Ashley Chiasson, M.Ed

Edit: Well – that was poor scheduling on my part; Thursday is not Tuesday – whoops! My bad!

It’s time to talk Development – my very favourite phase of Instructional Design! Why is it my favourite? Because I get to create things! I suppose that could be said for the Analysis and Design phases (Job Task Analysis and Design Documents…), but development is my favourite phase because I get to play in authoring tools that I love to create magical (ok…maybe that’s a strong term) e-learning for my clients.

In this phase, you get to put all of the information you defined in the Analysis and Design phases into practice! Another reason this is my favourite phase is because there’s been a lot of build-up at this point – you’ve poured over the details of the e-learning project, but you haven’t physically seen anything just yet (outside of a ton of Microsoft Word documents).

This might be a bad analogy, but it’s like hearing you’re going to have a wax figure of yourself made, and finally having it unveiled…alright, it’s probably a really bad analogy – I don’t actually know how that feels, but it seems like a very hyped up lead in to an exciting result!

However, development isn’t always working within your favourite authoring tools. It could (and often does) involve:

• Scripting
• Storyboarding
• Drafting audio narration scripts
• Creating prototypes
• Developing assessment items
• Creating lesson plans
• Developing style guides
• Creating media assets

If your project calls for rapid prototyping (aka forgoing most of the previously mentioned documents), you’ll jump into your authoring tool with both feet and immerse yourself in the wonderful world of e-learning authoring.

In summary, the development phase of instructional design involves the development, and the processes involved in such development, of e-learning course content – Regardless of medium (e.g. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or e-learning authoring tools such as Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline).

Several weeks back, I talked a bit about elements featured in the design phase of course development, and now I’ve returned to finish off (the high-level) discussion.

Previously, I talked about design documentation. Now I’m going to focus more on the technology and visual elements.

Within the design phase, this is typically where I would identify an authoring tool or Learning Content Management System (LCMS). Where will the development occur? Will the course be developed in Articulate Storyline? Adobe Captivate? Flash? An internal LCMS? This should be identified before anyone moves further into the development phase. Why? Because the development tool selected may impact some of your specifications in your design documentation. For example, if you specify one authoring tool in your design documentation, but use another, your client might hold you accountable for not doing what you said you were going to do.

Once selected, this authoring tool specification will help you out when coming up with a style guide (e.g. what screen styles you’re planning on using) and will be instrumental in specifying prototype requirements and compliance requirements. If your project requires SCORM compliance, you’ll want to ensure the authoring tool you select has that capability…or redevelopment might be in your future.

Another element you might want to consider during the design phase is to outline your course content. High level is usually best for this.

From a higher education perspective, the design phase is where I would have faculty members begin populating a Course Development Plan document. This document acts as a container for specific high-level course content, and facilitates and easier transition during the development phase. For example, this document (once complete) will have most all of the content housed within the document (and signed off on), and the faculty member can then copy/paste the textual content into the Learning Management System (LMS) instead of having to spend time retyping/researching what content they want to include in which module. It just streamlines the development process.

For design, I think a good rule of thumb would be to outline as much information about the project requirements and high-level course content as you can, because it will make for a smoother development phase!