Engaging Learners with Online Training is a five-part blog series featuring stories from E-learning Institute Fellowship (ELI) alumni. Alumni have different stories to tell about the impact ELI had on their work in public health.

I learned about ELI from my department’s Training Coordinator who participated in the 2015 fellowship cohort and posted a story about ELI on our internal social media application. She said she learned invaluable knowledge and gave a strong recommendation for ELI. Reading her recommendation prompted me to apply. 

The Minnesota Department of Health, Public Health Laboratory identified a need to develop e-learning targeted to external clients, so that we could reach a larger audience. The e-learning that our laboratory produced in the past has been mainly targeted to internal staff for training purposes. The e-learning products were very basic and not based on the best practices for developing e-learning. As a result, the goal of my participation in ELI was to increase my knowledge and skills in developing quality and effective e-learning content and to produce e-learning at a faster and more efficient rate.

I had a very favorable first impression of ELI at the initial orientation where CDC mentors and other fellows were friendly and extremely knowledgeable and helpful. As ELI progressed, I learned the principles of e-learning such as conducting an analysis to determine the needs of the audience, objectives and key learning concepts, and how to develop a storyboard as a framework to develop the course. Finally, I learned about the best practices of designing an e-learning course, which include accessibility requirements, learner assessment, interactivity, and product evaluation. From the resources and feedback provided by my mentor and other fellows, I developed the course, Newborn Screening Prenatal and L&D Provider Education, which will be available in October 2016.

I am excited to use the knowledge and skills gained from participating in ELI to develop high quality and effective e-learning to reach more of our department’s internal and external clients. Providing more education internally and externally, will improve the quality and effectiveness of our programs, helping to achieve the mission of our Department, which is to protect and enhance the health of all Minnesotans.