Organising Content
Bulleted lists and numbered lists are a great strategy to organise your content and improve readability.
Bulleted Lists
Using bullets to present a list of items provides easy access to quickly skim through the items on the list, provided that the list is not too long. To make your lists effective, keep them to less than six items. More than that will be difficult to remember.
Example
Engaging online learning will include:
- Learning activities
- Examples
- Teaching voice
- Clear writing
- White space
Numbered Lists
Numbered lists are very useful to present hierarchical lists of items, when there is a sequential relationship between the items. It is a very effective strategy to list steps within processes. It is also good practice to keep them to less than six items.
Example
To drive a nail into a piece of wood:
- Prepare the nail, the hammer and the piece of wood
- Measure the thickness of the wood and the length of the nail (make sure the nail is shorter than the thickness of the piece of wood)
- Place the nail on the piece of wood
- Hit the head of the nail with the hammer until the head meets the wood
Check-lists
Check-lists are great tools to use in summaries at the end of a unit of learning and can be a self-check activity for learners, as you ask them to make sure they know all the concepts listed. They are also effective in guiding learners to monitor their progress throughout the course. You can create a checklist for each module and ask your learners to make sure they have completed all the tasks that were included in the module. Checking items off the list can be fun and relieving!