Turning team knowledge into a useful eLearning course

A practical production process for creating a focused online course, from learning objectives to a learner pilot.

The short version

• Define a task the learner should perform.

• Design practice before recording media.

• Pilot in the actual learning environment.

Choose a task, not just a topic

A useful course begins with something the learner should be able to do. “Understand customer service” is broad; “record a support request and explain the next step” is observable. Ask a subject expert to demonstrate the task and describe common mistakes. Keep the first course focused enough to practise and assess that task rather than compressing an entire handbook into a long presentation.

Understand the learning environment

The learning objective is a task someone can perform, not a slide someone has seen.

Discuss the devices, connection quality, available study time, and language needs of the intended learners. For teams spread across Kenya and Malawi, validate those conditions with participants rather than assuming they are uniform. Provide readable text alongside essential audio, captions for video, and images that explain a step. Avoid making a large media download the only way to access a key instruction.

Build a storyboard before recording

Outline each lesson with its objective, explanation, example, practice, and feedback. Write the on-screen wording and narration together so they support each other. Have the subject expert review accuracy before production. For a process course, use a fictional customer record to demonstrate the steps. Keep passwords, client details, and confidential screens out of source files and recordings.

Use practice that resembles the work

After explaining a process, ask the learner to make a realistic decision. Show why an answer is useful or why a mistake creates a problem. A quiz can check recall, but it may not demonstrate that someone can perform the task. Combine short questions with a worked example, a simulation, or a supervised practice activity where appropriate. Keep assessment criteria visible and relevant.

Agree the delivery requirements

Confirm the learning platform and its supported formats before exporting the course. If a client needs SCORM tracking, establish the supported version and test completion reporting in that client’s LMS. Agree how progress, scores, and learner records should be handled. A package working on a developer’s machine does not establish that it works in the destination learning environment.

Pilot, revise, and maintain

Invite a small representative group to complete the course. Observe where instructions are unclear, where navigation causes confusion, and which questions produce unexpected responses. Revise the course before wider release and retain a version history. Assign an owner and review date so changed procedures do not leave learners following old instructions. Completion is one signal; the more useful question is whether learners can now perform the intended task.

Before you start

• Agree the audience, deliverables, and owner.

• Check examples against your own team’s context.

• Review the work with the people who will use it.

Further reading and practical references

Plan accessibility before recording. W3C’s audio and video guidance provides a starting point for captions, transcripts, and other media considerations. Test the course with learners who use it in different ways.

Put the plan into practice

1. Name the audience, deliverables, and owner.

2. Review the examples with the people doing the work.

3. Choose one improvement and agree when to evaluate it.

Have a brief you want to develop? Talk to Brookside about your project.