Reduce Development Time, Save Money Using eLearning Templates

We’ve all been there…a last minute project comes up needing immediate deployment. Whether it’s a course, product update or important corporate communication, building elearning templates can save you considerable development time and money.

Templates give you the ability to set the graphic user interface (GUI), create object and image libraries and even create different page layouts to meet different needs. When you need to get a course or critical update out quickly, your developers won’t have to create the course from scratch, build objects or search for appropriate graphics. Plus, you’ll know that the course will be in compliance with your graphics and elearning standards.

Key Considerations for Creating eLearning Templates

If your elearning staff is lean or if you don’t have graphic design experience, having a professional designer create your templates is a logical choice. Once the templates are complete, you’ll be able to quickly create any type of content on your own because the overall page structure will have been created for you.

Here are some things to consider in your template design planning:

What Graphic Design Resources are Available to You?
Can you or an in-house resource make updates in Photoshop? That cool GUI or custom buttons might not be so cool if you have to outsource the artwork every time you want to make a change. Lectora offers a variety of button shapes and styles so if you don’t have a graphic designer on staff or the budget to outsource, you can still have a great looking, professional looking template.

What are Your Branding Requirements?

• Are there any color and branding requirements that need to be included in the template?
• Will other divisions be using the template?
• Will the template need to accommodate the logos or branding of the other divisions?

These are all key factors in the overall design of your template.

How Will You Use the Template in the Future?
If your courses are mostly in PowerPoint®, are they primarily text-based, bulleted or graphics-rich? What about future courses? Consider how your needs might change as you move from static learning to increased interactivity.

What Page Design Requirements Will You Have?
The addition of Flash, other multimedia elements and even your choice of navigation will determine the type of space requirements you’ll need for your pages. Lectora gives you the flexibility to choose from a variety of navigation styles—tabs across the top, left side menu or Table of Contents dropdown—all designed to meet your design requirements.

Other Considerations:

Screen Resolution – Keep the variety and age of your users’ equipment in mind when designing your template.

Know Your Audience – Understanding your learners’ skill and comfort levels with technology can make the difference between an effective, easy-to-use course and a frustrating course.

What Elements/Objects Will You Need? Plan ahead. Think about the types and styles of buttons you’d like to use e.g. home, contact us, audio on/off, pause, etc. You may not feel you need these buttons today, but in the future you may wish you had them. It’s better to build a library of items upfront than to have to scramble later for a custom button. With Lectora, you can create all of these elements on your own or, with a designer’s help; you can create a more customized look.

Testing and Tracking Results Through Your LMS – If you’ll be doing a lot of testing, it’s a good idea to have test templates in place. Test templates will allow your developers to edit test questions for each course instead of building each test from scratch. Test templates ensure compliance with your LMS reducing the time spent “testing the test” on your LMS.

Benefits of Professionally-Designed Custom Templates

Working with a professional design team such as Trivantis’ Custom Development Services (CDS) will enable you to quickly move through the planning stage and into template development.

Our CDS team has built hundreds of templates for our clients using Lectora—the world’s most powerful authoring tool. Talented designers, extensive elearning expertise and a strategic approach to project management are the reasons 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies choose Trivantis for their elearning development.

Some of the benefits of professionally-designed Custom Templates include:

• A professional, custom design that you can update using Lectora
• Rapid development – templates make it easier and faster for you to create courses
• Consistent design and elearning standards compliance across your courses
• All navigation and buttons will be set up and linked to corresponding pages
• AICC or SCORM compliant tests that integrate with your learning management system

If you’d like to begin experiencing the benefits of a custom template, download our quick Custom Template Information Sheet and tell us a little bit about yourself.

A Trivantis representative will contact you to discuss a custom template solution for your elearning program. Or, if you prefer, please feel free to call us at 877.929.0188.