According to the American Society for Training and Development, modular training consists of standardized units. These units can be used in multiple courses. Designing training modules, packages of instructional content, typically involves assessing the need, defining the learning objectives, identifying the standard elements and creating a template for reuse. By adopting a consistent approach to training module design, you make it easy to read and interpret the instructional message.
Designing compelling and engaging training materials starts by analyzing the need for the training. For example, conduct a survey to determine what information people already have and what additional skills and knowledge they need to perform required tasks. You might also interview people who perform the task well to identify the characteristics of successful performance. Determine prerequisites that viewers must complete before starting your training module. For example, when designing a series of training modules on technical topics, start with the basic concepts, then continue with the more advanced topics.
To meet expectations, gather requirements for your training module from sponsors, who provide funding to create the training, and stakeholders, such as anyone who might be impacted by the outcome of the training. Designing an effective training module involves creating learning objectives that state specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-constrained goals. Use action verbs, such as arrange, characterize or administer, to describe performance expectations. Your training module should also contain a test or some other way, such as observation, to assess knowledge transfer.
Each page of the training module typically includes instructional text, visuals and a list of resources for further details. Start with general topic and then introduce specifics. Provide ways for viewers to check their understanding. For example, include a multiple choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank or short answer question. Use electronic learning development tools, such as Captivate, Articulate or Moodle, to generate interactive training modules that you can publish on an Internet website or distribute via DVD. Supplemental materials usually include case studies, examples and testimonials from experts.
To design a complete set of training modules, develop a template. For example, create a presentation with a standard title, header and footer. Choose a font and color for the title and instructional text. Set standards for animation. Animation allows you to display text and graphics in a specified order to emphasize concepts. Set up a standard position for text and multimedia, such as text on the left and visuals on the right. Provide instructions on how to use the template so that other course developers can use your design in producing their own training modules.
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