E courses usually take some time to complete. You have to make sure that all the details are correct because a mistake can compromise the integrity of the course. You want to make sure that you can meet the expectations of the learners and, of course, you own elearning goals.
While you want to be careful while creating online courses, time is also of the essence. You want to work as fast as you can because the longer it takes for you to complete the course, the more money you will be losing on the project. According to a study, more and more employees have admitted to wasting time in the workplace. When this happens, the company loses too.
You need to find a balance because you want to work on the course as fast as you can without compromising the quality of the course.
So how can this be achieved? Here are some tips and techniques that you can use.
Observe how you are wasting your time
Obviously, you have to look back at previous e courses that you created in the past. Try to figure out what takes the most time for you to complete. Is it the research? Are you having a hard time writing the content? Maybe the video and audio elements are pulling you back? There are so many factors that might have been causing a delay. You want to make sure that you know what takes the most time so you can figure out how you can expedite the process.
Use a storyboard
Start by listing everything that has to be done – in chronological order. Use a storyboard so you can list what parts will require a video, audio, or other elements. Every little detail should be listed to make sure that you will not miss out on anything. This is how you ensure that the quality of the course will be high. Not only that, this will help everyone in the group – at least if you are working with a team to create the elearning course. People can mark what has been done and they can make comments and suggestions – since they already know everything that will happen to complete the course.
Have a definite timeline
A timeline will help you figure out how long you should be working on a particular part of the course. After listing everything in your storyboard, you need to take note of the priorities. This will help you identify what has to be completed or postponed when crunch time comes. Once all of these are done, you need to allow a time for each task. How long will it take complete every part? A day? A few hours? This timeline will motivate you to work efficiently on every part. An open time will just tempt you to procrastinate. Just make sure that the time you will allocate will be reasonable. That way, creating the e courses will not feel too stressed.
Create a template
This is the smart way of creating online courses is by using a template. That way, you do not have to create every new course from scratch. This will shorten the time that you have to spend in creating the course. Even the storyboard should have a template. You can use this again and again – effectively cutting back on the process that it usually takes to create future elearning courses.
Recycle content
If a video, audio or image is relevant, do not hesitate to use it again. Just make sure that it fits perfectly in the context of the online course. This will save you time in creating new examples or researching new content.
Opt to create shorter courses
Finally, you should opt to build shorter e courses. This will take a shorter time to complete. If you combine it with having templates and a storyboard, you can complete a course and have it launched in no time. The learners can already start on it while you are working on the next one. This will maximize the time of everyone who will be using the course.