Whether you are new to eLearning or looking to improve how your organisation develops digital learning content, creating an effective eLearning course can feel like a big undertaking. The good news is that with the right approach, tools and support, it is absolutely achievable.
In this guide, we will walk you through the key steps involved in creating eLearning courses. We will also show you how The Learning Rooms can help, whether you need us to build your course for you, want to use our off-the-shelf course library or prefer to build your own using our eXcolo Toolkit.
Start with the learning need
Every good eLearning course begins with a clear understanding of why the training is needed. Before you think about slides, interactions or multimedia, take a step back and ask some important questions. You should consider things like:
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- Who are your learners and what do they already know?
- What should learners be able to do after completing the course?
- How will you know if the training has been successful?
These questions help you define the learning objectives for your course. Clear objectives are the foundation of effective instructional design. Without them, it is easy to end up with content that looks good but does not actually change behaviour or improve performance.
Design the learning experience
Once you know what your course needs to achieve, the next step is to design the learning experience. This is where instructional design comes in. Good instructional design is about more than just putting content on screen. It is about structuring and delivering content in a way that helps people learn, retain and apply new knowledge.
There are a few principles worth keeping in mind when designing your course:
- Keep it learner centred. Think about the experience from the learner’s perspective, not just the content owner’s.
- Use scenarios and real-world examples. People learn better when they can see how something applies to their own work.
- Break content into manageable chunks. Shorter modules are easier to digest and fit better into busy schedules.
- Include opportunities for practice. Quizzes, activities and decision-making exercises help reinforce learning.
At The Learning Rooms, our instructional designers apply these principles to every project. We take a learner centred approach, combining instructional design expertise with practical, real-world applications to make sure knowledge sticks.
Write the content
Writing for eLearning is different to writing a document or a presentation. The content needs to be concise, conversational and written with the learner in mind. Avoid long blocks of text and instead focus on clear, direct language that guides the learner through the material. We follow Plain English guidelines.
A storyboard is a useful tool at this stage. It allows you to plan out each screen of your course, including the text, visuals, interactions and any audio or video. A good storyboard saves time during the build phase because everyone involved knows exactly what the final course should look and feel like.
If writing eLearning content is new to your team, our eXcolo Toolkit includes a streamlined storyboarding approach and an Instructional Design for eLearning online course. These resources help teams write engaging, effective eLearning content even if they have not done it before.
Build your course
With your content planned and written, it is time to build. This is where your eLearning authoring tool comes in. At The Learning Rooms, we use Articulate Storyline for bespoke and interactive courses and Articulate Rise for rapid eLearning development.
The build phase is where your course really comes to life. This is when you add the visual design, interactions, animations, video, audio and all the elements that make eLearning engaging. The key things to focus on during the build include:
- A clean, modern visual design that supports the learning rather than distracting from it.
- Interactive elements like click-to-reveal, exercises and scenario-based activities.
- Accessibility. Your course should be usable by everyone, including people using assistive technologies.
- Mobile responsiveness, so learners can access content on any device.
If you want to build courses in-house, our eXcolo Template for Articulate Storyline is designed to make this easier. It contains over 150 slide types with pre-built interactions, a modern design and full brand customisation. Teams using the eXcolo Template can build interactive courses up to 75% faster than starting from scratch.
Review, test and publish
Before you launch your course, it is essential to review and test it thoroughly. Check for accuracy, consistency and any technical issues. Get feedback from stakeholders and, ideally, from a small group of learners who represent your target audience.
You should test your course across different devices and browsers to make sure everything works as expected. Pay attention to things like navigation, timing, audio quality and how the course performs on mobile devices.
Once you are happy with the course, you can publish it and deploy it through your learning management system (LMS). If you need an LMS, The Learning Rooms deliver Moodle-based platforms that can host and deliver your courses with full tracking and reporting.
Three ways to create eLearning with The Learning Rooms
We understand that every organisation has different needs, budgets and levels of internal capability. That is why we offer three distinct ways to help you create eLearning courses.
Let us build it for you
If you want a fully bespoke eLearning course designed and built to your exact requirements, our team of instructional designers and eLearning developers will take care of everything. From initial consultation through to final delivery, we work as an extension of your team. Our bespoke eLearning courses are multimedia rich, featuring video, animation, interactive activities and scenario-based learning. We also offer rapid eLearning development using Articulate Rise for projects that need to be delivered quickly and cost effectively.
Use our off-the-shelf courses
Not every training need requires a bespoke course. Our off-the-shelf eLearning course catalogue covers a wide range of topics including management and leadership, soft skills, compliance, health and safety, personal development and more. These online courses are ready to go, highly interactive and can be licensed for your entire organisation. It is a cost effective way to deliver quality training at scale.
Build your own with the eXcolo Toolkit
For organisations that want to develop their own internal capability, the eXcolo Toolkit is a complete eLearning development solution. It includes training in instructional design, the eXcolo Template for Articulate Storyline and ongoing support from our team. The Toolkit is designed for teams and organisations who want to plan, write and build engaging eLearning content themselves. Whether you are new to eLearning development or looking to improve your existing process, the eXcolo Toolkit gives you everything you need.
Getting started
Creating eLearning courses does not have to be complicated. With clear objectives, good instructional design and the right tools, you can build learning experiences that genuinely make a difference.
If you would like to talk to us about your eLearning project, whether you want us to build a course for you, explore our course catalogue or get started with the eXcolo Toolkit, we would love to hear from you. Let us help you along your digital learning journey.
