Lately, there has been a big buzz in the world of Artificial Intelligence with the use of Generative AI technology. The focus of this has been on Chat GPT and its use in several industries. However, how is it useful for Instructional Designers? In this article, we’ll talk about three ways that Instructional Designers can use Chat GPT to create content for eLearning courses.
How does Chat GPT work?
Chat GPT is an AI chat bot that is designed to answer questions and respond to other given requests. It does this by referencing materials given to it and by searching the internet for any possible answer. Keep in mind that since Chat GPT is a machine learning platform, it still needs input from outside sources. It learns from the materials provided to it by the people who interact with it. It is for this reason that Chat GPT may not always be the most accurate. It is only as accurate as the information it is given.
When using Chat GPT for content creation for courses, you must provide information about the course for Chat GPT to make recommendations. Chat GPT isn’t magic. It cannot create a course from nothing. You must provide the information that is needed. Chat GPT can reduce the amount of time it takes to develop course content but there are still steps that you must take before and after using Chat GPT. Let’s look at this a bit deeper.
Say you have a lot of material that needs to be taught. It would take hours and possibly days to go through all that information, analyze it, and decide which information should be taught and how. To use Chat GPT, you just put the content into the system and ask Chat GPT to break it down for you based on given parameters. Let’s look at how Chat GPT can break down this information.
Outlining and Writing content to be used in a Course
So, you’ve gathered all the information you want to include in your course including interviews with SMEs, needed data from other studies, and any previous course materials that have been used. It’s a lot to process into a cohesive course outline. To make this an easier process, simply input all that information into Chat GPT and ask…
“Outline the given information into an eLearning course about effective sales pitches…” for example.
Chat GPT will then give you an outline fitting your request. You will still need to go through it to ensure that the flow of the course makes sense, all the information is covered, and that all the information is accurate.
Streamlining the eLearning development process
With Chat GPT as your AI assistant breaking down and organizing large amounts of content, it saves time that would normally be spent reading and analyzing. Reading through and synthesizing large amounts of instructional content takes time and energy. Chat GPT simply cuts down on that time by reading and synthesizing information in mere seconds rather than hours. Now you can spend more time on
the design of your eLearning course to present the best experience for your learners.
Chat GPT can also help you develop learning objectives. Simply ask Chat GPT to…
“Write Learning Objectives for a Sales training course…” for example.
This can also be done using the original input of course information that Chat GPT has already gone through. Just like with the outline, it is still up to you as an Instructional Design or course designer to make sure that the Learning Objectives are assessable and effective learning can be observed. Chat GPT can give you a base to work from that still saves time in the development process.
Summarizing large amounts of content for Micro Learning
So, you’ve been handed a project to create a series of micro learning courses with lots of information and content to be used. Going through all that content could take days and you aren’t sure where to start or which topics are the most important. Let Chat GPT decide that for you. Just like with the outline example, simply put all the information you’ve been given into Chat GPT and ask it to summarize the content into topics for a micro learning course. It will summarize the information into main points that can act as a start in your micro learning course development.
WARNING: when you paste content into ChatGPT, this content is no longer secure. If the content is proprietary and needs to be kept confidential, do not upload to Chat GPT!
Take Away
Is this new AI technology helpful? That’s up to you to decide. Chat GPT can reduce the time it takes to analyze content, develop learning objectives, and summarize and outline content into courses. It is not a perfect system. The human factor is still important. It is up to the course designer to ensure that the information Chat GPT is providing is accurate and instructionally sound. Since Chat GPT is only as smart as the information it is given by other people, it has its limitations. Also, it is important to keep in mind that Chat GPT does not produce visuals, graphics or diagrams which are commonly used in eLearning courses. Is Chat GPT the wave of the future? Only time will tell but for now, it is a great tool to utilize.
Another way to “automate” course production is to turn to a proven team😉. At Digitec, you can simply “upload” your content to our expert instructional designers, and we can do the work for you, producing effective eLearning for competitive prices. Interested in learning more? Schedule an appointment with Digitec today.
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