The majority of our e-learning authoring tool experience is with Articulate 360, with Camtasia a close second.

We have used Articulate to deliver e-learning for non-profits and corporate clients, to achieve both Kirkpatrick Level 1 and 2.

And we typically use Camtasia for video creation and editing.

We ensure alignment by starting with the end and keeping it in focus. We work with you to understand what your desired outcomes are. Do you need your employees to just know how to do, or actually do?

Then we work with you to determine how best to measure or assess their ability or readiness to achieve those outcomes.

Finally, we work with your subject matter experts (SME) to define what supporting or entry-level knowledge and skills need to be established or confirmed. Those, then, become our learning objectives.

In a virtual synchronous environment, there are several techniques we have successfully used to effectively engage learners. These include polls and quizzes (either as recall and reinforcement of covered content, or sometimes to provide learners a short mental reset from the content).

We’ve also incorporated video clips and group activities (i.e. case studies, realistic and relevant role-play scenarios) to make the content more relatable and engaging.

How we evaluate the efficacy of a course depends on the Kirkpatrick Level you or your stakeholder(s) need to achieve. If Kirkpatrick Level One or Two, simple knowledge assessments can be used; so too can realistic scenarios, role-playing, and gamification.

If we’re trying to achieve Level Three, then we must design performance-based assessments. These can be done immediately following the content or course, but we often find greater data fidelity when they are accomplished back in the work center, some time after the class or course.

I approach the needs analysis largely the same for online learning programs as I do in-person ones. We must first understand:

• the learners’ entry skills

• what performance requirements are not being met

• how they may need to engage the content (preparatory or point-of-need);

• the task and what prior knowledge or skills it requires to be completed correctly;

• the work environment and factors making it more difficult to perform the task(s) – such as physical barriers or challenges, motivators and rewards, cultural factors, etc.; and,

• how to best design & deliver the content so the learning context models the learners’ performance context.