With e-learning courses available on smartphones or tablets, content becomes more accessible for learners. Learning content creators and providers, therefore, need to ensure the content is responsive across multiple devices and provide seamless user experience, which can lead to improved course engagement and effectiveness. For instance, developing and delivering interactive e-learning elements for the mobile platform means that content has to be formatted for different screen sizes and form factors. Content should also be tested for touch screens and situations where learners have limited bandwidth.
To get started with testing responsive e-learning content for your programs, here is how to address the LMS testing challenge:
1. Review LMS Features
Review the LMS features and make sure the platform is designed to help you build and deliver content that is optimized for mobile use. The right LMS provider should provide your instructors and course designers with all the tools they need to create responsive e-learning content. An LMS consulting service can also help you determine which tools are right for you.
2. Establish Best Practices for Creating Responsive E-Learning Content
You can benefit from developing a set of best practices for course designers and instructors to follow when creating new content. For example, you can encourage course designers to keep text to a limited word count, limit image size, and provide transcripts in case a video or interactive element doesn't load for a mobile user.
3. Flexibility Between Devices
Content should be made available across different devices by making it easy for learners to save their progress, then access the same content or learning module on another device. For instance, switching from a mobile device to a desktop computer should provide the same user experience.
4. Develop a Testing Strategy
You can leverage the resources available to you by asking instructors and course designers to review the content they have created on their devices to make sure their lessons can deliver an optimal user experience for learners. Your LMS should make it easy for learners to submit feedback when they encounter a technical issue. For instance, develop a bug tracking system to make sure each issue is reviewed and addressed.
You can also conduct testing with a group of users, and let them review your online courses to make sure content is properly displayed on a wide range of devices, screen sizes, and network performance. This group of users can interact with your e-learning content and rate the general experience while looking for bugs.
5. Align Testing With Expectations and Goals
Try to understand the learners' expectations in terms of user experience and speed. Then, develop a testing strategy to measure the performance of your e-learning platform and content so you can determine if they meet the expectations of your learners. Lastly, use the outcome of your testing processes to improve the best practices and content creation guidelines.