In last week's post I discussed the initial steps I take when creating a course.  As part of a recent assessment for a new contract position I needed to create a storyboard  for a course aimed at 20-something women on fixing a flat tire.  I decided to take the assessment one step further to help develop my portfolio and showcase all of the different steps in the process of creating an e-learning course.  For this post I will be focusing on the selection and/or creation of images for the course.  

Use of Images

We have all heard the adage - "A picture is worth a 1000 words".  This phrase refers to the notion that a single image or graphic can convey a complex idea quickly rather than describing it with just words.  Research has proven this to be true and it has become known as the picture superiority effect which states that people more easily remember concepts that are presented as images rather than as words.

So as an instructional designer, I am always looking for ways to convey the ideas of an e-learning course through the use of graphics and images.  There is one caveat to the use of images though in e-learning.  If an image is used inappropriately it can cause confusion or distraction thereby taking the learner's focus away from the content.  Therefore you should carefully select images that will enhance and engage the learner's attention. ​

Selecting Images

When I begin selecting images for an e-learning course, I usually decide up front if I want to go with vector graphics or with photos.  Both options have their pros and cons.  Vector graphics are great for diagrams and illustrations of a process.  Photos are great for engaging a learner and providing a more emotional attachment to the content.  To learn more about when to use the different types of graphics, check out Connie Malamed's book "Visual Design Solutions".  She provides a great table that shows the best uses for each kind of graphic.  She also covers a lot of other information regarding the use of graphics that is important to e-learning design.  I would highly recommend getting this book and having it in your personal library to refer to from time to time.  

Once you have decided what types of graphics you would like to use, your next step is deciding if you will be able to find the graphics or if you will need to create your own.  With all of the great images sites available on the web, finding graphics has gotten a lot easier.  Below is just a small list of image sites that I have used:

Paid Sites

• iStockphoto
• Shutterstock
• Dollar Photo Club

Free Sites

• Pixabay
• Morguefile
• Death to the Stock Photo
• Unsplash

For the fixing a flat e-learning course I decided I wanted vector graphics since the course would be showing a process.  Using photos would provide too many other distractions to the learner's attention and take away from the important concepts within the process.  Unfortunately after a few hours of searching the free and paid sites, I couldn't find any vector graphics that would go well with this project.  So I moved on to the next step, which is to create my own images.
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 Creating Images

In the perfect world if I had unlimited money to spend on this project (or at least a budget for graphic design), I would hire someone to create the necessary images for this course.  Being that this is a simple course and there aren't that many images, hiring a graphic designer wouldn't be cost exorbitant.  AND it would greatly enhance the design of the course and the learner's attention to the material.  

However, most people are working on a shoestring budget and need to find alternatives to hiring a graphic designer.  So I went with the option of creating the graphics myself.  This is a good step to do even if you are hiring a graphic designer so that person can get an idea of the concepts you are trying to illustrate.  

In this case I just used the tools I had in PowerPoint to create the necessary images.  There are a ton of blog posts out there on how to do this so I won't go into detail.  My favorite posts have been from Tom Kuhlmann from the Rapid Elearning Blog.  Check out these posts on visual and graphic design.   

For this course I was able to find and modify some of the graphics from Pixabay and then created the rest in PowerPoint using shapes.  Creating graphics from scratch sounds pretty time consuming but when you know what you want to create, it sometimes can be faster than trying to search for that perfect graphic on the Internet.  
So in your next e-learning project or presentation remember the importance of graphics to convey ideas.  Decide what type of graphics you want to use throughout and stick with it.  Mixing the different types of graphics can be distracting and make your design feel disjointed. Don't be afraid to create your own graphics if you can't find any that suit your needs.  The more you practice creating your own, the better and faster you will get. Next week I will describe the process of importing my PowerPoint into Storyline.  

As a consultant, my job varies quite a bit from project to project.  In some projects I am working with a team.  In other projects I am working solo on a course from start to finish.  Recently I needed to create a storyboard for an assessment for a new contract position.  I thought I would take the assessment one step further to help develop my portfolio and showcase all the different steps in the process of creating an e-learning course.  So for this blog post series I'm going to be writing about the course development process and some different tips I have for each stage.  I will also include actual end products for each stage as examples.  

Parameters

For this project I was given a few of the parameters up front.  I needed to develop a storyboard for a course on how to correctly change a tire for an audience of 20-something women.  It needed to have at least one interaction and one final assessment of two questions.  It needed to be a minimum of two pages and a maximum of four. 

Learning Goals and Objectives

So with the parameters in hand, I started the process of creating the storyboard.  The overall goal for the course was to help a 20-something woman understand how to correctly change a tire.  The learning objectives would be to 1.) identify what was needed to change a tire and 2.) Explain the 6 steps to correctly changing a tire.

Target Audience

With the goals and objectives identified, I began developing the storyboard.  One of the things I kept in the forefront of my mind was that I was developing for an audience of 20-something women.  This meant that I would not be using "technical" jargon that my audience may not understand.  I also wanted to use images to help my audience identify the different tools needed for the process.  Lastly, my color choices were affected by the target audience. Even though my target audience was 20-something women which is usually associated with pink, I went with gender-neutral orange as my main color since it comes across as fun making the 6 steps not so daunting.  It can offer emotional strength in difficult times which is appropriate for this situation. Also orange stimulates activity which in this case would be a proper response I would want to achieve.  

Keep It Simple

As I developed the narration, I kept the instructions very simple and easy to understand.  I narrowed the process down to 6 steps.  I used 6 for a few different reasons:  1) It allowed for some alliteration in the title - "Six Simple Steps to Fix a Flat".  2.) It broke the process down into 6 manageable chunks with 2-3 smaller actions underneath each step.
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Process of Elimination

Since I was responsible for developing the content, I used the Internet for gathering as much information as I could.  I initially wrote a script that included every single detail that found and then began the process of eliminating information that was extraneous or didn't apply to every situation.  If this was a more detailed course on the process of changing a tire, some of the information that I eliminated may have remained.  However since this was limited to 4 pages I really need to narrow down the content to the most important steps and information.  
Identifying Key Points

Once I had the narration developed, I plugged it into the storyboard and began identifying what was going to be shown on the screen.  In this step it is important to NOT show what is being narrated word for word.  So I picked out key words that should be on the screen and identified images that represented those words.  Later in another blog post I will describe the process of creating the images.

Instructions for Design  

After noting all of the items for the screen, I finally begin the instructions for the designer on how the course will be displayed.  For this it is helpful to produce a Style Guide of colors, font, and any other items that would be standard throughout the course.  I have done this a few different ways: 1.) By writing it up in a Word doc or 2.) By creating a sample PowerPoint with the template using the specific styles.  In this case I used a PowerPoint because I also wanted to show the images that would be used and other styling.  However, if I am not the designer on the project, I would just use a Word doc instead.    

After completing each of these steps I ended up with a final storyboard and a PowerPoint.  Next week I will describe how I chose and created the images for the course.