The Writers Gateway

This is the continuation of my previous post.

#2 Conducting Audience Analysis

A thorough knowledge about the target audience (learners) is a must before you develop an e-learning course. After all it is for their benefit you make the course. If they gain no value from the course you develop, then there is no point in your instructional endeavor.

Audience Analysis sets the designing/instructional strategy for your e-learning course. In this post I shall tell you

1. What to look for while conducting Audience Analysis and
2. The implications of the analysis

To help you understand better, I am using the same business case mentioned in Needs Analysis in Instructional Designing (Part II).

What to look for while conducting Audience Analysis

Parameter 1: Audience Profile

Audience Information Example

1. Waiters take meal orders from customers.
2. Waiters deliver the right meal to the customers.

Implication on Course

1. The course must be a knowledge cum skill based course.
2. It must give information about dishes and focus on the daily tasks they do.
3. It must be interactive and help the learners master the tasks.
4. It must keep the learners engaged because they need to register information in their minds.
5. It must provide an assessment at the end of the course.

Parameter 2: Age

Audience Information Example

1. All the waiters are in the 20-25 age group.

Implication on Course

1. The course can be informal.
2. The course must have good images/animations and interesting activities.

Parameter 3: Educational Background

Audience Information Example

1. Most of the waiters are graduates.

Implication on Course

1. The course can use intermediate/advanced level of English.

Parameter 4: Work Experience

Audience Information Example

1. Most waiters have an average work experience of 2 – 3 years.
2. There are also some freshmen in the group.

Implication on Course

For Experienced Waiters

1. The course must provide real world scenarios.
2. Waiters must be given an opportunity to respond to real situations.

For Freshmen

1. There must be a section where you introduce the types of customers who visit Blackford.
2. There must be a list of queries that may be asked with respect to the meals served.

Parameter 5: Familiarity with Computers

Audience Information Example

1. Some waiters are comfortable using computers.
2. Some others are not.

Implication on Course

1. The course must have simple navigation.
2. It must have lots of movies/animations and have instructions to use the course.

Final words

I am sure I have set the pace for you to conduct a Need Analysis now. What has been listed in my posts on Needs Analysis is not comprehensive but highlights how you need to think while conducting Needs Analysis. The bottom line is that you need to get in touch with the learners/client and understand more on what they expect from the course. If you get a chance to talk to the learners, focus on questions that will bring out their:

1. Attitude towards online training
2. Job Responsibilities
3. Their strengths and weaknesses with respect to their job

The success of your course depends on the information you gather during Needs Analysis. In my next post I shall talk about the whys and whats of Learning Objectives in Instructional Designing.