steps

So-called "next steps", you can have a independent task or activity where learners practically apply what
they have learned.

We would also encourage social learning and ask learners to share their experiences or reflections with
their community.

Mayer's Multimedia Principles

Multimedia involves using a combination of visuals and audio. For the last few decades, we have seen
multiple combinations like this for learning. YouTube videos are a good example of audio-visual learning
as well as any self-managed resources of courses

Richard Mayer, an educational psychologist, has been researching how people learn and came to some

conclusions on how multimedia should be structured. He proposed these ideas in his book, " Multimedia
Learning."

Below are his 12 principles and how we can apply them to eLearning multimedia design and
development.
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Multimedia

Multimedia: Humans learn best from words and pictures than just words alone.

Avoid using on-screen text. Try to accompany your text with visuals that can enhance learning.
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Coherence

Coherence: Humans learn best when extraneous, distracting material is not included.

Simplify text, and use simple visuals that relate to the topic.
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Spatial Contiguity

Spatial Contiguity: Humans learn best when relevant text and visuals are physically close together.

Keep visuals and text close to each other to create unity.

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Temporal Contiguity

Temporal Contiguity: Humans learn best when corresponding words and visuals are presented together instead
of in consecutive order.

With audio narration, ensure that whatever is on the screen, i.e., text or graphics, is synchronised with audio.
 

Redundancy

Redundancy: Humans learn best with just narration and graphics, as opposed to narration, graphics and text.

This is applicable to resources that contain primary narration. Make sure to only use graphics on-screen when
you have them alongside the audio and narration. Avoid using text, graphics and narration together.
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Pre-Training

Pre-Training: Humans learn more efficiently if they already know some of the basics.

Include a navigation screen, induction handbook, or host a meeting with your students to teach the definitions,
terms and concepts.
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Modality

Modality: Humans learn best from visuals and spoken words than from visuals and printed words.

Use on-screen text mainly for definitions, lists, etc., but avoid bigger chunks of text on the screen.
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Signalling

Signalling: Humans learn best when they are shown exactly what to pay attention to on the screen.

Show on-screen what the learners should pay attention to. Highlight words or use visuals to point to specific
information.
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Segmenting

Segmenting: Humans learn best when information is presented in segments rather than one long continuous
stream.

Ensure chunking of content and give your learners the possibility to manage the controls.
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Image

Image: Humans do not necessarily learn better from a talking head video.

Animations and visuals should be relevant to learning. Try to limit the "talking head" on screen.
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Voice

Voice: Humans learn best from a human voice than a computer voice.

Avoid text-to-speech narration that is computer generated. Record your own voice-over, as opposed to using a
robotic voice-over.
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Personalisation

Personalisation: Humans learn best from a more informal, conversational voice than an overly formal voice.

Use a conversational style in your narration, and try to avoid using long sentences.

eLearning Design Checklist

When designing, you can use the following quick checklist.

We will look deeper into the evaluation of multimedia and digital learning in module 10 of the
programme.

Active vs. Passive: How active are learners? Look closely at what a learner has to do,
rather than what they must absorb.

Your Objectives: How clear are the learning objectives and outcomes? Are the
learning objectives set at the right level? Do you feel the eLearning
course achieves the learning objectives?
Flexibility: Does the eLearning course provide flexibility in enabling the learner to choose
how they want to engage with content and activities?

Activity Mix: Are the activities engaging and stimulating for learners?
Are the activities action-based? Does the course have a mixture of
different types of activities?

Delivery Methods: Was there a mixture of delivery methods used during the eLearning
course i.e. audio, video etc.?

eLearning Design [Link]

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C O NT I NU E
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Design Process

Design process: Main steps

The following is a summary of the main steps in the design process.

Image of the process with the following: Scope, Wireframe, Screenplan, Storyboard.

Scoping
Step 1 Scoping

At this stage, you will scope the eLearning course with key stakeholders, including the SME. This
generally happens at an instructional design workshop. You will need to address the following questions

as part of your scope:

WHO
–
Who is learning?

It can be worth funning through the learner personas to check if there are any design considerations.
WHY
–
Why are they learning?

