All elearning courses at GitLab to the will utilize the Handbook as the Single Source of Truth (SSOT).
The GitLab Field Enablement team uses a handbook-first approach to learning in their Field Certification Program
For example, in order to learn more about a particular topic tied to the Field Certification, learners will be able to refer to the Handbook within the elearning course instead of having to open a new browser tab and manually navigating to the Handbook.
The Field Enablement team will utilize the Articulate 360 Storyline Suite as the main course authoring tool. In Storyline, a Handbook-first approach is achieved by adding a web object on a slide so learners can access the Handbook on that particular topic.
The L&D team hosts Mini and Extended Challanges to engage team members in bite sized learning about a specific topic. Participants in the challenge collaborate on issues and are driven to the handbook to review learning content.
Interactivity such as games, drag-and-drop, matching, and other interactive components in a published elearning course will not be accessible via the Handbook; however, all information conveyed to learners through the elearning course will have an associated Handbook page as needed. This will make sure that despite the interactivity of the elearning course, learners will have access to all topics covered in the Field Certification program via the Handbook.
Instructional designers will use the ADDIE instructional systems design (ISD) framework to design and develop Field Certification courses using Articulate 360. The workflow of course development will be as follows:
Our goal is that each course will have an associated Handbook page including learning objectives, static learning content, quizzes, and applicable links.
Consider the following when documenting course content in the handbook:
Content in the EdCast LXP at GitLab will adopt this handbook-first approach to learning. You can read more best practices about building content in the LXP in our GitLab Learn admin docs. Examples of ways that the handbook is utilized for learning in the LXP include:
Below is an outlined example of how the field enablement team created a handbook first learning course for the EdCast LXP using Articulate 360.
Avoiding these examples can help ensure that the content you're producing follows a handbook first approach
Example | Suggested handbook first improvement |
---|---|
Introducing new content within a course or Pathway | Add new content to an existing handbook page, or open a new page to document |
Directly uploading a video to the LXP | Upload the video first to GitLab Unfiltered, emebed on the correct handbook page, and either display in an Articulate course via iframe or link from a SmartCard in the LXP |