Certificate Online Lecture Development Guidelines

Basic Adult Online Learning Principles

Guidelines for Online Course Video Length:

Try to keep each of your videos shorter than 10 minutes. The average human attention span is 8.25 seconds. Attention spans can vary from 2 seconds for some people to more than 20 minutes for very few people To be effective, each video in your program should be no more than 10 minutes. You may also hear this referred to as dividing your content into “digestible chunks”.

The Importance of Resting or Stopping Points.

If necessary, your training courses may have many videos. As you plan your online course videos, consider natural stopping points for your students to “take time” to digest the knowledge you're teaching them, and take little steps toward the end goal. This 'resting point' is often the ideal place to conclude one video and transition into the next. You can divide your video into part 1, 2, 3 etc.

Basic Adult Online Learning Principles (continued)

Limit the number of videos to 3-4 videos per topic.

While you can include more than one video per lesson or topic, the recommendation is three to four. Remember 8.25 seconds is the average human attention span. Put yourself in your students’ shoes. You delve headfirst into the new course you acquired. When you sign in and access lesson one, you see 10 videos. That's a daunting way to begin a learning experience.

The Power of Visuals

Visuals have the power to attract learners, clarify complicated concepts, and increase information retention.

According to research, pictures can boost understanding, attention span, and learning outcomes. Using images may make online courses into fascinating and immersive experiences. Incorporating pertinent visuals have the potential to captivate learners' attention and establish an emotional connection to the subject. When students are engaged, they are more likely to remain focused, motivated, and actively participate in the learning process.

MORE GUIDELINES Recording Guidelines

Prepare an outline so you can write a succinct script

Give students something to think about in between recorded sections: a question to answer, or an activity to complete. Think of relevant questions you would like students to learn.

Be sure that all images and materials are used in accordance with copyright guidelines.

For consistency use the slide template suggested.

Use standard font such as Arial.

Titles and headers should be distinguishable from other material (use various font sizes) and limit the number of font sizes and colors to three per presentation.

Spell-check your slides.

Use a high-quality microphone. EDE recommends the Logitech Blue Yeti or better.

Make sure that there is an appropriate distance between your mouth and the microphone

Connect headset BEFORE opening PowerPoint program (this ensures that your computer actually registers and uses yours instead of another microphone)

Insert a “placeholder slide” where you need EDE to add a video or other resources.

As much as possible, make sure room is quiet (control for pets, children, lawnmowers, sirens, other outside noises)

“The Reflective level is the home of reflection, of aware thought, of learning of latest ideas and generalizations regarding the subject”.

VISCERAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND REFLECTIVE LEVELS IN ONLINE LEARNING

Emotion is the most effective approach to impact what captures your learner's attention and how it travels to long-term memory. To use emotional design, you must first consider the three cognitive levels, as outlined by Donald Norman: visceral, behavioral, and reflective. When used to design a course, these levels allow learners to engage with the course, resulting in a more attractive, joyful, and memorable learning experience. The three parts listed above must work together to handle the three cognitive levels that occur in the human brain.

Don Norman

Deya Garcia Zea, Ph.D.