What is the specific learning outcome for this resource? Try having no more than one to two
outcomes.

Use Bloom's Taxonomy to help you with the outcomes.

WHAT
–
What are they learning?

What are the specific topics that you need to address in this resource? Refer to your module
framework here.

The topics then need to be packed into two to four sections for the learner. Try to have clear titles for
your sections that will make sense to the learner.

Please find downloadable versions of the scoping and checklist template

below.
 Multimedia eLearning Scoping [Link]
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Multimedia eLearning Scoping [Link]

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Wireframing

Step 2 Wireframing

A wireframe is a one-page visual overview of how the resource is going to flow or be structured. It is an

outline of the main screens or touchpoints based on instructional design principles, namely Gagne's Nine

Levels of Instruction.

You should brainstorm the wireframe with the SME during the instructional design workshop.

We recommend that you use a wireframe template to support this process.

The Digital Learning Institute has developed four wireframes for different types of multimedia eLearning

courses and scenario-based exercises.

Watch the short video below on how to create a wireframe.

 Wireframe

Interactive Wireframe - select the + on the screen below to learn more about the wireframes for
multimedia courses/resources.

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Hook

Design | Hook

Welcomes learner onto course.

Outlines benefits to learner.
Outlines what learner will experience.
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Objectivies

Design | Objectives

Design | Objectives

Outlines learning objectives.

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Navigation

Shows learners which buttons to press to move forward and backward, turn on subtitles, turn down the volume,
etc.
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Toolkit

Makes learners aware of supporting resources, such as links, videos, PDFs, etc., which are available for a deeper
dive upon completion of the module.
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Activation

Design | Activation

Design | Activation

Engage learners early in the module with a small activity or self-assessment.

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Transition

Design | Transitions

Overview of the module sections.

Learner returns here after completing each section.
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Content

Design | Content

Design | Content

Presents the knowledge to the learner.

Can use a mix of text, video, imagery and voiceover.
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Practice

Design | Practice

Design | Practice

Challenges learner with an activity based on content from this section.

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Assessment

Design | Assessment

Design | Assessment

Formally test the learner's comprehension.

Typically a quiz.
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Summary

Design | Summary

Design | Summary

Presents key takeaways from the whole module.

Not required if you'd included summary screens in each section.
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Next steps

Positions next steps in the learning journey, such as an on-the-job activity or classroom session. The toolkit
becomes available to access from here

Below you will find some examples of wireframes for different multimedia resources or courses. You can
explore these or download an editable document underneath it for future reference.
Three-sections wireframe for a multimedia course/resource.
Three-sections wireframe for a multimedia course/resource.
Shorter multimedia wireframe.
 A wireframe for 3Cs approach (scenario-based).

Wireframe [Link]
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Wireframe [Link]
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Screenplanning
Step 3 Screenplanning

This is the step that happens after the wireframing. A screenplan provides more detail on what is going

to be happening on each screen.

It will provide an overview of the following:

Purpose of the screen.

What will be happening on the screen, such as the type of exercise, etc?

What elements will be on the screen, such as audio, visual, etc? Refer to
Mayer's principles here.

How the elements will be laid out.

Please note that at this stage, you are not scripting any content; this will come in the storyboard. You

are providing a visual draft of your course or resource.

The Digital Learning Institute has developed a screenplan template that can be downloaded below.

Sample [Link]
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Sample [Link]
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Screenplan [Link]
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Screenplan [Link]
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Storyboarding
Step 4 Storyboard

Once a screenplan is signed off, you can move into the storyboarding phase.

Storyboards are visual organisers that illustrate and communicate ideas to other professionals on the
team. They show how the content will be presented, and how the learners will engage with it.

A storyboard should provide a detailed description of the following:

1 A full script for the on-screen text.

 2 A full voice-over script.

3 A detailed description of how user navigation will work.

4 An outline on images that should be used.

5 Guidance notes to the developers.

6 Mock-ups for some of the screens to bring the visuals designs to life.

Types of Storyboards
There are many ways to storyboard. Some designers prefer to write more about what the learners will
see, hear and how they will interact, while others resort to a visual approach. There are also those who

would develop so-called rapid prototypes, which are rough versions of the resource.

