1. Techniques for presenting content
Prepared by: Beatrice Ghirardini, Chiara Nicodemi, Fabiana Biasini
Instructional Designers, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) September 2013

2. Techniques for presenting content
When creating storyboards for e-lessons, one may choose among diverse techniques for presenting content, according to the type of content and the desired instructional approach.
THESE TECHNIQUES ARE:
Storytelling;
Scenario-based approach;
Toolkit approach; and
Demonstration-practice method.

3. Techniques for presenting content
STORYTELLING
Storytelling provides information through a story narrative which places content in a realistic context and illustrates actions and decisions of one or more characters. It can use illustrations, pictures or video sequences.

4. Techniques for presenting content
STORYTELLING
When should storytelling be used?
The storytelling technique can be useful when you need to:
provide job-specific knowledge;
describe complex processes, where different actors perform different actions. The story can clarify who does what, and helps learners follow the flow of events;
add a human aspect to the lesson, since learners can follow the stories of real people; and
show how the knowledge acquired can be integrated into a real situation.
Create a realistic and credible context.
Characters don’t need to be present in every screen.
Be careful about gender and cultural issues when developing your characters.
Try to make dialogue realistic by keeping sentences short and using informal language.
TIPS

5. Techniques for presenting content SCENARIO-BASED APPROACH
Lessons using this approach are built around a scenario. Typically, the scenario is a challenging situation in which learners are required to make decisions by choosing among different options. Learners are provided with all the information required to make the right decisions.

6. Techniques for presenting content SCENARIO-BASED APPROACH
When should a scenario-based approach be used?
When learners need to apply strategic principles to a concrete situation and observe the consequences of their decisions. For example, when they need to:
Develop problem-solving or interpersonal skills;
Learn strategic principles rather than conceptual and factual knowledge; or
Apply what they have learned during the course to a real-life situation.
This type of approach requires strong collaboration between the ID and the Subject Matter Experts (SME), as the ID needs to have enough information to design a realistic situation, provide learners with the information for the decisions they have to take and provide appropriate feedback on their choices.
While creating a scenario, think about how learners will use the information in the lesson.
Work with the SME to understand which decisions a person would make in that scenario.
Provide learners only with the information required to make decisions
Define possible choice options for each critical decision.
Each choice generates a consequence; provide detailed feedback for each option by showing its consequences.
TIPS FOR USING STORYTELLING

7. Techniques for presenting content
TOOLKIT
An e-lesson can take the form of a toolkit, which allows learners to select from a set of independent topics, rather than follow a sequential approach. Learners can choose the topics that interest them the most.

8. Techniques for presenting content
TOOLKIT
When should you choose a toolkit lesson?
When you have to present short pieces of content that belong to the same category, but are quite independent from each other, such as: descriptions of tools, steps of a procedure, stages of a process, or frequently asked questions on a given topic.
TIPS FOR USING STORYTELLING
Provide an introduction before the menu page with an overview of the various tools to orient learners in selecting the menu options.
Present each tool in a systematic way, such as by providing the same categories of information (e.g. description; purpose; example; strengths; weaknesses) for each tool.

9. Techniques for presenting content DEMONSTRATION-PRACTICE METHOD
The demonstration-practice method is used to teach a procedure. You first demonstrate the procedure, and then you ask the learner to practice the procedure by interacting with the system.

10. Techniques for presenting content
TOOLKIT
When should the demonstration-practice method be used?
When you need to teach procedures, typically software procedures.
TIPS FOR USING STORYTELLING
You can use an animation (e.g. a flash animation) to demonstrate the procedure.
Allow the learner to control the animation by providing play, pause, stop and reload buttons.
Develop an operational simulation to have learners practise the procedure.
The operational simulation allows the learner to perform a number of actions (e.g. selecting options or typing text).

11. Adding examples
Examples ensure that learners can better understand and retain the concepts illustrated in the lesson.
They can be used in two ways:
to illustrate a concept or show the steps of a procedure after the concept has been introduced (or in a scenario-based approach).
to stimulate thinking and reflection before providing definitions and principles.
Examples can help bridge the gap between theory and practice.

12. Adding examples Example: Selecting livelihood indicators
Let’s consider a lesson that provides guidance on how to select livelihoods indicators in specific contexts.
First, a sample situation is provided. Learners can open the PDF and read the situation of the Nias mountain people.
Learners also are provided with a list of indicators that an expert analyst has selected for that situation.

13. Adding examples Example: Selecting livelihood indicators
Let’s consider a lesson that provides guidance on how to select livelihoods indicators in specific contexts.
Then, the underlying principles used by the expert to select
those indicators are presented.

14. Adding examples Example: Selecting livelihood indicators
Let’s consider a lesson that provides guidance on how to select livelihoods indicators in specific contexts.
Now, three new examples are provided, together with the list of indicators selected in each situation and an explanation of the reasons for that selection.

15. Adding examples Example: Selecting livelihood indicators
Let’s consider a lesson that provides guidance on how to select livelihoods indicators in specific contexts.
Finally, using a new example, learners are asked to answer a set of questions regarding the selection of indicators in that specific situation.