Key Learning Components for Design of Online Training Courses

In writing about the foundations of educational theory for online learning, Ally (n.d.) describes key learning components that should be used when designing online materials.  His model is based on educational theory and offer instructional designers with a framework for design of web-based training.
These key learning components are highlighted as follows:

Learner Preparation

Pre-learning activities to prepare learners for the subsequent details of the lesson and provide motivation for learning. Such pre-learning activities include:

• A rationale for taking the online lesson and description of benefits
• A concept map to establish the structure
• A set of learning outcomes to set expectations
• An advance organizer to show the structure for organization of the content
• A list of prerequisite requirements to show if learners are ready for the lesson in terms of their knowledge and skills
• A self-assessment to help learners organize lesson materials

Learner Activities

An effective online course provides learners with a variety of learning activities to achieve the learning outcomes and accommodate the learners' individual needs. Examples of such learning activities include:

• Reading textual materials, listening to audio materials such as podcasts, or viewing visual or video materials
• Conducting research on the Internet with links to online articles or other information and online libraries or databases for additional information
• Preparing a learning journal to reflect on their learning and personalize the experience
• Embedding application exercises throughout the online course to help show the relevance of the materials
• Providing practice activities with feedback, which enables learners to monitor their progress
• Presenting or requiring learners to create a lesson summary for higher-level processing and providing a transition to close the lesson

Learner Interaction

Learner will be involved in various interactions as they work through the learning activities. Through such interactions, learners will personalize information and construct meaning from the content and activities. Key learner interactions should include the following:

• Interaction with the interface to access the online materials. The interface should make it easy for the learners to sense the information for temporarily storing and processing it into long-term memory.
• Interaction with the content to obtain the necessary information required to form a knowledge base and develop skills for learning.
• Interaction between the learner and other learners, between the learner and the instructor, and between the learner and subject matter experts. The purpose of such interactions is to enable the learners to collaborate, participate in shared cognition, form social networks, and establish social presence.

Learner Transfer

In order to ensure engaging and effective online learning, it is also important to provide opportunities for learners to take what they have learn and be able to apply them to situations in the workplace.  This will help them to develop knowledge and understanding well beyond what is presented in the online course.

Reference

Ally, M. (n.d.). Foundations of Educational Theory for Online Learning. Chapter 1: Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Athabasca University. Retrieved online from: http://cde.athabascau.ca/online_book/pdf/TPOL_book.pdf