Creating software to train people involves using computer languages or software programs to generate educational applications. You can publish your instructional content to a company intranet, to the Internet or to a CD-ROM or DVD. Effective training courses typically include text, visuals, audio and video to provide details on how to achieve learning objectives enabling learners to attain new skills and knowledge.
- Choose development software to create your training software. Software can be obtained for free, or at a cost that can range from very low to very high. Depending on your budget, purchase and download the tool that best suits your needs after you examine the features, ease of use, documentation, and support and maintenance options. Freeware such as Wink or free learning management systems such as Moodle may suit your needs. Commercial tools such as Adobe Captivate provide numerous functions and offer trial download versions.
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Step 2
Analyze your audience’s training needs. Determine if a software program will suit their learning style for the topic you are trying to teach. Documents detailing policies and procedures may be sufficient to convey simple techniques. Using a training software application works best for providing instruction on using software applications. Creating demonstrations and simulations enables the student to see how to use the product without actually needing to install the product.
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Step 3
Design and develop your instructional content. For example, capture screen shots and add text captions to explain what happens in the demonstration. Allow learners to view the video at their own pace. Be sure that you add (if your authoring tools don’t provide it automatically) the ability to navigate through the lesson. Include exercises such as multiple choice, matching and short answer questions to allow students to test their knowledge. Allow students to review the lesson and re-take any quizzes.
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Step 4
Export or publish your content into a format suitable for your distribution mechanism. For example, you can publish content for the Adobe Flash format and display the content in a Web page. You can also produce, using tools such as Windows Media Encoder, presentation recordings and upload those to websites such as YouTube or Box.net.
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Step 5
Evaluate your training software by testing its use with members of the target audience. Make revisions based on feedback obtained through follow-up interviews. By creating your own training software, you can focus on the particular needs of your students as opposed to using a commercially available training product that might only handle generic topics.