Explore the types of storyboards below.

Text-based Storyboards
–
Storyboards with textual overviews only. These types of storyboards would be created in landscape
orientation in a word processing document. They should include columns for audio narration, on-
screen text (OST), graphic information and navigation.

Visual Storyboards
–
Storyboards with a visual representation of what is to happen on-screen. They are often built-in
PowerPoint slides and focus on the interactivity on screen rather than the core content. They would
include some mock-ups done by the designer within the authoring tool.
Rapid Prototypes
–
These prototypes are rough versions of slides and their interactivities with narration and animations.
You skip the typical descriptive and graphic approach and develop a showcase of the resource. You
would normally pick the most complex screens and ask for feedback from your stakeholders by
showing them a rough idea of how the resource might look.

You can download the storyboard templates below.

Digital Learning Institute Storyboard [Link]

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Digital Learning Institute Storyboard [Link]

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Digital Learning Institute Storyboard [Link]

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  Please note that you might merge a screen plan with a storyboard only when you see
fit and it works for your authoring tool. For example, for Rise 360, you might use a
wireframe + one design document.

Check out the E-learning Heroes for Rise storyboard discussion thread: here is the link.

Below is our DLI Rise 360 Storyboard template you can download and use for your
project.

Rise 360 Storyboard [Link]

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Rise 360 Storyboard [Link]

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Instructional design workshops can be a great way of completing the scoping and wireframing with the
SME. The instructional design workshop is a collaborative design session. Typically, it will include a
Subject Matter Expert (SME), an instructional designer and potentially other key stakeholders, like the
end-user, an IT specialist or a representative from marketing. The instructional designer will facilitate the
session. There are three parts of the design workshop, which you can explore below.
 ID Workshops

There are three parts of the design workshop, you can explore these further by clicking on the
start button below.
 Part 1

Step 1

Explain the process to the SME and get them to buy into what you are trying to do.
 Part 2

Step 2

Check-in on the scope of the resource. Since this information will come from the analysis stage,
the audience profile, specific learning objectives of the course and the key topics that you need
to cover should be included.
 Part 3

Step 3

Package your topics into clear sections for your eLearning courses. We need to be working off 3
to 4 sections for a 20 to 30 minute eLearning course/resource
 Last Part

Creating a first draft wireframe for your course (This will be covered later).

C O NT I NU E
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Check Your Knowledge

Put the steps into their right order.

Step 1 Scoping

Step 2 Wireframe

Step 3 Screen Planning

Step 4 Storyboarding

SUBMIT
Select all below tasks that belong in the storyboarding step.

Implement on-screen text.

Set up the LMS.

Curate and create all resources, i.e., images.

Write the voice-over script.

SUBMIT

How many types of storyboards were mentioned in the lesson? Type in the

number below.

Type your answer here

SUBMIT
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Resources

Additional Resources and Links

More on Mayer's Principles

–
Please select here to learn more on how to apply Mayer's Principles to multimedia eLearning.

Top eLearning Design Resources You Should Know

–
A list of useful resources to design your eLearning multimedia

ELEARNING INDUSTRY
 Essential eLearning Design Resources Every
eLearning Pro Should Know
It is great having some many free eLearning design resources available online. But it is
impossible to keep up with them all and locating the right one can be frustrating. To
help, I'm sharing these "go to" resources to help keep your projects moving forward
while saving you time and money.

READ MORE ELEARNING INDUSTRY 

More Storyboard Templates

–

ELEARNING INDUSTRY
Ultimate List of Free Storyboard Templates for
eLearning
Summary: Would you be interested for a list of 72update 12/10/2013 Free Storyboards
Templates for eLearning? Are you an entry level or an experienced eLearning
developer? Several eLearning professionals expressed a great interest for Free
eLearning Storyboard Templates . At the Ultimate List of Free Storyboard Templates for
eLearning you will find 72 Free Storyboards For eLearning.

READ MORE ELEARNING INDUSTRY 

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Download the Toolkit

Module 4 Lesson 2 - Design [Link]

2.8 MB