ELearning/Course design/Learning requirements

Identifying and describing the desired student learning outcomes, and also the conditions and context that must be accounted for in the design so that the course will actually achieve the desired outcomes.

Front-end analysis

Front-end analysis identifies gaps in knowledge and performance, whether those gaps are worth addressing, and how to address them. Many refer to this undertaking as needs analysis, but we prefer the more encompassing term and include needs analysis, content analysis, and task analysis within it.

Context

Circumstances surrounding the course can greatly affect the nature of learning. Certainly the online environment is one. Allotted time, accounting for holidays and such, is another especially imposing context. Content area and goals of instruction may also force restrictions or specific criteria that must be considered.

Learner characteristics

Describing the attitudes, learning styles, previous learning, diversity, and other characteristics relevant to the learning task. Descriptions will derive from your experience and multiple ways of viewing learners.

Goals of instruction

Describing the larger goals you wish for students to accomplish in the course, and then specifying measurable learning objectives that together build toward and contribute to the accomplishment of overall goals.

Prerequisites & priorities

When we are cognizant of the prerequisites and priorities, we are essentially establishing the floor and ceiling for course objectives and content. When context, especially time, imposes itself we must respond by following our priorities and either make lesser priority material optional, supplemental, or eliminate it.

Output: Requirements summary

When you have established the learning requirements, you will end with the following outputs:

1. Front-end anlalysis, consisting of one or more of the following
• Needs analysis for organizational performance issues
• Job and task analysis for established jobs, tasks, or procedures to train new hires
• Job and task analysis for new jobs, tasks, or procedures to train all relevant employees
• Content analysis for knowledge acquisition
2. Context including learning environment, application environment, and development environment
3. Learner characteristics relevant to the design of instruction
4. Instructional goals and a prioritized draft list of learning objectives
5. Prerequisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes

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