Agile Development of Courses and Curricula

Agile Development of Courses and Curricula
This outline of my process for developing engaging and effective courses covers key stages from initial planning, through design and development, to testing, deployment, and launch.
By taking an agile approach, I remain flexible and responsive to evolving needs. This helps ensure the final product aligns with target learners' requirements and delivers maximum value.

©2024 KimDbytheSea. All rights reserved.
Assess & Plan
1
Determine Goals
In collaboration with project sponsors and subject matter experts, determine project goals and business goals.
2
Identify Gaps
Identify knowledge and performance gaps that need to be addressed.
3
Evaluate Resources
Locate and evaluate existing resources, standards, policies, guidelines, documentation, job aids, etc.
4
Define Objectives
Determine curriculum objectives that meet learners' needs and align with business goals.
5
Plan Scope
Define scope, deliverables, methods, and timeline and budget.
6
Gather Content
Gather potential source content and outline the curriculum.

©2024 KimDbytheSea. All rights reserved.
Design
Learning Outcomes
Define course-level learning outcomes/objectives and verify alignment with the curriculum outcomes (and therefore alignment with the business goals).
Evaluate Materials
Evaluate existing potential source material and resources.
Create Content
Create new instruction and resources where needed; update and align existing materials.
Ensure Alignment
Ensure content clarity, accuracy, flow, and alignment to objectives.
Stakeholder Review
Get stakeholder review and approval of the course content (revising as needed to attain approval).
©2024 KimDbytheSea. All rights reserved.
Develop
1
Create Prototype
Make a functional prototype of the course.
2
Build Delivery Package
Use tools such as Storyline 360, Camtasia, iSpring, Captivate, Illustrator, Photoshop, PowerPoint, etc., to develop the delivery package.
3
Ensure Accessibility
For eLearning courses and live class presentation materials, follow accessibility guidelines and inclusive design principles.
4
Review & Approve
Share the prototype with stakeholders for review and approval (revising as is instructional content as is necessary).
5
Finalize & QA
Iterate the prototype, finalize the course/materials, do quality assurance checks like copyediting, accessibility reviews, and verifying that all interactions work correctly.
©2024 KimDbytheSea. All rights reserved.
Test
1
Assess Learnability
Assess learnability and usefulness of the course by engaging members of the target audience for testing and feedback.
2
Ensure Functionality
As a learning experience
In the learning management system (LMS)
In the learning experience platform (LXP)
This is the last opportunity to identify necessary fixes before the course goes live for all learners!

©2024 KimDbytheSea. All rights reserved.
Deploy & Review
1
Go Live with MVP Courses
Make each course live for learners, as each course or group of courses is ready.
2
Collect Course Level Input
Collect input to look for urgent issues and patterns.
3
Review Course Feedback
Review evaluations to ensure all is well and note potential pre-launch revisions.
4
Review Curriculum
Prior to curriculum launch, review each course, and make necessary/desired changes (quality assurance).

©2024 KimDbytheSea. All rights reserved.
Launch
Promote
Market and promote the completed curriculum and its courses to the target audience.
Monitor
Monitor evaluations for urgent issues. 
Plan Updates
Note items to potentially address when the curriculum undergoes maintenance and updates.

©2024 KimDbytheSea. All rights reserved.
Continuous Improvement
The agile development process is iterative and allows for continuous improvement of the courses and curricula based on learner feedback, changing business needs, and emerging best practices. Regular reviews and updates help ensure the training remains effective and relevant.
Interactive Diagram
©2024 KimDbytheSea. All rights reserved.