This job aid is an overview of best practices for creating online courses for BuckeyeLearn.
Should You Create an Online Course?
Before you create an online course, you first need to determine if the content is appropriate for BuckeyeLearn and if an online course is the most appropriate learning object.
Is the content appropriate for BuckeyeLearn?
Not all content is appropriate for inclusion in BuckeyeLearn.
To be included in BuckeyeLearn, training must support professional development or university compliance training. Training that is appropriate for BuckeyeLearn includes training on
- Management principles
- University-provided software
- Federal, state, and university policies
- Communication
- University procedures
- Job skills
- Professional development
- Other training topics relevant to university and Wexner Medical Center employees
Training not appropriate for BuckeyeLearn includes
- Academic courses
- Departmental communications
- Meetings
- Marketing materials
Other topics that do not involve learning
Review the BuckeyeLearn Standards for additional information about training that can and cannot be included in BuckeyeLearn.
Should the content be an online course or should it be a different type of learning object?
In addition to the training topic being appropriate for BuckeyeLearn, consider if the training is best presented as an online course. Some questions to consider include:
How big is the target audience?
If the audience is small, it may not be worth the time and effort to create an online course. A quality online course will take many hours of development work, as well as review from all stakeholders.
Does the information change frequently?
Since online courses take considerable effort to create, content that changes frequently is not a good candidate for an online course. Consider one of the material learning object options instead.
Is there a better way to present the information?
Instead of training, would a communication and marketing plan be more appropriate, such as for an update to software? If the proposed training is to correct a problem with a small number of learners, does it make more sense to directly manage those learners to resolve the issue?
Is the information already documented and ready to be shared?
If the information in your proposed training is already well-documented, such as in PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, or webpages, a material learning object may be all that is needed. If a video already exists, a video or material learning object may be more appropriate.
Does the training completion need to be tracked?
If training does not need to be tracked and monitored, consider if itis really necessary to include it in BuckeyeLearn. If it will not be tracked, why is it being created at all?
Adult Learning Principles
All training in BuckeyeLearn, including online courses, must be built in accordance with adult learning principles.
Helpful Note:
Adult learning principles describe how adults learn, as opposed to how children or college students learn.
In general, adults are self-directed and goal-oriented when they take training. Training should be relevant and applicable to their immediate needs and situations. Training should respect the learner and take their experience and knowledge into account.
Instructional designers and professional training developers use these principles to develop training that engages and educates the training’s specific audience of adult learners. If your area does not have instructional designers or professional training developers on staff, consider hiring a third-party vendor to create any needed online courses. If your area does not have the budget to hire a third-party vendor, consider using another learning object type, such as a material that links to a PDF, Word document, or webpage.
Third-Party Vendors
If your area has a third-party vendor create training for you or if your area purchases pre-made training, you are required to thoroughly test the training and the training must be approved by the Operations Committee and the ADA Coordinator’s Office. For more information about the testing and approval process, review the Third-Party Vendor Training job aid.
Authoring Tools
Online courses may only be created using approved authoring tools, currently Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, and Lectora. If your area wants to use a different authoring tool, contact the BuckeyeLearn Support team to discuss testing and approval.
Review the SCORM Requirements job aid for information about publishing to SCORM.
Web Accessibility
Critical Note:
All training in BuckeyeLearn must be accessible to learners with disabilities, and you, not the BuckeyeLearn Support team, are responsible for ensuring that accessibility.
No authoring tool automatically produces online courses that are accessible; they must be made accessible through the choices of the person creating the course. Your training should be tested to be sure it is accessible.
Some authoring tools create training that is more accessible than others. If you select an authoring tool that does not produce fully accessible training, you must get an exception from the ADA Coordinator’s office to use that authoring tool. The exception will include requirements for how you will use the tool to produce the most-accessible training, and how you will provide a fully-accessible version to learners who require one.
For more information about making your training accessible, review the Accessibility job aid.
Mobile-Friendly
While most learners complete training in BuckeyeLearn on a computer, a growing population of learners use a mobile device, such as an iPad, to view and complete training.
While only training that is available to the majority of learners in BuckeyeLearn is required to be mobile-friendly, it is highly suggested that all training take mobile usage into consideration.
For more information about creating mobile-friendly content, review the Mobile-Friendly Online Courses Requirements and Best Practices job aid.
Copyright Law
Much of the information available on the internet is copyrighted. If you plan on using images, music, or video from another online resource, you must adhere to copyright law. Visit Ohio State's Copyright Services for more information about how to navigate copyright issues.
Testing
Before training is loaded and made available in the BuckeyeLearn Live environment, it must be tested in the Pilot environment.
Critical Note:
Testing must never be done in the Live environment.
For more information about testing online courses, review the Testing Training job aid.