PLS Audience

Alignment

Quality Matters

4.3 C The course content is appropriate to the reading level of the intended learners.

4.6 C The course content strives to reflect a culturally diverse perspective that is free from bias. 

4.7 C The course is free of adult content and avoids unnecessary advertisements.

8.2 C The course design facilitates readability.

National Standards for Quality Online Teaching

H3 The online teacher incorporates diverse media into online learning modules.

Scripting Engaging and Effective Online Content Requirements

• Collaboration: The SME (partner) and ID must collaborate to ensure the content is appropriate, relevant, and accessible for the target audience. 
• Accessibility Focus: Lesson contents must be made physically, culturally, and cognitively accessible and barrier-free.

• Learner-Centric Approach: Lesson content must prioritize the learner’s characteristics. If the audience is broad or includes several learner personas, work with the SME to identify the primary learner persona. 

• Comprehensive Consideration: The tone should be friendly and conversational. Learners should feel that they are being “taught,” not just reading a presentation. 

Collecting Content

• A lot of times, clients provide the content for PLS courses. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have everything that you need. Make sure you have a clear picture of the goal of the project and the purpose of the content they are providing.
  • Ask for the demographics of the learners that will be taking this course (age, culture, education level, etc.)
  • “Ask about what they want the learner to be able to do/improve on by the end.
  • Ask for barriers to their success that may need to be overcome by this training or in other ways.
• Depending on the focus of the project, you may be able to collect additional information from the client’s website. Be sure to ask for any documents, surveys, violations, statistics, images, or media that you need as well.
• Check to ensure that the content that is provided by the SME meets standards and expectations (e.g. licensing/permissions, usability, relevance, etc). Don’t assume that because a SME has selected content, they have permission to use it. 

Editing Content

Prior to editing content that you have received from a SME or organization, outline the review process that you will be using for the project. You should also establish guidelines for using the content that they have provided.

• How much freedom do you have to make edits? 
• What is their understanding of your role?

A good rule of thumb is to run the script that they have given you through Grammarly. After that, provide suggestions to improve the instructional design of the script. 

Be sure to include a rationale when making any major changes or suggestions. It will not only help your client/SME to understand your reasoning, but it will help to avoid having to make similar comments in the future. Providing feedback will strengthen your bond with the client/SME and train them to write in the style that you desire for the project. By taking the time to provide meaningful feedback and communication early on, it cuts out extra work for them as well in the long run. 

Consider Purpose and Audience

• Select an appropriate framework or instructional design approach based on the purpose of the learning experience and the needs of the audience. 
• The most important part of scripting any content is to remember the objective(s) or measurable goal-action they need to demonstrate by the end of the course. Align all content to the goals and objective(s).
• When writing content, it is key to keep your audience in mind. Develop a persona or an imagined future user of your course.
• Ask yourself these questions as you develop your script:
  • What is the objective of this assignment, lesson, unit, etc.?
  • How does the content contribute to meeting that objective?
  • Who is your audience? What do you know about this audience? Does the content meet the needs of this audience? 

Considering All Learners

Biases in Language: Content & Assessments

• Reading level 
  • Are the scripts, web contents, and other reading materials at the right level for the targeted audience?
  • Avoid jargon, idioms, slang, and cultural metaphors  
  • Create a glossary of terms if applicable
• Gender-neutral 
• Avoid stereotyping
• Keep your Implicit biases in mind
• Assumptions
  • Are any assumptions made regarding learners’ “shared” perspectives? 
  • Check for “common sense.” What seems “common sense” to you, may not be understood or a shared perspective by the learner. 

