The ADDIE Model – An Effective Way To Develop Interactive And Engaging e-Learning Courses

The ADDIE model methodology is used for the creation of e-learning courses effectively and conveniently. This ADDIE methodology was developed in the Florida State University in 1970. Although there are many different models and methodologies for the creation of training courses in the e-learning industry, undoubtedly ADDIE is the most convenient and popular of all.

Therefore, many of the e-learning professionals are following ADDIE model because it is efficient, versatile and fulfils the requirements of online training or web based training (WBT). Another benefit of ADDIE is that it enables you to correct the errors made in previous iterations, thus improving the quality of the end product.

ADDIE is an acronym for the five stages of an e-learning course-ware development process:

• Analysis
• Design
• Development
• Implementation
• Evaluation

Each stage has a deliverable that feeds into the next stage and is an excellent way to learn how to create an effective online course with measurable learning objectives. In this blog, we will have a look on each stage to know the significance of ADDIE model in development of e-learning courses.

Step 1: Analysis

Before you start developing any content or training strategies, first step is to analyze the current situation in terms of training, knowledge gaps, course objectives, target audiences, etc., to deliver maximum learning efficiency. Unsurprisingly, the better you study the scope of the training prior to the course creation, the more effective the course output will be.

Prototyping is also done in this phase, where you refine your content and modify your design needs (Navigation and User-Interface) to be effective based on client/SME approval. Once they are satisfied with the direction you have chosen, you can green-light the Instructional Designers/ developers and proceed to the creation of the course.

Analysis helps you gain a clear understanding of:

• Who is the Target Audience of the course?
  

For Successful course creation, it is important to think about:

• Demographic profiles of your target audience like age, gender, education level, computer literacy level, etc.,
• Who will be using the learning materials – job role?
• Are those Learners’ domain experts or newcomers?
• What factors influence their learning behaviour?

Identifying and understanding everything about target audience to uncover their needs, is the best way to create engaging and motivational e-learning courses. Apart from target audience, this phase also addresses the following:

• What are the desired Learning objectives?
• What type of learning constraints exist?
• What are the delivery options?
• What is the timeline for project completion?

Therefore, in analysis phase the instructional problems is clarified, learning goals and objectives are established and, the learner’s knowledge and existing skills are identified.

Step 2: Design

The second phase of ADDIE is design. This stage aims to create the structure of the course in two ways i.e., either by the systematic usage of storyboards accompanied by some mind map/ bulleted sketches, or a detailed plan, full of graphic descriptions and schematics. The more detailed you are in your design outline, the easier it will be to get through the development phase.

Another main goal of this phase is, to develop education strategy that comprises of interactivities, assessments, resources and game-elements to help learners better understand and retain the course material. Therefore, be mindful of creating the opportunities for learners to practice the desired skill or behavior. After all, they learn from what you teach.

Things to Consider during this phase are:

• How much time will learners be able to dedicate to the course?
• What tools are available for course development?
• Does the design of your course engage learners with its “Look and feel” nature?

The steps of this phase (Lesson planning) includes:

• Setting up learning objectives
• Determine Sequence (Course Structure)
• Apply instructional design strategy
• Design the navigation and User Interface
• Apply visual or graphic design
• Lastly, quizzes or assessments.

So, this phase plays very important role in complete course creation, as it simplifies the task of imparting knowledge to learners, motivate them using ample of examples, hone their skills and, increase the effectiveness of the e-learning course.

Step 3: Development

In the previous stages, we were chiefly concerned with analyzing and planning the course creation process, now we will focus on effective course development, which is the third stage of ADDIE model.

Actually, development is the building phase where you put your designs/ created content into action using favourite and convenient e-learning authoring tools, which ranges from simple to complex.

During course creation, each functionality should be developed to match the design phase. The careful usage of these functionalities will allow you to present the course in a manner that will appeal to the audience. This catches learner’s attention and enhance e-learning experience.

Now, this is the time to test your course quality using user-testing to ensure there are no basic errors such as grammar, spelling, syntax, etc. Testing your course is the most important part of the development phase to ensure all your scenarios are comprehensive and complete to hold value to the course.

Step 4: Implementation

Once you have completed your course development and you are satisfied that they are high-qualitative and error-free, it’s time to implement/ upload to an LMS (Learning management system). In this phase the delivery options, tracking and, reporting are all handled by the LMS.

The best part is, LMS is capable to manage both instructors and learners, therefore it offers self-directed and instructor led-training as well.

Step 5: Evaluation

The final phase in the ADDIE model is evaluation. After the e-learning course is designed, developed and implemented, you can look at all these qualitative and quantitative course results to improve both the performance of your target audiences as well as the e-learning team.

Advantages of ADDIE Model in e-learning:

• The instructional design model of ADDIE provides designers with the structure and flexibility to achieve their analysed objectives and motivations for effective course development.
• In highly technical industries, ADDIE contributes to the organization and implementation of training for engaging learners at their own pace and time.
• ADDIE model is very effective to facilitate the design, development, and delivery of a large number of courses at a high standard.
• ADDIE model is commonly used and widely accepted model and, is proven to be effective for even complex learning strategies.
• It is great for online, offline and, blended learning.

Frequently Asked Questions about ADDIE Model (FAQ’s):

• What does the acronym ADDIE stand for?
  The term, ADDIE, is an acronym for a five-step process: Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation.
• What is ADDIE Training model?
  It is a learning model used by e-learning content creators to develop highly-effective, error-free, engaging and, motivational e-learning courses.
• Why is the ADDIE Model important?
  It is important because it provides a proven method for designing clear and effective training programs. Also, it is simple to use, easy to learn, flexible, and versatile.
• How does ADDIE Model work?
  It works based on its five-step process. Basically, it starts with broad analysis and then moves to design, development, implementation and, evaluation.
• Does it give error-free modules?
  ADDIE is cyclical. It enables you to correct the errors made during the course using user testing or Quality Assurance testing, thus improving the quality of the end product.

Summary:

To summaries, ADDIE is an effective learning model that works based on its five-step process – Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and, Evaluation.

ADDIE Model encourages designers to continuously evaluate and refine their work to deliver quality outputs. If you want to create courses that will both educate and engage your learners, then have a look on our eLearning portfolio/ e-learning sample courses which are highly-qualitative, versatile, blended, interactive and, flexible.

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