E-Learning Design and Development Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Learning and Development Managers, Instructional Designers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-LD-301

Before you join: Participants should have experience contributing to workplace learning, training, HR, knowledge management or operational improvement activities.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

E-learning projects often fail before development begins: a training request is accepted without diagnosing the performance problem, content is copied into slides, assessments test recall rather than job capability, and accessibility or LMS requirements are addressed late. The result can be expensive digital learning that records completions but does not improve decisions, procedures, customer service, compliance or operational performance.

This course equips participants to design and develop structured e-learning that addresses defined workplace needs. Participants use ADDIE, task analysis, Bloom's revised taxonomy, constructive alignment, scenario-based learning and evaluation planning to move from a business request to a publishable learning design. They learn to write measurable objectives, create storyboards and scripts, design meaningful interactions, build valid knowledge checks, apply accessibility requirements and prepare content for SCORM or xAPI-enabled learning platforms.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with realistic design cases from regulated services, public administration, customer operations and corporate compliance. Participants analyse a learning request, make design decisions, review sample assets, diagnose common defects and plan an e-learning project using practical templates. Each participant leaves with an e-learning design pack containing a problem statement, learner analysis, objective map, storyboard structure, assessment plan, accessibility checklist and evaluation plan that can be adapted for a current workplace project.

The course suits L&D professionals, instructional designers, subject-matter experts and HR practitioners who already contribute to learning initiatives and need a disciplined method for creating digital learning.

What you will be able to do

  • Diagnose performance problems using task analysis and cause-and-effect analysis
  • Define learner personas, contexts of use and accessibility requirements
  • Write measurable performance objectives using Bloom's revised taxonomy
  • Create aligned storyboards, scripts and interaction specifications
  • Design scenario-based learning and formative assessment items
  • Apply WCAG 2.2 accessibility requirements to e-learning content
  • Prepare SCORM and xAPI publishing, testing and quality assurance requirements
  • Build an evaluation plan using Kirkpatrick levels and learning analytics

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produces defensible e-learning design documents for stakeholder approval
  • Improves storyboard and script quality before development costs are committed
  • Builds confidence discussing SCORM, xAPI, accessibility and LMS testing
  • Strengthens assessment design beyond basic multiple-choice recall questions
  • Creates a reusable method for managing subject-matter expert reviews

For your organisation

  • Reduces rework caused by unclear objectives, late reviews and changing scope
  • Improves alignment between digital learning investment and operational performance needs
  • Produces more accessible courses for employees with varied access requirements
  • Creates consistent quality assurance standards across internally developed e-learning
  • Generates evaluation evidence for course improvement and learning investment decisions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can determine whether e-learning is an appropriate response and frame a controlled design project.

  • Business performance problems distinguished from information and skill gaps
  • ADDIE decisions linked to project scope, constraints and governance
  • Stakeholder interviews structured around audience, task, risk and evidence
  • Training requests tested against 5 Whys and cause-and-effect analysis
  • Learning interventions selected against job aids, coaching and e-learning alternatives
  • Project charters define sponsors, subject-matter experts, approvals and milestones
  • RACI matrices assign design, review, build and publishing responsibilities

Participants can document learner requirements, job tasks and conditions affecting course design.

  • Persona profiles combine role, prior knowledge, motivation, language and access needs
  • Task analysis maps observable steps, decisions, errors and performance standards
  • Cognitive task analysis identifies expert cues, rules and exception handling
  • Context-of-use analysis captures devices, bandwidth, time and workplace constraints
  • Accessibility needs recorded without stereotyping learners or disclosing sensitive information
  • Content inventories separate essential evidence from background reference material
  • Audience findings converted into design assumptions and validation questions

Participants can write measurable objectives and align content, practice and assessment evidence.

  • Bloom's revised taxonomy differentiates recall, application, analysis and evaluation
  • Performance objectives specify condition, behaviour, criterion and workplace context
  • Terminal objectives broken into enabling objectives and prerequisite knowledge
  • Observable verbs replace vague statements about awareness, understanding and familiarity
  • Constructive alignment connects objectives, practice, feedback and assessment evidence
  • Mastery criteria set acceptable accuracy, speed, quality and safety thresholds
  • Objective maps expose gaps, duplication and unnecessary content

Participants can structure an e-learning lesson and produce a usable storyboard specification.

  • Content chunking applies working-memory limits and meaningful lesson boundaries
  • Storyboard structures sequence hooks, explanations, demonstrations, practice and recap
  • Advance organisers establish purpose, prior knowledge links and lesson route
  • Scenario-based learning presents decisions, consequences, feedback and corrective paths
  • Branching logic maps choices, remedial routes and completion states
  • Microlearning selected for discrete tasks rather than complex procedural judgement
  • Design documents specify screen purpose, media, interactions and review notes

Participants can write concise learning scripts and specify visuals that support performance.

  • Conversational scripts use direct address, active voice and economical wording
  • Plain-language editing reduces jargon, nominalisations and unnecessary instructional text
  • Mayer's coherence and signalling principles guide text, visuals and narration
  • On-screen text synchronised with narration without duplicating every spoken word
  • Visual treatments distinguish decorative imagery from explanatory diagrams and demonstrations
  • Copyright clearance records licences, attribution requirements and asset restrictions
  • Style guides standardise terminology, tone, formatting and inclusive language

Participants can design practice activities and assessment items that produce valid evidence of learning.

