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Three Best Practices to Improve Your eLearning Content

Many organizations are already using eLearning content and digital learning. The practice saves money over instructor-led training, supports a fully remote or hybrid work environment, decreases overall training time for learners, and improves the flow of work when incorporated into in-person onboarding training, career development, and leadership training. But there is often room for improvement to develop your digital learning processes, and especially so when the content or implementation was developed hastily – as so many organizations did (understandably) in response to the shift to remote work last year.

Now is the time to redesign your eLearning courses and digital learning content with intention. The best practices we recommend as a starting point don’t have to be done all at once but may be implemented as budget and schedule allow. Moreover, these steps will provide the flexibility you need to continually update and improve your processes to meet changing needs in the modern workplace.

Three Steps to Improve Any Digital Learning Program

  1. Make it Mobile. You would think that eLearning is always a mobile medium, because it’s often created in digital formats. But that’s simply not the case. Digital learning content is only truly mobile if it is designed to be compatible across devices, with downloadable resources that allow for work offline. Your content should be designed to be easily viewable on a desktop, laptop, tablet, or even a cellphone. A majority of the content should be easy to download and save to work on without an internet connection.
  2. Get Organized. The learners of today are used to Googling information and looking things up online. But that doesn’t provide any excuses for not having your content collected and curated on a single platform and organized in a way that is intuitive for the user. You don’t want your learners spending too much time looking for the resources and information they need. That is a waste of valuable learning time that leads to frustration, decreased buy-in to the training, and on-the-job mistakes made due to lack of information. When possible, build a single learning platform for the sake of simplicity. Try to organize your content by subject, and make your links, downloads, and resources easy to find and access.
  3. Go Social. Just because your eLearning content is intended for digital learning in a remote environment doesn’t mean you can’t add a personalized social element. In fact, your content and digital learning program will only improve by including peer to peer support and interaction, as well as learning from leadership. You can add a social element by including chat boards, saved videos, podcasts, real-time polling, and virtual. Instructor lead training sessions. Be sure to build time for these activities into your digital learning schedule to encourage participation and demonstrate your commitment to its success.

Additional Resources to Update Your eLearning Content

Not sure where to start? It’s always useful to begin by checking in with your employees. Your team will know what their pain points are and will appreciate your asking for feedback that may be used to improve their workplace and processes.

You may begin your information gathering process with leadership and management but be sure to include your staff in the initial stages. This involvement may be accomplished through informal conversation or more formalized surveys. You may also gather data on site usage from your IT team to gain insights on which digital learning resources are getting used, and those that are going unseen.

Finally, if needed, don’t hesitate to consult with a learning expert for a performance consultation or other resources from experienced instructional designers. The investment you make will pay big returns as you design more effective, impactful resources that improve the performance of your team and support the success of your organization.

The process to build, maintain, and improve your digital learning and eLearning resources will be continual – just as technology is constantly evolving. It’s always the right time to reassess and improve the assets you use to support your team.

representative talent profile

instructional writer

Position(s): Lead or supporting writer
Years of Instructional Experience: 2+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: Instructional Writing, Technical Writing, Instructional Design, Content Curation, eLearning Development, Curriculum Development, Course Authoring, Storytelling, Learning Assessment, Editing, Proofreading, AI Prompt Engineering

Media Skills: Use of stock media libraries

Strengths: Problem-Solving, Clear and Concise Writing, Tone and Style, Formatting, Consistency, Creativity, Communication, Active Listening, Research, Brainstorming, Collaboration, Attention to Detail, Adaptability

Career Highlights:

  • Scripted over 100 hours of learning content and supporting materials for different modalities for both US and global audiences  
  • Adapted writing style and reading grade level to suit design specifications and learner needs in several different industries (finance, healthcare, manufacturing, etc.) 
  • Used generative AI to supplement source content and to accelerate the writing process (without plagiarism) 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

learning experience designer

Position(s): Learning Experience (LX) Designer or Strategist
Years of Instructional Experience: 7+
Number of Completed Projects: 30+

Key Skills: Learner Experience Design (LXD),  Instructional Design, Learning Assessment,  Hybrid Learning, Learning in the Flow of Work, Project-Based Learning Methodologies, Cohort and Social Learning, Learner Experience Platforms

Media Skills: LX journey maps and representations of other interconnected or integrated learning strategies 

Strengths: Systems Thinking, Stakeholder Communication, Instructional Design Strategy, Learning Theory, Training Effectiveness

Career Highlights:

  • Designed personalized learner experience (LX) journeys for an organization of 30k (with 5 tiered tracks) 
  • Curated existing LXs that could be leveraged in new learning journeys for other roles, with measurement at key milestones to evaluate progress and success 
  • Wrote up the specifications for branching scenarios, question libraries, options for audio/visual media, and more, connecting each learner experience to a personalized journey 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

instructional media specialist

Position(s): Lead or supporting graphic designer, lead motion video artist
Years of Instructional Experience: 6+
Number of Completed Projects: 40+

