Elearning templates: 3 best free design templates to save you hours
4 minute read
Why start from scratch, when there are elearning templates to do the heavy lifting? Here are the best ones that our learning consultants swear by. Whether you’re planning a project, storyboarding your content or building your course – elearning templates are a huge time saver.
What is an elearning template?
An elearning template is a file that contains pre-formatted or part-designed elements that you can adapt and customize to fit your project. Using elearning design templates is a great way to save time at the planning stage and introduce interesting and aesthetically-pleasing elements to your courses that may otherwise take a lot of design resource to produce from scratch. Not only that, but it also helps to reduce the learning curve for new authors, allowing anyone to get to grips with the process and create awesome elearning in a fraction of the time.
You can access elearning templates for every stage of the project, from planning and storyboarding, through to design. Following an elearning template can help you to follow elearning best practices, ensure your projects are consistent and experiment with different formats, including microlearning and gamification. Utilizing a design template for your elearning courses also ensures consistent branding, colors and fonts across all materials for a professional-looking output every time.
Designing an awesome template is not a small task. Elearning template design takes knowledge and experience. At Elucidat we are lucky to have our wonderful learning consultants who are always brimming with elearning template ideas. We wanted to share with you the best elearning templates we’ve tried and tested – and use on all our projects. Enjoy!
Three free elearning templates
1. Elearning project plan template
The most successful elearning projects start with a rock-solid plan. You’ll save time later on by getting clear on the learning objectives, project goals and needs from the start.
Our learning consultants use this elearning template on every single project. It sets out the essential steps for creating a bulletproof elearning project plan. It’s tried and tested, and will set you up for success!
“I can already see this is going to be a game-changer for me” – a recent participant in our Digital Learning Skill-Up program said about the planning template.
One section of the project planning template:
Download the free Elearning Project Plan template.
2. Learning design storyboard template
If you’re planning to simply convert your powerpoint into elearning, hold fire! Is that going to be the most engaging experience for your audience?
First, you need to come up with an elearning design concept. Then, before you touch your authoring tool, complete a storyboard to nail your structure and content. We recommend collaborative storyboarding to get your team and any subject matter experts aligned. Then, you can hit the ground running when you start to build out your course.
This elearning storyboard template will help you to align stakeholders around a common goal and speed up production. Most importantly, it’ll prevent you from losing great designs to boring content!
Get the storyboard template now.
All templates in Elucidat come with a downloadable storyboard, including tips on how to complete it.
3. Elearning course templates
Building out your course from an elearning template can save you heaps of time. There are lots of template libraries out there – but many of these will leave you with cookie-cutter, generic content. And, they can get expensive at scale.
Look for elearning templates that act as a starting point, but give you the flexibility to adapt it to your brand and specific project.
If you’re looking for Instructional design templates we’ve got you covered. We’ve built 20+ elearning templates, with expert learning design guidance baked in. Elucidat will recommend the best template for your project, based on your goals and needs. Then, you just add content.
There are 20+ available templates right now, for free – just ask and we’ll make switch them on in your Elucidat account (or sign up for a free trial).
Three free elearning templates available in Elucidat:
Microlearning: Quick Onboarding
This single scrolling page template is designed to help you onboard new hires in a very focused way. The template is set up for you to outline key equipment they need and tasks they should complete. It encourages the use of video examples and will help you set expectations with your new people quickly.
Example of this template in action
Microlearning: Top tips
This linear elearning is ideal for busy employees who need to improve in specific areas but don’t have time for a lengthy course. The template is built for focus. It starts with reflective questions, offers succinct tips and examples and then gets users to identify their top actions. It also uses social polling to see what their peers are prioritizing.
Example of this template in action
In-depth learning: Process
This menu-based elearning template is great for in-depth process training. It breaks the content into distinct topics that give an overview and then drill down into the detail. It includes examples and knowledge checks, before helping them embed and practice what they’ve learnt with a scenario.
Example of this template in action
Want to try out these elearning templates?
You can now take these elearning templates for a spin in your Elucidat account! Not an Elucidat customer? No problem. You can test drive our pre-built templates by booking a demo.