  • Interaction types selected to rehearse decisions, procedures, diagnosis or recall
  • Worked examples fade guidance as learner proficiency increases
  • Retrieval practice schedules recall prompts before high-stakes performance
  • Feedback explains consequences, identifies errors and directs the next attempt
  • Knowledge checks distinguish formative feedback from scored assessment decisions
  • Item-writing rules prevent cueing, ambiguity, trick questions and implausible distractors
  • Question banks map items to objectives, difficulty and evidence requirements

Participants can apply accessibility requirements during design, development and quality assurance.

  • WCAG 2.2 principles guide perceivable, operable, understandable and compatible course interfaces
  • Keyboard testing checks focus order, visible indicators and interaction completion
  • Alternative text conveys visual purpose rather than decorative detail
  • Captions, transcripts and audio descriptions support multimedia access requirements
  • Colour contrast and non-colour cues protect meaning and status information
  • Accessible documents use heading structures, reading order and descriptive links
  • Plain language and inclusive examples reduce avoidable comprehension barriers

Participants can prepare e-learning specifications for authoring, LMS publication and technical testing.

  • Authoring-tool selection weighs interaction requirements, publishing formats and maintenance
  • Reusable templates separate editable content from locked interface components
  • SCORM 1.2 and 2004 settings define completion, success and bookmarking
  • xAPI statements record learner actions using actor, verb and object
  • Learning management system testing verifies enrolment, launch, tracking and reporting
  • Version control records source files, approvals, releases and change requests
  • Quality assurance checklists inspect links, media, scoring, navigation and metadata

Participants can plan, govern and control an e-learning development project from brief to release.

  • Agile learning sprints organise backlog priorities, prototypes, reviews and revisions
  • Work breakdown structures estimate design, media, build, testing and rework
  • Review cycles set acceptance criteria, comment deadlines and decision owners
  • Subject-matter expert input managed through structured reviews and evidence sources
  • Risk registers address late content, technical dependencies, accessibility and scope change
  • Vendor briefs specify deliverables, source ownership, quality criteria and handover
  • Production schedules coordinate approvals, localisation, publishing and launch communications

Participants can evaluate e-learning effectiveness and prioritise improvements for a workplace project.

  • Kirkpatrick levels distinguish reaction, learning, behaviour and results evidence
  • Evaluation plans define measures, data sources, timing, owners and decisions
  • Pre- and post-assessments measure objective attainment without invalid comparisons
  • Learning analytics interpret completion, attempts, time, drop-off and item data
  • Pilot feedback separates usability defects from content and instructional design issues
  • Maintenance plans schedule content review, policy updates and technical retesting
  • Application plans prioritise one workplace course improvement and stakeholder conversation

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. E-learning project charter template
  2. Learner and task analysis worksheet
  3. Objective-to-assessment alignment map
  4. Storyboard and script specification template
  5. WCAG 2.2 e-learning quality checklist
  6. Kirkpatrick evaluation plan

Who should attend

  • Learning and Development Managers — need consistent methods for commissioning and governing digital learning
  • Instructional Designers — need stronger design, assessment and accessibility techniques
  • E-Learning Developers — need clearer learning design specifications before building content
  • HR Business Partners — need to turn workforce capability needs into targeted learning interventions
  • Subject-Matter Experts — need to convert specialist knowledge into usable digital learning
  • Training Managers — need to evaluate whether digital courses improve job performance

Skills and tools covered

Learning needs analysisInstructional designStoryboard developmentAssessment designAccessible e-learningLearning evaluation

Tools and standards

ADDIE, Bloom's revised taxonomy, WCAG 2.2, SCORM 1.2/2004 and xAPI

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by case analysis, group design work, review simulations and individual application planning. Participants work with realistic learning requests, including compliance procedures, customer-service decisions and operational process changes. They analyse learner needs, draft objectives, structure storyboards, inspect assessment items and identify accessibility defects. Instructor feedback focuses on design choices, evidence and practical trade-offs. Live demonstrations show how design specifications connect with authoring tools, LMS publishing settings and course quality assurance.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience contributing to workplace learning, training, HR, knowledge management or operational improvement activities. They should be comfortable discussing job tasks, reviewing written content and using standard office software. Prior exposure to an LMS, authoring tool or digital course project is helpful but not essential. This is not a beginner course in workplace learning theory; participants should already recognise the difference between a training event and a business outcome. No programming knowledge, graphic design qualification, video-production experience or authoring-tool licence is required.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have experience in workplace learning, training, HR or a related operational role. You do not need programming, graphic design or prior authoring-tool expertise.

Bring a current or planned e-learning project, training brief or workplace performance issue if possible. This gives you material for the design templates and application plan, although sample cases are available.

It is suited to L&D professionals, instructional designers, e-learning developers, training managers and subject-matter experts. It is particularly useful for people who need to improve learning design before content enters development.

This course focuses on the decisions that determine whether an e-learning course is useful: needs analysis, objectives, practice, assessment, accessibility and evaluation. It explains how design specifications work with authoring tools, but does not provide product-specific software instruction.

Participants can use the project charter, learner analysis, objective map, storyboard and quality checklist on a live course project. The methods also help managers challenge weak training requests before budgets are committed.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. Time is divided between instructor input, case work, group activities, design reviews, simulations and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.