The Secret Formula to Becoming an E-Learning Pro

Ask someone who’s built a reputation in e-learning how they got there. They’ll usually say some version of the same thing. It comes down to three habits they repeat, week after week, project after project.

Practice your craft on small activities

The challenge many of us have with building real e-learning courses is that we repeat the same skills over and over. We may build fifty courses but they’re the same course fifty times. We’re not building fifty unique courses.

A typical project has the same layout, the same interaction types, and the same delivery approach. That repetition builds comfort, but it doesn’t build new skills.

Weekly challenges in the e-learning community solve this problem. They’re short enough to finish in a few hours and focused on techniques you wouldn’t normally try. Past challenges have covered interactive quizzes, drag and drop interactions, step-by-step process interactions, branched decision-making scenarios, and screenshot-based software training.

The goal isn’t to produce polished work every week. It’s to get more reps than a real project would ever give you. Those reps compound quickly.

It’s worth the time to at least look at them to see what people build, but definitely commit some time to building your own. They’re also good portfolio pieces.

Show examples of what you’ve built

Looking at other people’s work is one of the best ways to develop your design eye. This is especially true when the work comes from designers who face the same constraints you do. Budget-constrained, time-limited work done by real people tells you more than award-winning agency output.

When designers share their course examples publicly, it shows the community what’s possible with the tools everyone has. That’s more useful than seeing polished work made with resources most of us don’t have access to.

Sharing files also opens up feedback. When you put your work out publicly, someone with more experience will often point out a faster or cleaner approach. That kind of specific, practical feedback is hard to get any other way. And sharing what you build is a good way to build your reputation and create potential opportunities.

Write about what you built and how you did it

This is the step most people skip, and it’s the most valuable. When you explain how you built something, you’re not just helping others. You’re cementing your own understanding.

Writing about your process builds your reputation and expertise at the same time. The community includes designers from around the world, and when you share your blog post alongside your example, both reach further than either would alone.

You don’t need to be an expert to write something. You just need to be one step ahead of someone who doesn’t know what you know. If you built a tabs interaction and found a faster way, write about it. That’s the kind of post that gets bookmarked and shared.

Also, when you can, present at conferences or local ATD chapters or do webinars.

Key takeaways

The designers who grow fastest share a pattern. They practice regularly, post their work, and write about the process. You don’t have to do all three this week. Start with the challenges, get one example posted, then write a few lines about how you built it.