Determine statistics about the audience or learners. Focus on their age, current knowledge, skills and abilities and their location. Then, determine the type of media you will use to develop the course program that you design.
Identify what needs to be learned. Choose goals for the course and develop a course topic. Then, determine and develop the objectives for learning. The main two types of learning objectives are terminal and enabling objectives. First, define the terminal objective. According to GrayHarriman.com, a terminal objective explains the anticipated level of performance of learners at the end of a course program and focus on results rather than processes.
Identify the knowledge or skills gaps that exist between the current knowledge, skills and abilities of learners--which you identify in Step one--and the terminal objective designed in Step two. Any differences between desired and actual knowledge, skills and abilities are known as gaps.
Document the steps required for learners to acquire the new knowledge, skills and abilities listed in the terminal objective. This process is required for the development of enabling objectives.
Develop enabling objectives which define the knowledge, skills and abilities that learners must accomplish in order to complete the terminal objectives. Use action verbs to establish enabling objectives. Describe what a learner will be doing and how it will be done, circumstances under which tasks will be performed and the level at which tasks will be performed.
Organize an outline of topics that should be presented in the course program. Place the topics in a logical, chronological order to facilitate the ease of learning of the required concepts. Then, present information clearly and in small chunks to enable learners to remember the information.
Establish a quiz or test after each topic. For example, in an e-learning environment or learning via the web, after presenting at least four screens of information, provide a quiz to ensure that learners have retained the information presented to them.