Culture and Diversity

• Cultural representations
  • Does the learning use content that represents multiple cultures? The content is limited to one culture if it references only the resources written by and for one cultural group. For example, many of the well-known traditional children’s stories are of European origin. Misrepresentation or underrepresentation may lead to implicit biases and stereotypes. 
  • Are all components of the content understandable by all learners regardless of their culture and socioeconomic status? The content is limited to one culture when it talks about a cultural idea or concept as an example that is exclusively accessible by affluent or locational audiences. For example, a boat club and boat equipment. 
• Avoid pop culture references (actors, movies, singers, etc.) unless absolutely necessary. These quickly become dated or may be unfamiliar to learners.
• Avoid idioms such as “it’s raining cats and dogs” or “they were feeling blue.” These are culturally specific and may be unclear to learners from different cultural backgrounds. Instead of idioms, simply describe what the idioms are expressing. For example, instead of “they were feeling blue” you could write “they were sad/grieving/devastated…”
• Use names, examples, scenarios, and images that reflect diversity in your content. This includes showing diverse family structures, diverse cultural backgrounds, and people with disabilities. Ensure the content represents multiple viewpoints on the course topics and isn’t just from a singular geographic or cultural perspective. 

Writing for the Learner

Speak directly to learners

Taking a course online might feel distant or impersonal to learners, especially if it’s their first online course. Writing engaging and approachable content can help to bridge that gap and make learners feel more comfortable. Write directly to students using the first or second person (“we” or “you”). Once you’ve chosen first or second person, please be consistent throughout the whole learning experience. 

Example:

“Let’s reflect on what you have learned about relationships and their importance to brain development. What types of experiences do you want to provide for infants and toddlers? What are some ways in which you can support healthy brain development in the children you care for? Write down your ideas in the space provided in your guided workbook.”

Use a conversational tone

Use friendly, approachable language. We are not writing a textbook, but creating a supportive environment for learning. Learners should feel supported and engaged with the online content, just like they would in a face-to-face situation if the facilitator was right there with them. 

• Use contractions (ex. “can’t”) where appropriate.
• Avoid formal language. 

Example:

Generative AI is here, and if you’re like other educators, you might be – understandably! – concerned  about skill loss, cheating, and violations of academic integrity. How can you help students stay focused on learning in your classroom? This course offers several simple, straightforward strategies for dealing with the generative AI-shaped elephant in the room. The best part? They are low-tech and high-impact, so you can implement these strategies into your practice as soon as tomorrow – no sign-ups or elaborate set-ups are necessary.

Notice how this example makes use of conversational elements – sentence fragments, interjections, contractions, and exclamation points all play their part in making an otherwise dry topic feel relatable and unintimidating.

Be a guiding voice

The online learning environment is very different from an in-person environment. One very important thing to keep in mind is that we don’t just want to dump information on our learners. Instead, we want to create that teacher presence by providing a narrative voice that guides students through a lesson. This can be achieved through the following:

• Use connecting language and transitions from one page or lesson to the next.
  • “Earlier in this lesson/unit/course, you focused on… now you’re going to…”
  • “By the end of this unit, you will be able to…”
  • “In this lesson, you will…”
  • “You’ll focus on…”
• Remind learners why they’re learning the information, such as the assignments they will complete or the real-world skills the information gives them. 
  • “At the end of this lesson, you will… to prepare for this, you will…”
• Help students draw the connections between what they’re currently learning, what they’ve previously learned, and why it’s important.

Notes on stylistic considerations:

• Avoid the use of ALL CAPS. Instead, use bold or italic text for emphasis. 
• Use em dashes (—), not hyphens (-) or double hyphens (–) for emphatic pauses in sentences. 
• Em dashes can be created on Windows computers by holding down alt while entering the number code “0151”. 
• Em dashes can replace commas, parentheses, and colons.
• Examples from The Punctuation Guide: 
  • “Upon discovering the errors (all 124 of them), the publisher immediately recalled the books.”
  • “Upon discovering the errors⁠—all 124 of them⁠—the publisher immediately recalled the books.”
• Use only one single space between sentences. All legitimately obtained fonts (those that come preloaded on your computer) are already programmed for appropriate spacing both between words and between sentences. 

• Non-annotated Standards from the QM Continuing and Professional Education Rubric, Second Edition 
• Module 5: Accessibility Instructional Content (K-12 focused, but still very helpful) 
• Readability Formulas: Readability Checker
• Federal Plain Language Guidelines 
• Style Guide: Readability – PLS
• Style Guide: Resources
• Style Guide: PLS Gradebook Setup