Nothing is more frustrating than sending off your finished eLearning course and wishing you could have done more to make the course even better. Certainly, you don’t want to forget anything before your course goes live, that is why I’ve hand selected nine things most people forget before publishing their course.

1. Make Clear eLearning Objectives

The last thing that an eLearning developer wants to do is create an environment where their learners are flying blind. It is vital you ensure that your course objectives are clear. In order to avoid course development that suffers from blind fliers syndrome, there are many different elements including written and visual content that can assist with establishing objectives and delivering eLearning subject matter concisely and succinctly.

2. Make Simple and Easy Navigation

Website developers spend a ton of energy trying to create experiences online that are easy to follow and simple to use. The plight of eLearning developers is no different, as they still need to present their ideas and develop systems with content that is easy to absorb. By creating courses with clear navigation, you can present the necessary information to your audience in a way that will exceed the needs of your learners.

3. Proofread and Use Good Grammar

Very few things grind my gears more than poorly written or spoken content. Elearning course developers should be aware that image graphics, the written word, and scripts for audio content are on point and make grammatical sense. Simple grammar errors can diminish your credibility and make the job of captivating your audience that much more difficult.

4. Create Standalone Learning Modules

Make sure that your learning modules are good and clear enough to stand alone and accomplish your overall objectives with the course, but make sure that the modules work together to deliver the course in a cohesive manner. None of your eLearning modules should look or sound out of place.

5. Build Milestone Markers

Remember, for effective eLearning, it is helpful for your learners to always have a clear reference point for course progress. Just as a map landmark at the mall indicates “You Are Here,” incorporating a sense of direction through testing is the key to making sure your learners have a path to follow. You can do this by testing with knowledge checks in our eLearning Game Templates or Interaction Templates during the middle or end of your course.

6. Provide Feedback for Learners

Every eLearning professional must ask themselves the question: “Am I delivering the goods for this learner’s needs?” Whenever quizzes or assessments are utilized, it is important to let the learners know where they are so they can learn from mistakes and make the necessary adjustments, so they get everything they need from the course.

7. Highlight Meaningful Takeaways

Most learners are geared to perform the best and retain the most when they can consume content through repetition. On average, the optimal number of times to present an idea so it will stick is at least three. If a concept is presented naturally through the course, then affirmed during a quiz exercise, and then highlighted during a summary, that is going to ensure that the key principle is retained for the long-haul.

8. Incorporate Practical Application to the Subject Matter

Nothing will cause you to lose your eLearning audience faster than to force your learners to process information that they will never need. For example, if warehouse safety isn’t a course I need to know about, it may send me into a fit boredom from which I cannot recover.

9. Include Resource Hyperlinks

More often than not, you should include cited sources or links to other resources to affirm the credibility of your content. Linking out to a valuable resource will strengthen your content through validation and help your learners in ways that you may never know.

These concepts might seem like core fundamentals for building a good, sound online training courses, but it is still surprising how frequently one or many of these items is left stranded from the eLearning development checklist. If we may have missed anything, let us know in the comments below.

This article was originally written by Brother Jordan for eLearning Brothers. Click here to view the original article.