When you develop elearning courses it is important to take into account the great importance of the text. Keep in mind that writing is the form used for communication. Even if you have videos or other digital elements, the text is the main element. It is where all the main content is established and what you are supposed to know about the course in general. Therefore, knowing how to write in a clear, concise and attention-grabbing way is essential for the success when building elearning courses.
How to write an elearning course and what to take into account?
- Write for the audience: To achieve this, it is essential that you know your audience. You must know their age, the cultural environment in which they live, what they do, what their experiences are… This is important because it will allow you to know what kind of language to write in, what tone to follow and at what point you can introduce a joke. This will allow you to create a special relationship with the students which will foster their attention and subsequent learning.
- Plan what will be said: It is important that you organise in an outline not only what you want to say in terms of text, but also what audiovisual or digital elements you will use to support your explanation. In addition, when you think how to write an elearning course, you will also have to focus on what the learning objective is or what strategies you should use to attract attention.
- Clear text: It is important to bear in mind that most students who opt for this type of course have a lot of other activities to do, so they have little time. This is why they expect clear content and not a lot of print, as this can cause the student to get bored and not want to continue reading. That is why it is important to use clear print, and to use a clear, schematic style to avoid a large accumulation of print.
- Concise text: when you create an elearning course the information should be concise, with no excess information that does not contribute anything important to the text. Long and overloaded content may cause the students not to pay attention to it. Avoid explaining everything entirely with the text, if you think that certain parts need to add a certain method to make it easier to understand, go for graphic elements or videos that simplify the learning process in the text.
- Humanise the writing: It is important to develop elearning contents in a formal style, but it is important to bear in mind that according to the latest studies, a more colloquial language speeds up learning. This is because students focus their attention on understanding concepts, not on understanding words they do not comprehend.
- Include humour in your writing: In order to achieve a more colloquial language, the option of introducing humour, when you create elearning content, can help to soften formal language. Include a joke, metaphor, or even an example that you think may be familiar to them. These types of elements make the information easier to remember and, therefore, speed up learning.
Put these small tips into practice and create your own elearning course. Your students will learn faster and they will thank you for it. Now, you already know how to write an elearning course.