Explore Specialist Advice
Understanding the link between communication and behaviour
Working closely with Explore’s team of speech and language therapists, Like-Minded developed this module to add to the series of free learning that supports parents, whānau, and caregivers to effectively managing their child’s behaviour. This module explains the link between a child’s communication and their behaviour. It’s full of suggestions and practical strategies to help support them while attempting to bring some harmony back into their home.
Delivering content for multiple courses in a similar style, using the authoring tool Articulate Rise, has helped Explore create a consistent experience for its audience in a cost-effective way.
Being there to help just when the help is needed
This is a key resource to help families navigate communication differences, understand their link to their child’s behaviour, and gain deeper perspective into their frame of mind. Children begin to develop communication and language skills from birth but, for some children, these skills develop differently or take more time. When there is a communication delay or a child’s skills aren’t at the same level as others, it can create friction in the home. Explore wanted to be there to help these families but, to get there on time and support the volume of people who need this help, they have embraced online learning in a significant way.
Presenting the message in a way it can be heard
Good instructional design means you write content that speaks to your audience in a language or style that resonates. To meet the needs of these parents, whānau, and caregivers, we chose a range of delivery styles, using plain language and a high level of visual support for each concept. This included real-life videos of children and their parents and, where that wasn’t appropriate, we created illustrated scenarios to achieve a strong connection to the key concepts. In addition, there are links to family resources all throughout the course, providing valuable support and assistance that learners can work through in their own time.
Leveraging off previous work
Everyone benefits when you carry out similar projects with a client you have successfully worked with before. In this case, because some of the client’s team had already worked through the course development process with us, we were able to move through the process efficiently and reuse ideas and elements built for earlier modules. Without making the content feel repetitive or too similar, it gave the learners some familiarity. Most importantly, for our client, it meant we could deliver to the same high standard, but to a lower budget and in a better managed timeframe, leveraging off the work done in the previous modules.
The value of a repeating cycle
We celebrate seeing our clients continually improving and learning to design and develop their content in new ways. Explore was able to provide appropriate, clear source material that could efficiently be turned into storyboards and then built in Articulate Rise–because they’d learned the development process from previous projects. The team understood what to do in a review, and we could easily manage the project scope and expectations from both sides. This level of mutual understanding makes our job fun and ensures low stress! Long may it continue with you, Explore.
“Like-Minded ensured they understood our subject matter and the unique demographic of our learners; this resulted in a product that was beautifully aligned to our objectives. The innovation and excellence they brought to the development resulted in a quality that exceeded our expectations.”
Julie Ridgeway
Registered Psychologist
Explore Specialist Advice NZ