For today’s interview, let’s explore how storyline and storyboard are used for strategic module development in our interview with Angelyn, one of Content Tree’s instructional designers.
What is a storyline?
I’m glad you ask. The storyline in Content Tree is neither a software for developing e-learning (e.g., Articulate Storyline) nor a plot of a book, film, or play.
We use it to consolidate learning materials from our client with information gathered by our instructional designers. Then, we transform them into easy-to-understand content for the next stage of storyboarding and e-learning development.
What is storyline useful for?
What’s great about having a storyline is it helps us to close the e-learning development gap. For example, if a client is asking us for a 20-minute e-learning, we can use the it to estimate the learning duration based on the number of words and slides. If we found that the content exceeds 20-minutes, we can discuss with the client to either reduce the content or increase the learning duration.
From the storyline, we can also derive the weightage of each topic in a module. This ensures that we emphasise important topics during storyboarding to achieve balance in terms of learning objects. Let me show you how it looks like:
Weightage Table of the E-learning Module
Any other benefits of a storyline?
Besides what I just mentioned, creating a storyline has other benefits such as:
- Closing the knowledge gap between our instructional designer and the client’s subject matter expert (SME)
- Enabling our graphic designers to pick up knowledge quickly so they can design artworks that align with the context of the content
- Instructional Designer can propose illustration/icons in storyline (using Canva) to facilitate storyboarding
- Allowing other Instructional Designers to collaborate on an e-learning project to speed up the production process
What about a storyboard?
A storyboard consists of slides with illustrations or pictures in MS PowerPoint that demonstrate how the e-learning will unfold. Think of it like a comic strip. The storyboard depicts the actions, reactions, and emotions at each touchpoint. It clearly explains how learners will experience the finished e-learning product. They are to be agreed upon and signed off by the client before the production/animation work can begin.
Examples Showing the Storyboard
Do we need to have both storyline and storyboard for e-learning development?
Well, I think it’s a great practice to have because they both complement each other. As you can see here, if the storyboard is developed based on insufficient/over-supply materials, it will not meet the learning objective and client’s requirements. That’s where the storyline comes in handy. On the flip side, without the storyboard, client will not be able to tell how the finished product works because storyline is simply a chunk of information with some graphics added to support the understanding of the materials.