You’re in the unenviable position of having to create an e-learning course on regulatory requirements. How can you breathe life into Article 27 Subsection 42 so that learners won’t forget it five seconds after they exit the course? Just turn it into a story.
The previous training was in the form of a PowerPoint using those ubiquitous bullet points. It was drab and uninspired.
Before – Slide with Bullets
“Now, how are you going to make that into a story?” you might ask. Well, think of it this way; ask yourself (or better yet, the SME) what would be the consequences if A27S42 were violated? Where there’s a rule, there are always consequences, and those consequences are…drum roll please, your story!
Consequences can be grouped into three basic categories:
- Direct – If you leave the bathtub running long enough, it’s going to overflow.
- Disciplinary – Maybe there is no good sensible reason you can think of for A27S42, but you know if you violate it, you could get fired or face disciplinary action.
- Legal or regulatory – Your organization could get fined for violating these, and those fines can sometimes compound daily until the issue is properly resolved.
I’ve only discussed the negative consequences here, but there may also be positive ones like rewards, recognition, bonuses, etc. for doing the right thing.
Once you have the positive and negative consequences, create characters in the course who go through their day encountering various scenarios where these rules come into play. Give the learner opportunities to explore what happens both when they obey the rules and when they don’t using simple branching, layers, or states. This is especially easy to do in Storyline, but is also possible in other programs. Here’s what the new, improved story version looks like:
Character is presented with real-life situation
Learner has to choose what to do next
Learner gets feedback based on their decision
E-Learning With Dan 