Design principles for online tutorials

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What is an online tutorial?
3. Why create online tutorials?
4. Demonstration - Two approaches
5. Principles for creating effective tutorials
   1. Create a simulated conversation between learner and teacher
   2. Involve learners actively
   3. Work with what learners already know
   4. Manage the flow of the learning conversation
   5. Go from the particular to the general (at least sometimes)
6. Applying the principles - some examples
7. The process of creating tutorials
8. Practical Hints and Tips
9. Summary
10. References

Go from the particular to the general (at least sometimes)

Alfred North Whitehead

Depending on their learning style, many learners are happiest starting with concrete examples from which they can extract abstract principles, rather than the other way round. This approach fits well with the principle of active learning and allows new learning to be located in the real world and therefore in the known. Case studies and problem solving are good examples of this.