How to write a storyboard using Gagne’s Nine Events of instructions

As you know, the storyboard is a kind of a road map for any eLearning projects which involve learning modules, videos, games, simulations, etc. So, to make your project successful, it is essential to build the storyboard effectively. To do so, you can take inspiration from the Gange’s Nine Events of instruction theory. 

Gagne defined an outline to write instructions effectively. In this outline, he explained the following nine steps:

1.     Gain attention

2.     Define objectives

3.     Recall prior learning

4.     Present the content

5.     Provide the guidance

6.     Elicit the performance

7.     Guide the learner

8.     Assess the learner

9.     Transfer knowledge to the job

A typical storyboard has an objective slide, multiple content slides, knowledge checks, activities, a summary slide, and an assessment. You can use the steps mentioned above while writing a storyboard for any topic. Let’s learn how.

Gain attention:

How would you know whether your project is successful or not? The success of any eLearning project depends upon the involvement and interested level of learners. Hence, you must attract the learner's attention towards the topic that you want to teach. You can do this by throwing some exciting statistics or starting with a story or case study or conduct a survey; in short, start with something which will help to make the learner interested in the main topic. I feel this is one of the most challenging steps of storyboarding, as many writers prefer to start the storyboard stating objectives. Sometimes it is challenging to crack an idea in a short span of time. 

Define objectives:

This is the standard followed across all eLearning projects. Defining objectives at the beginning is important to let learners know what is accepted from them after they complete this training. If stated correctly, objectives would help learners to travel on the right path to reach the ultimate destination.

Recall prior learning:

It is important to connect the current content with the prior knowledge that the learner might have. If we are able to showcase the connection between the present and past knowledge, then the learner will find it easy to understand new knowledge.

Present the content:

When you receive the content, you have to make sure that it is complete content. While writing the storyboard, keep in mind the duration of the content. Sometimes you receive the raw content, which includes lots of information. Before starting with storyboarding, you should perform the detailed content analysis and select the topics that are the most important and can be covered in the desired duration.

Provide the guidance

This is a make or break step for any storyboard. The client or your LnD department also has the same content, but still they approach you. Most of the time, the raw content that you receive is dull and dry.  Here, you can use all your creativity to present the content interestingly. So, what are the techniques that you can use here? You can present the content around an exciting story. Or, you can write multiple case studies or scenarios best suited to the topics. You can use a mascot driven approach wherein a mascot will help the learners to drive through the various topics. You can present the information using infographic elements or real photographs or a mix of both; it depends upon the topic. 

Elicit the performance

You should not bombard the learner with a lot of information. There should be a breathing time for learners to test their understanding of the topic. You can use this slot to add activities such as drag and drop, scenario-based multiple-choice questions, simple interactive games to build the learner's interest.

Guide the learner:

You should provide feedback to guide the learner. This will help the learner to check their understanding of the topic. You should add interactivities or multiple choice questions in between the content screens. In the end, add a summary screen to help learners recall key points discussed in training.

Assess the learner

It is important to have an assessment in the form of multiple-choice questions or an interactive game to assess the learner. To motivate the learners, you can offer a certificate to them if they clear the assessment.

Transfer knowledge to the job:

Even though this step is not a part of storyboarding, it is important to check whether the learners are able to use the knowledge that they have acquired through training at their jobs. You can conduct a survey to check whether the learners are happy with the way the training is conducted, and they find it useful at the job. You can use Kirkpatrick 4 level of evaluation to conduct the survey.