Plan Your Tutorial

All good learning activities start with some planning. The steps in planning shouldn’t take you too long. Planning will help you develop a tutorial that is better matched to the needs of the people who use it as well as the process you are teaching.

Select a Topic

You've already started your planning! You can use the example you used earlier for your Instructional Analysis or pick something new. If you pick something new, brainstorm some answers to the following prompts:

• What is the topic?
• Provide some context: What will people know and be able to do after completing the tutorial?
• How will people use these directions?

Know Your Audience

You've also completed an Audience Analysis. You should know exactly who you are developing for. If you choose to design a tutorial for a different audience consider these parameters from the Audience Analysis:

• Age and grade level, if a student
• Their role: teacher, administrator, counselor, bus driver, human resources, finance office, parent, others
• Subject area(s) and grade level(s), if they are a teacher
• Educational background
• Language proficiency and first language
• Technologies they currently use or technology proficiency level, if known
• Other characteristics that can influence how you design your content

Determine Your Tutorial's Purpose

You've already considered this, too. You've thought about what your learners will be able to do to show their learning. 

Tutorials can serve different purposes. Some of them include:

• Learn a new skill
• Solve a problem
• Complete a task
• Troubleshoot simple problems, like computer or phone problems
• DIY (Do-it-yourself)