4 Writing Tips for Instructional Designers, eLearning Developers, and L&D Professionals

Instructional designers and L&D professionals need to acquire a multitude of skills in order to design effective eLearning.

With the focus more often being about usage of the hottest new tools or trends, there is one skill that is too often forgotten...and that is the skill of writing.

People are now scanning text more than reading it, and there has never been a more urgent need for clear and concise writing.

Not to mention, information can be easily misinterpreted when delivered online.

Directions and course content should be formatted in a way that they can be easily scanned, and text should be written succinctly to avoid anything that is unnecessary.

Here are 10 writing tips that can make instructional designers and eLearning course creators better at designing instruction.

1. Limit text by 50%.

Make all paragraphs short and to the point. The optimal line length should be around 60 characters for the best reading experience.

Too short, and the learner must constantly scan back and forth quickly, which can be quite frustrating and cause eye strain in bigger chunks of content.

Too long, and you risk losing the learner’s focus as they try to digest a lengthy string of text.

Information that is crucial and not directly related, should be placed on the sideline, but not too ambiguously.

Present the most important information first, followed by less and less important details and supporting information.

Use short and simple sentences. Edit your writing; if it’s possible to cut out a word, you should cut it out.

2. Include a meaningful title with headlines and subheadings.

Use clear fonts and colors to help learners recognize important information.

Be sure to keep the same chosen fonts and colors the consistent throughout the duration of the entire course.

Highlight essential key words, phrases, and links.

3. Write clear instructions.

Directions should be arranged into bullet points or a numbered list.

When completing tasks or assignments, rubrics also need to be provided and examples of exemplary work for the learners to refer for assessment.

4. Make the course easily accessible.

Set up the course in a manner that allows learners easily navigate the site. It is the instructional designer's job to make sure learners have any course links or resources they may need.

Learners also need to have a place to ask questions when they don’t understand something.

At the bottom of each task or assignment page, they should be given a place to write any questions or comments on that specific assignment.

This can also help eliminate the potential of learners asking the same question multiple times as well as increase social connections. 

Want to learn more tips in designing effective eLearning?

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