WARNING!
The following “eLearning course” was designed to be as
bad as possible. It is a simulation, but bad eLearning does
exist. It’s real, it’s out there, and it’s waiting to prey upon
unsuspecting victims.
This is your last chance to turn back.
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
Enter
¡ADVERTENCIA!
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Presented by:
Worst eLearning Coarse
Ever
Learning Objectives
At the end of this coarse you will
 Know what bad elearning looks like
 Know that this is bad elearning
 Understand why bad e-learning is bad
 Know some eLearning pet peeves
 Never want to see bad elearning again
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Worst eLearning Coarse
Ever
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Text Over Image
Text typed over images is
hard to read.
There are ways to make it
easier, like adding shadow,
but it’s just better to not
have text on top of images.
The Worst eLearning
Coarse Ever
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Single Bullet, Dense Text
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A single, static screen that’s nothing but text
is really annoying, especially when all of that is
in a single bullet point. Bad e-learning is mindnumbingly boring and bad for retention. Comic
Sans is an unforgiveable font. Navigation
buttons that change location from one screen
to the next are frustrating. Poorly written text
and narration don’t help either. Having more
than one main idea on a screen is not good
organization. It’s even worse when all of that is
in one paragraph.

What NOT to Do in e-Learning
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Bad Organization, Broken
Resources
Bad organization and visual design are responsible for lots of
problems.
Organization=Relationship
Please don’t plaster logos
all over, one is enough
Don’t suggest relationships
that don’t exist
It’s nice to include a
progress indicator
It hurts people’s brains
Click here to learn more
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What Not to do in
ELearning
Assessment with Obvious
Answer
Question: Why is bad elearning bad?
Select the correct answer.
A) It just is.
B) It isn’t.
C) Because it’s not well designed on any level. Learners
can’t bear to look at it, let alone pay attention to it.
Furthermore, there is little to no instructional design
so it doesn’t support learning. Once you get to the
assessment, the longest answer options are almost
always right.
D) It’s misunderstood.
What not to do with
ELearning
Assessment with Obnoxious
Answers
Which of the following are probably not signs of well
written assessments? Choose the best answer.
A) Longest answer options are almost always correct
B) Confusingly worded questions
C) Confusingly worded answer options
D)A and C, but not B
E) B and C, but not A
F) A, B, and C
Worst eLearning Coarse
Ever!!!
Overblown
Conclusion
You did it! Add
congratulations about
you just sitting
through something.
Now continue to the
actual last screen to
view a written list of
eLearning pet peeves.
(Don’t worry, it’s a
little better there).
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The End
Peeve List
Some of these were included in this simulation, others were not.
General
Visual
Audio-related
Assessment
Locked navigation
Poor/no visual design
Badly written narration
Answer options like, “A and
C, but not B”
Navigation buttons that
change location
Lack of white space
Narration conflicts with
onscreen text
Longest answers are always
correct
Course title changes
Too many fonts
Dull narrator
Only one reasonable answer
Links that don’t work
The Comic Sans font
Poor audio quality
Questions are overly easy
Outdated resources
Hard to read or multi-colored
text
Narration reads all
onscreen text exactly
Lack of feedback, or just
Correct/Incorrect
Poor learning objectives
Text placed over images
CC text has typos
Tests non-essential content
Learning objectives that
don’t match the course
Long, static screens where
nothing happens
Background music
Doesn’t align with learning
objectives
Inconsistent naming and
typos
Walls of text
Obnoxious sound effects
Too long/ too much
information
Bad stock images and clipart
Can’t control the audio
volume
Expert-level writing for
beginners
Over branding/ logos
everywhere
Format/strategy that does
not fit the content
Inappropriate use of transitions
One-size-fits-all
Flashy animations
No progress indicator
Poor quality videos
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Exit