Categories

Recent Posts

Popular Tags

Edtech Digital Accessibility Elearning web accessibility Education Technology WCAG 2.1 Remote learning digital learning
Digital Education

Make Your Storyboard More Noticeable!

May 11, 2017
Storyboarding is and should be an important part of an eLearning process. It helps you to plan the direction of a project and provides aid in understanding the sequence of a story. In terms of an eLearning products, storyboards explain the product in question clearly to stakeholders and everyone else involved. If a good storyboard precedes development, changes can be carried out in the initial stages and this saves a lot of time, energy, and money.   It is crucial that certain points are kept in mind while drawing up the storyboard to make it more efficient and helpful toward developing your product’s eLearning vision:  

1) Plan ahead

You must have a clear understanding of the objectives and goals of your eLearning program before you start working on its storyboard. These could include the type of learning goals you plan to achieve, the clear reason for creating a storyboard, the learning objectives a learner should take away from an eLearning product, different content & interaction types that are available to use in an eLearning product, etc. These objectives will better shape the storyboard while helping you focus more on priorities.

2) Follow a consistent theme

Since you’re planning the overall design of an eLearning course, choose a consistent theme to ensure that everything in your product is uniform, aesthetic, and follows the same theme throughout. You may also want to ensure that the product is easily understandable and usable for different stakeholders. This may take the form of color-coded audio scripts and visual elements. You can choose from online pre-designed templates or design your own template since it helps in designing a theme for your storyboard. You could also incorporate the signature tone and style of your organization in your theme.

3) Keep the content concise and relevant

You should ensure that the content guides the flow of the storyboard and is able to keep the viewer interested. You should always try to explain your ideas in simple terms and in a clear manner. While focusing on important points of the course, you should also ensure that you are not using complicated language. You should aim at keeping the tone conversational while including reply-prompting questions for the reader in your content. Another significant aspect of storyboarding is that one is not supposed to include too much information in it – not only would that defeat the entire purpose of storyboarding, it could also put you at a risk of losing your audience.

4) Ensure that your content is not cluttered

Make sure that you sensibly organize your content in each frame. While working on a storyboard, you must also think about content sequence while evenly distributing content in each frame. The accurate amount of content in each frame will ensure a natural flow in your storyboard.

5) Visual Elements Are Key

Images, graphics and videos, when used correctly, convey a lot more information than text. You should make sure that you keep your storyboard visual, which will ensure a smoother flow and stronger viewer engagement. You could also add animations and sounds that will further enhance the visual content of your storyboard.

6) Reveal something new in each frame

A good way to ensure that your storyboard is strong and contains compelling content is by introducing a new concept in each frame, specifically tailored to a user’s requirements. At this point, visual elements play a vital role in a storyboard. You will be able to cover more ground and keep it engaging by explaining concepts through visuals and audio. The main goal here is to successfully deliver your message across to your audience/learners. Adding references to your storyboard is another key element here. It is important to add references from reliable sources for all the documented facts, data, and visual elements.  

7) Keep the user’s learning needs in mind

You must do your research about the target audience of the eLearning product so that their needs and requirements are a part of your storyboard. Your research could include your audience’s educational background, age level, skill sets, etc. You could also assess any previous learning strategies used, and apply the findings to your storyboard for a better and more specific outcome.It is also critical to include the type of assessment that would be used to grade your audience on the subject matter, wherein the tests and exams should be placed in the frames, etc.   So the next time you are creating a storyboard and feel something is lacking, review these points and see if you have missed out on any of them out. Your storyboard will turn out to be more effective and noteworthy if you diligently ensure that your storyboard is designed according to these pointers.
Edtech Elearning Elearning Process elearning products Storyboarding