Have you ever viewed an eLearning course where to concepts being taught seemed very disjointed or lacked a logical flow? More than likely, somewhere along the line, whoever designed the course lost sight of who their Target Audience (TA) was and what the Target Message (TM).
What would my learner do?
What would my learner do?
Out of everything I learned in college, there was one thing I learned that has stuck with me, even well into my eLearning career. My first semester in college I ended up taking COMS 110: Introduction to Mass Communication. The professor was Dr. Harry Sova, who was new to the school as well. His life’s motto should have been…
“Never forget of your Target Audience (TA) and Target Message (TM).”
“Never forget of your Target Audience (TA) and Target Message (TM).”
I had Dr. Sova for three more classes while in college, and same thing every class, every project… “What’s your TA and TM?” Dr. Sova’s was very adamant about this because of his many years in the marketing and advertising world. His point being, do whatever it takes to not lose focus on your target. It didn’t matter if it was a poster I was designing, a script I was writing or even a video project I was producing, he would consistently ask us what our TA & TM was.
I got my start in the eLearning realm in 2004 when I started as a production assistant and video editor for an eLearning company called, KeyStone Learning System/Global Learning System. I shot/edited/directed hours and hours of canned, as well as custom eLearning courses. My next adventure was developing custom Flash eLearning for Tyco Electronics WNS (then we were bought out by Harris Corporation). Currently, I’m doing everything from instructional design to the development of eLearning, Virtual Classes and Classroom materials for BB&T.
In the eLearning realm, the TA is the specific group of learners you are designing and developing courses for, and the TM is the purpose and the concepts that you are attempting to transfer to the learners. Throughout all of my projects over the last six years, I’ve found Dr. Sova’s words to be a guiding principle, especially when you are writing a course! If you lose sight of your audience, they will lose interest in your course. If you forget about the purpose of the course, then everything will seem off-kilter.
If I catch myself wandering away from my TA or TM, I’ll jot them down on a Post-It note or index card. Then, I’ll take that note or card and put it directly on my monitor. So when I find myself staring blankly at the screen, I can easily regain my focus of who I’m designing for by looking at my TA & TM.
