MAKING COURSE CONTENT EASY TO READ
Have you have ever visited a web page and can’t find what you are looking for on the page. Many users get frustrated right away when they can’t locate what they need on the page. In an online course, users feel the same way. If you create a page that is all text or has a very long scroll, your students will not be excited about the content. They will find it tedious to read through every line of text or paragraph to figure out the content. Creating an easy-to-read page is easy to do. You will want to make sure your content has the following:
Heading/Subheadings– helps to organize the content.
Chunking – don’t group too much text together, make sure you create short logical paragraphs.
Transitions – make sure your content transitions easily from one idea to another.
Images – enhances your message and keep students interested.
Bullets/Numbered Lists – helps students visually see essential information.
White Space – makes sure that the content is not overwhelming and is created when you chunk your content or create other groupings.
Let’s look at an example and break down the different elements.
Headers/Subheadings
Makes content easy to locate and creates a visually appealing page. Main header will use <h1> tags, while subheadings will use <h2>, <h3>, <h4> tags.
Chunking
Creating short paragraphs of information makes the content less intimidating and easier to read.
Transitions
Transitions help readers understand how the content is connected. If you create several paragraphs of content, make sure to incorporate transitional statements like:
In addition
In particular
For example
In fact
For this purpose
In conclusion
Images
Images reinforce the message. Use when appropriate.
Bullets/Numbered Lists
Helps students to locate key points and sort items.
White Space
Creates a visually appealing page and content. Content is not overwhelming and easier to understand.
In conclusion, creating clear and intuitive content and avoiding a cluttered page will facilitate learning, help students understand their lesson, and quickly locate the information they need.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Please post below how you design your course content and other methods you use to help students understand the course content.