Key Skills: Visual Design, Illustration, UX/UI Design, Storyboarding, Animation, Audio Engineering

Media Skills: Engaging illustrations, 3D models, character design, storyboarding, live-action and motion graphic video creation, audio recording and editing, client branding, and more to enhance media and create engaging touchpoints that resonate with learners 

Strengths: Brainstorming, Collaboration, Visual Communication,  Color Theory, Typography, Layout and Composition

Career Highlights:

  • Completed projects with extreme attention to fonts, colors, spacing, and more that ensured integrity with client branding requirements 
  • Designed and integrated media based on project-specific content that reflected the learner audience, established realistic learning environments, allowed for hands-on practice in virtual environments, and promoted diversity and engaging storytelling
  • Created quick-reference illustrations learners could access on the job to help them make fast, effective decisions   

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

lms admin

Position(s): Admin or sub-admin for Learning Management System (LMS)
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: LMS Configuration, User Management, Course Management, System Maintenance, Reporting, Data Analysis, System Integrations

Media Skills: Network and tech-stack diagrams to communicate system architecture and integration 

Strengths: Troubleshooting and Analysis, Learning Analytics, User Administration, Technical Proficiency, Documentation, Adaptability

Career Highlights:

  • Managed a curriculum of more than 1,450 course offerings in the LMS for more than 10,000 learners 
  • Uploaded, tested, and ensured the readiness of new and relaunched programs 
  • Created and maintained reporting workflows to meet stakeholder needs 
  • Provided on-demand support to the learning team to answer questions and promptly address concerns 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

learning project manager

Position(s): Learning project manager, project lead, or coordinator
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 35+

Key Skills: eLearning Development, Resource Coordination, Project Management (PMP Certified), Agile and Waterfall PM Methodologies, Budgeting and Forecasting, Scheduling, Quality Assurance

Media Skills: Visual reporting of project plans via Gantt charts and other standard formats

Strengths: Problem-Solving, Communication, Active Listening, Collaboration, Decision-Making, Attention to Detail, Adaptability, Time Management, Risk Management, Budget Management, Team Coordination and Delegation

Career Highlights:

  • Managed concurrent award-winning projects without missing deadlines or wasting resources 
  • Completed several projects earlier than the expected timeline and under the anticipated budget 
  • Built strong relationships with returning client partners for multi-phase initiatives or course maintenance projects 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT (SME)

Position(s): Industry-specific specialist
Years of Instructional Experience: 5+
Number of Completed Projects: 5+

Key Skills: Content Curation, Specialized Content Development, Industry-Specific Expertise, Domain Expertise (e.g., Leadership, Onboarding, Compliance), Content Review

Media Skills: Recommendation and review of technical diagrams or industry-specific images

Strengths: Specialized Content Knowledge, Content-Gathering, Simplifying and Organizing Complex Material, Brainstorming, Collaboration, Documentation of Source Content, Decision-Making, Technical Content Review

Career Highlights:

  • Helped create, gather, and organize over 50 hours of content for projects with specific industry or learning needs and contextual nuances
  • Facilitated the decision-making process and collaboration between internal and external teams to consolidate feedback into actionable next steps 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

LEARNING STRATEGIST

Position(s): Lead strategist or performance consultant
Years of Instructional Experience: 7+
Number of Completed Projects: 20+

Key Skills: Needs Analysis, Learning Theory, Learner Experience Design, Learning Analytics and Measurement, Performance Mapping, Behavioral and Performance Analysis, Content Curation, Curriculum Analysis, Change Management

Media Skills: Curriculum maps, learner experience journeys, and conceptual program wireframes

Strengths: Big-Picture Thinking, Critical Thinking and Analysis, Problem-Solving, Creativity, Stakeholder Communication, Research, Design, Collaboration, Facilitation

Career Highlights:

  • Conducted a comprehensive learning needs analysis for customer services representatives that included both product knowledge and interpersonal skills development 
  • Prioritized alignment of business and learner needs, such as high-impact accessible design solutions within budgets or agile timelines, for award-winning projects
  • Designed strategies for measuring performance and results over time to inform continued client success 

Technical Skills:

representative talent profile

Instructional Designers

Position(s): Lead or supporting designer
Years of Instructional Experience: 3+
Number of Completed Projects: 15+

Key Skills: Instructional Design, Adult Learning Theories, eLearning Development, Learner Experience Design, Curriculum Development, Course Authoring, Writing, Learning Assessment

Media Skills: Simple graphic design using stock imagery, audio production

Strengths: Adaptability, Problem-Solving, Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Technical Proficiency, Attention to Detail

Career Highlights:

  • Led the design and development of an onboarding program for new manufacturing employees
  • Scripted technical instructional content for high-tech, product knowledge training
  • Developed hybrid materials for both instructor-led training (ILT) and microlearning tutorials

Technical Skills: