Digital learning · Multimedia · Video
Making complex
ideas clear.
For the past 13 years, I’ve been creating digital learning and multimedia, using learning design, visual storytelling and video to make complex subjects clearer, more engaging and easier to understand.
Most of the eLearning courses I worked on during my time at DeltaNet International and VinciWorks were created for the company or its clients, so I’m not able to share the original course files here.
Instead, I’ve brought together some of the multimedia work I can share, alongside case studies that show how I approached learning design, accessibility, working with subject matter experts and turning complex topics into engaging digital learning.
Instructional Design
Turning subject matter
into learning.
As an Instructional Designer, I worked across a wide range of digital learning covering health and safety, compliance and performance management. Projects included Working at Height, Manual Handling, Fire Safety, Asbestos Management, Legionella & Water Safety, Anti Bribery and Whistleblowing, alongside shorter five minute ‘Take 5’ microlearning courses such as Can You Spot the Fire? and Know Your Safety Signs?
- 1
Understand
I would typically start with subject matter content provided by an SME and turn that into the learning experience. I worked directly with SMEs to understand the subject.
- 2
Structure
I rewrote and restructured the material into clear, plain English, using Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction to help shape the learning journey.
- 3
Design
I storyboarded courses for development, deciding how the content should be presented and designing interactions such as click and reveals and hotspots using the components available within our course building tools.
- 4
Assess
I wrote questions against the learning objectives so learners had to demonstrate their understanding of what the course was intended to teach. That included writing believable distractors rather than making the correct answer immediately obvious.
- 5
Refine
Once development began, I reviewed and QA’d the Alpha, Beta and Gold versions, working with the developer to identify and resolve issues before release.
Rugby Football Union · Headcase
Concussion
awareness learning.
The project
A serious subject, turned into structured learning with the RFU’s Chief Medical Officer.
Learning objectives
I worked with the RFU on their Headcase concussion learning, taking the information they provided and turning it into a structured digital learning course.
I worked directly with the RFU’s Chief Medical Officer as the subject matter expert. We started by identifying the learning objectives and then I used those to work out how the content should be structured and what learners needed to get from the course.
Storyboarding
I created the storyboards and would go through them with the RFU screen by screen. There were sometimes different opinions about how something should be presented, so part of my role was explaining why I’d made particular learning design decisions and challenging things where I felt another approach would work better, using Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction to help guide those decisions.
Client management
I was also the main contact for the RFU throughout the project, so I kept them updated on where we were and managed expectations around the different stages of development. That included explaining what could still be changed at each stage and when larger changes after sign off could mean additional development work and cost.
Assessment
I wrote the assessments around the learning objectives.
QA
I reviewed and QA’d the Alpha, Beta and Gold versions before they went back to the RFU for their own testing.
Video production
I directed the shoot
at Leicester Tigers.
The course included filmed scenarios. I wrote the scripts and planned the visual approach, arranged with the RFU to film at Leicester Tigers’ stadium, organised the production company and actors, and was there on the day to direct the shoot.
This was before I’d moved into video editing myself, so the production company handled the filming and final edit. My part was working out what the videos needed to communicate, writing and planning them, and directing the content on the day.
3E-Learning Awards
shortlist categories
shortlist categories
1,468successful completions
in the first season
in the first season
Sky Sports Newslaunch coverage
The course was shortlisted in three categories at the 2015 E-Learning Awards, and the RFU reported that 1,468 people had successfully completed the module during its first season. The launch of the RFU’s concussion course was also covered by Sky Sports News.
The work later developed into a further concussion course for schools.
Updating an existing learning experience
Having Difficult
Conversations.
The learning idea still worked.
The video didn’t.
AI assisted replacement
Having Difficult Conversations was an existing course that included a series of videos where the learner has a difficult conversation with a character called Andi. The original videos were becoming outdated, so we wanted to replace them while keeping the same idea of putting the learner directly into the conversation.
The replacement video shown here is the introduction to Andi. Other videos appear throughout the course, showing Andi’s response to the different things the learner says.
I was responsible for creating the new videos. The supplied voiceover script still worked, so I retained it and recreated the voiceover using ElevenLabs. I then worked out the visual treatment and created the characters and environments using Nano Banana.
I brought them to life using Kling 3.0, Google Veo and Seedance through Higgsfield, creating and selecting enough shots and angles to keep the characters consistent and make the conversation feel believable.
- Characters & environmentsNano Banana
- Animation & video generationKling 3.0 · Google Veo · Seedance
- AI production environmentHiggsfield
- VoiceElevenLabs
- Edit, music & soundFinal Cut Pro
I then brought the finished material together in Final Cut Pro, shaping the pacing and working on the music and sound to create the finished videos.
AI for a practical reason, rather than just for the sake of using it.
We had learning content that needed updating, and it gave us a way of replacing the older videos while keeping the part of the course that already worked.
My role changed quite a bit over the years. I started in instructional design, working with subject matter experts to turn their content into structured learning. Over time I became more involved in project planning, quality assurance, accessibility, UAT, multimedia and video production.
Quality matters.
As a Quality Assurance Specialist, courses would come to me once the Instructional Designer or Project Manager considered them complete. I would carry out the final UAT before release, checking the course itself as well as things like keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, alt text, captions, transcripts, spelling and grammar.
I had the final say on whether a course was ready to be released.
If I found problems, it would go back to the team to be corrected before I signed it off. Once I was happy with it, I was also responsible for the release process and would deploy the finished course to the LMS.
The learner isn’t always the problem.
That experience changed the way I looked at learning design as well. If something technically works, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s easy to use or understand. If feedback showed that learners were repeatedly struggling with something, I wouldn’t automatically assume the problem was the learner.
Sometimes the content, assessment or way we’d presented something needed another look.
Good work is collaborative.
I’ve also spent a lot of time working between different people and disciplines, including subject matter experts, writers, developers, designers, actors, voiceover artists, video production companies and clients.
I’ve found that getting people involved at the right point, being clear about what can change and when, and being willing to challenge something when necessary leads to better results.
Selected learning and multimedia
More of my work.
Loading selected video work…
Let’s talk.
If you’d like to talk about a role, a project, or any of the work shown here, feel free to get in touch.