Learning Path design
The journey from raw script to Learning Path
By Lisa Minogue-White, Director of Learning
Solutions at WillowDNA
Materials review
The materials you are supplied by the client can range from a stream of
consciousness by a subject matter expert captured in a work document, to a brief
PowerPoint and some trainer’s notes from an existing course. Therefore the review
stage can vary greatly between courses. However, there are some broad principles
that are worthwhile considering.
First read
This is your opportunity to absorb the topic and, to do this best, you need to think
about the potential audience of the script and the questions they would have. It is
also the time to perform a gap analysis and, where necessary, to push back to the
author for additional content that will help the flow of learning work online.
Read through once to get into the subject matter. Then re-read with a pen and
highlighter handy.
What to look for when reading it
 Highlight any obvious gaps, or missing
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content and areas for further
clarification. Creating a log of
If there are any links to other
sites, articles or oft-cited
outstanding items is useful for tracking,
thought-leaders, take a look at
as developing Learning Paths can
these extra resources. They
create many individual resources to
help you understand what is
manage
important to the author, what
 Is there a clear topic structure? This
subjects are hot topics and the
appropriate ‘tone of voice’.
can be a starting point for identifying
Learning Paths. However…
 … does each topic flow from one to the other?
 If not, this is the point at which you’ll need to go through and potentially reorder the script. So, although existing chapters are useful, do not take them
at face value. An order that makes sense to a subject matter expert may not
take a novice on an appropriate learning journey.
 Reordering the script is best done with a printed version of the script, some
pens to mark the breaks and a pair of scissors! It’s a manual job but it makes
it much easier to navigate the script. Just remember to print page numbers
so you can reference the script sections later.
Creating high level learning objectives
 What change is this material trying to achieve (to skill level, approach,
performance, etc)?
 As well as the objective at the end of the learning experience, are there
changes you would expect to achieve along the way?
 Where are learners now? Where do they want to be?
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 Jot these down as you will want to compare these against the chapter or
sections. It may be that from a learning perspective, the existing script
chapters may not be suitable or could be chunked up.
On the following page, there is an extract from a typical high level programme
design, detailing each topic as a Learning Path and the suggested learning
activities.
Title
Learning Path 1 – The sales approach
E-lesson 1 Scene setting and understanding the
sales strategy of xxx.
Video 1 – strategy and future sales
Online Assignment – reviewing the website from
the customer’s perspective (in particular look at
the business consulting section). What key
messages do you think potential
customers/clients are takeaway and what will
they expect from us?
Diagnostic and personal action planning using
Learning Log – You as the sales person
Understanding their current skills, what will they
need to develop
Video – What makes a great sales person at .... ?
Quick Guide/Key Reader
What types of clients will we have? There is no
right way of selling, so understanding of the
client is key (do they have photos on their desk,
etc?). Include good article links. Use the DISC
model as a framework.
Podcast or video – Getting to grips with sales
processes (push and pull)
Quick Guide – Push and pull.
Interview – Push and pull in action at ....
Walkthrough plus Quick Guide – Sales cycle
Ask the Coach – discussion board based Q&A
with sales coach.
Learning Path 2 – Prospecting
e-Briefing 2 – Identifying new business. What are
we looking for in a potential customer/project?
Provide suggestion on how to gather ideas on
identifying new business (such as newspapers,
articles, research, etc).
Script reference
Visual Guidelines plus any
additional Marketing
Brand Information
Additional content on the
psychology of selling and
key skills.
DISC model
Page 3 PowerPoint
Presentation with
additional content for
push and pull
Page 4 PowerPoint
Introduce the coach
Page 10 phases 1, 2 and 3
plus any website the team
use to conduct
competitive research
3
Notes
Quick Guide Project qualification
Walkthrough plus Quick Guide – Identifying the
decision makers
Page 13
Page 14
Assignment – Interactive Template – CASA
methodology.
Consider one of your potential customers and
complete a templated document to capture the
required information
Discussion – The best resources for prospecting
and any examples on how these have been
converted.
Page 11
Voice of the coach in
the Walkthrough
asking coaching
questions
Step 1 Collect
Step 2 Analyse
Step 3 Strategise
Page 15 – opportunity
description / buying
centre
Creating the learning journey
From the objectives you’ve defined, it’s then time to get creative. Think about how
you would most like and need to achieve this objective. The table below helps
provide some ideas on suitable mediums for different learning needs.
Deconstructing the learning objective
Potential learning resource
What is the core knowledge you need to provide?
e-Lessons, Key Readers/e-Books, Walkthroughs
What activities would help demonstrate the
objective in action?
Online assignments, workplace assignments,
simulations, Quick Quizzes
What types of conversation would the learner have
with colleagues or contacts about this subject?
Discussion boards, blogs, online chat
If you could speak to an expert about this, what
would you ask them?
Webinars, videos
What examples from the learner’s working life
could they bring to the learning experience and
apply the new knowledge and skills you’ve
explored?
Online assignments, discussion boards, uploading
resources, workplace assignments, virtual
classrooms
Are there any templates or guides you could
develop that would help the learner try this out in
their workplace?
Quick Guides, mobile content, templates
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Defining the Learning Paths
From here, you need to create the learner’s journey through the material.
This may require some re-ordering of the
original script in order for the content to
make sense in the online environment.
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You will then need to ‘chunk’ the content
into sensible topics – if you are lucky, these
will be obvious and reflected in the sections
in which the script has been divided.
If not, this is where the learning objectives
you have just defined become very useful
and will provide the scaffold you need to
create a coherent set of subjects.
It is often useful to think about how
this new knowledge would be
applied and what tasks would be
undertaken and in what order. So
for example, if the subject was
‘finance for non-financial managers’,
what are the scenarios in which the
knowledge could be applied. For
example:
• understanding company results
• managing your budget
Next, it’s time to ensure that we are
• negotiating with suppliers
applying a sensible and robust approach to
• costing a project
online learning design. There are a number
of models cited in research and books on
online and social learning. However they all essentially follow the same pattern of
progression through the online experience:
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© 2013 Willow Learning Ltd
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Email: [email protected]
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Learning Ltd
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