UKCES e-learning for developers and advisers
Following the development of the standards for standards developers in 2010, Christie and Christie were asked by UKCES to develop a range of e-learning guides.
Requirements for the e-learning guides
Some of the requirements for the e-learning guides were:
- That they should provide e-learning to users interested in developing standards in a clear, simple and informative way, whilst remaining engaging to users
- That they should provide evidence to the user regarding their learning
- That they should be able to be delivered via the internet or via removable media (e.g. CD-Rom, USB memory stick etc)
Developing the e-learning guides
Our first task was to advise upon the software solution that could be used to deliver the e-learning guides both via the internet and via removable media. Having developed many offline solutions for clients using Adobe Flash, we advised the client that the e-learning guides could be developed using this technology. Adobe Flash would provide the flexibility to develop both a browser based and stand alone solution whilst also providing an interactive product in which to present the material. In addition to this, we also advised that it would be beneficial to develop PDF versions of the guides for the purposes of accessibility and direct training.
The first challenge was to design a user interface (UI) that would present the learning material in an engaging way. To achieve this we designed a simple interface with 'white space' at its core and opted to use a sans-serif typeface to present all text. We then developed an interactive menu that would provide users with a clear indication of the number of learning elements within an individual guide and which element they were viewing at any point. The interactive menu would also allow users to move freely through the learning environment and re-visit any specific elements if they wished to do so.
Having developed the interface we then made an assessment of the e-learning material for each guide and broke it down into manageable learning elements. We then designed interactive graphics, flow charts and animations in order to compliment the material. This provided increased interactivity and reinforced the overall learning experience.
The final challenge was to then provide the user with evidence of their learning. To achieve this we developed an interactive knowledge test for each guide that a user could undertake in order to assess their learning. Each test was based on the individual learning elements within each e-learning guide and provided the user with an indication of their acquired learning.
The NOS Developer e-guides were completed in September 2010 and can be accessed by visiting http://www.ukstandards.co.uk/help/Pages/e-guides.aspx.