Project Overview
Why This Course
This learning experience is designed to train at risk youth about what they can expect from their mentor in John Howard’s Youth Mentor Peer Mentorship program. Youth will also learn about their rights and best practices to follow when working with community programs.
Specifications and final deliverables:
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a SCORM course trackable in the client's Learning Studio LMS
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mobile friendly and responsive on all devices
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use of interactive gamification for increased user engagement geared to young adult learners
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testing to prove learner's knowledge


Business Objectives
The business objectives identified include:
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reduce budget for in-person mentee training time
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having consistent knowledge across all chapters of the Canada wide non profit organization
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produce revenue by offering this course for sale through their Learning Studio LMS to other non profit organizations
Performance KPIs
The key performance indicators used to measure the success of this course include:
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reduce budget for in-person training time by 20%
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prove program knowledge through passed exam to show consistent understanding and practice
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new revenue gained by sale of course

Strategic Approach
Target Audience
The learner profile for this course comprised of:
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average age range 16-30 years old
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both male and female learners
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technologically-friendly
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primarily English first language
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located in various regions across Canada
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learning on multiple devices


Learning Outcomes
The learning outcomes identified include:
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investigate program, roles, and responsibilities
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understand the mentee referral process and mentee/mentor relationship
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demonstrate best practices for working with a mentor and community programs
Strategy Applied
The techniques used to facilitate these required objectives and outcomes include:
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rich multimedia experience (images, video, and narration)
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use of interactive gamification to test user knowledge
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scenario based activities that allowed for exploration of behavior and consequences

Design Choices
Branded to Audience
The course was designed to appeal to youth and young adults and considerations include:
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use of trending colours
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tone in content developed
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primary and secondary font pairings
We worked with the client to determine the learner avatar (age, demographics, preferred learning styles) and selected colours, imagery, and a tone to appeal to their learners.


Gamification
One of the identified deliverables was engaging interactive elements. To accomplish this, we used role playing scenarios to re-enforce the learner's knowledge of how to respond to specific situations.
Mentor video introductions were included to help Mentees engage with the the program initiatives and outcomes.
Software Used
Based on the learner type and the rapid production time of this course, it was developed in Articulate Rise and delivered as a packaged SCORM file for implementation on the client's existing LMS.

Development Process
Storyboarding / Sequencing
These are the first steps for development used in building this course:
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To get started, we met with the organizations Director, project manager and panel of YPM’s to establish the learning objectives for this learning. This helped everyone to determine exactly what they wanted all Youth Mentee’s to learn.
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Written content was provided by the organization.
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Video content was created by the YPM’s to be included in the course.
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Stock images and video were also sourced by our team.
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All of the material was then sequenced and a storyboard was presented for review.

Prototype
Once initial approvals were made, we put all the pieces together and build a prototype of the course.
At this stage, we completed a first draft of the course with functional interactivity, visuals, and narration.
The client tested the course using the review and feedback function within Articulate 360 so they could leave comments directly on-screen.
Implementation / Testing
Once initial approvals were made, we put all the pieces together and build a prototype of the course.
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revised requested changes
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final approval
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implementation on system
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small batch user testing
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feedback and final adjustments

Key Takeaways
What We Learned
During this course development we learned the importance of stakeholder involvement.
Youth Mentors who have lived experience with trauma and the challenges of navigating community programs contributed valuable ideas and content throughout the iterative process of course development
It was very rewarding to introduce the technology and instructional design that provided a strong platform for their message.
In this course about mentorship we were reminded how important it is to give back and the impact we can have on others when we share our experiences with others.

Client Success
The key performance indicators for this project were all met or surpassed.
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reduce budget for in-person training time by 20%
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knowledge ensured, measured, and reported
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a survey was implemented for ongoing feedback to gather youth input and ensure continual improvement

