Enriching your e-learning content with a variety of teaching tools makes your programs fun and effective. Rather than sticking solely to lectures, PowerPoints, or reading assignments, adding storyboards to the mix appeals to the visual learners in your group. Storyboards offer a fresh perspective on the material you’re sharing, driving home your point, and illustrating a concept from start to finish.
What is a Storyboard?
Storyboards are typically a visual roadmap of your curriculum. You can use storyboards personally, to assist with the planning stages of your e-learning program, or within your course to showcase concepts or provide learners with an overview of what to expect.
A good storyboard is dynamic and clear, with just the right amount of detail. While storyboards should offer insight and pique the interest of your audience, you don’t want to get into the weeds with your storyboard. Avoid confusing learners with too much information that’s been taken out of context.
Storyboards should contain the following key components:
Header (such as the course or project name)
Text (content and instructions)
Audio (narration and sound effects to support your text)
Interactive material (quizzes, click-through information, feedback sections)
Graphics (images and animations)
As with any lesson planning, keep the skill set and reading level of your students in mind when designing an e-learning storyboard. Storyboards are an organizational tool. Overwhelming your audience with a highly-complex storyboard can turn them off to future learning. Instead, aim to offer a clear, accessible, sequential view that’ll drum up enthusiasm and build confidence in your students from the start.
Choose topics that naturally fit together and avoid clumping everything into one storyboard. Perhaps you create a new storyboard for each week, each chapter, or each new concept. It’s okay to break things down into smaller sections when it makes sense to do so.
Designing a Storyboard
There are many ways to design a storyboard. Some are more text-heavy and plain, while others are filled with vibrant graphics and animation. The design of your storyboards should be first and foremost, functional. Choose a storyboard design that works best to illustrate your content. Although not 100% necessary, it’s great when your storyboard design reflects the subject it represents. One would expect a storyboard for a graphic design project or animated movie to be more visually-stimulating than a storyboard outlining an e-learning course in finance or law, for instance.
If you’re not quite sure where to get started, there’s no shortage of sample storyboard templates available for free online. Storyboards range from image-heavy diagrams to text-focused black and white outlines. Choose the visual elements of your storyboard carefully. Graphics should always enhance your story, never distract from it. The overarching purpose of a storyboard is to inform your process. When visuals take away from your message, you’re better off simplifying your design by sticking to a more basic format.
Free and Paid Storyboard Software Resources
There are several software options to help you put together storyboards. Depending on your needs, consider checking out the following programs:
Storyboarder: Draw, write, and connect your storyboard to Adobe Photoshop with this free, user-friendly program. Once you complete your project, you’re given the option to export it at no charge to a PDF, an animated GIF, Avid, Premiere, or Final Cut. You can also use the features of Adobe Photoshop alone to produce storyboards for a nominal fee. Frameforge Storyboard Studio: This program is more expensive and probably best for experienced storyboard creators. The price ranges from $300 to $600, depending on which version you choose. High-end video effects, along with mobile compatibility, justify the expense of this program, especially for those in the entertainment industry. Storyboard Fountain: If you have a Mac, this newer program is available for a free download. You can see a preview video on YouTube to get a better idea if it’s right for you.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg of the many programs available. If you’re not quite sure how to create your first storyboard, don’t go it alone. Browse around samples online and utilize software to guide you through the process.
How to Use Storyboards for Course Planning
Because storyboards offer a preview of what’s to come, they provide the perfect opportunity to identify issues in your curriculum. A storyboard lays out the plan from start to finish. By putting everything together in one document, it’s easier to see areas that are overemphasized, duplicated, or lacking sufficient background. Even if you choose not to share your storyboard as part of your teaching material with students, it’s an invaluable tool you can reference and build upon as your course evolves over time.
A storyboard should be created during your early planning stages, but remain with you throughout the life of your course. Until your e-learning program goes live, there are some things you can’t anticipate. A storyboard gives you the chance to incorporate what you learn as you go, through feedback from students and issues that come up as you present the course.
Always take the time to revisit your storyboard upon the completion of a course. Make a note of what worked and what didn’t. Document areas that should be reordered, expounded upon, or simplified. A revised storyboard will serve as your best asset going forward, even if you don’t plan on teaching the same course a second time. You never know when an opportunity may arise to present on a similar topic in the same or a similar format. Keep your storyboards in your arsenal of teaching tools to avoid duplicating your efforts in the future.
Storyboards for Marketing and Investors
Once you perfect a visually-appealing storyboard, it stands to benefit you in multiple ways. Storyboards are a great product to market your program to potential students and investors. A well-designed storyboard not only shows the value of your course but also your strengths as a design-savvy professional.
A common concern when sharing valuable information, like a storyboard, is giving away too much content for free. Do you want to unveil your program’s ins and outs without requiring some commitment?
Perhaps! Here’s why.
One of the best ways to get the word out there about your course is to show your best work. It’s impossible to sell something that’s a total mystery. You have to give at least a little to convince people that your product is worth their time or money. Concerns about competitors stealing your ideas are nonetheless valid, especially without copyright or legal protections to prevent that from happening.
Only you can decide how much you want to give away for free, but you may find that being a bit more liberal with what you share upfront yields better results in securing new business and getting higher engagement rates. After all, if the tables were turned, how easily would you put forth the effort of taking a class or hiring an outside instructor for your team if you weren’t quite sure that their course would be any good?
When using a storyboard to market your program, you have the option to blur out certain content to tease with hints rather than giving it all away. However, doing so can hinder the trust you’re aiming to build to gain an initial buy-in from your market. A better strategy might be freely sharing at least some of what’s in store for the course. Showcasing the quality of your product gives others a reason to stay tuned for more. When done right, a storyboard can function as a commercial for your stellar e-learning offerings.
