Once storyboards have been developed, they can then be put into use to create your course. By creating a complete overview of a course, one can better place content, multimedia, and interactivity in a pedagogically effective and visually appealing manner. Certain pitfalls of course development such as missing information, redundant information, poor transitions, etc. can be avoided. There are also fewer questions among a group of developers. The storyboard can serve as a constant reference point on which the design process can be centered.

When developing your storyboards, there are a few things to keep in mind. Perhaps the most important to realize is that you do not necessarily have to fully develop a storyboard for every page of your course. For example, if you are using a course management system, certain elements such as breadcrumbs or discussion forum appearance are already determined for you. You simply need a sheet upon which to list various forum ‘rooms’ and other links and how they interconnect with other information within the course. In my practice, I simply list these items out on a page with arrows showing what links into and out of my list. I do not add any other storyboard information except a version number and name.

You do not have to be an artist to use storyboards. You only need to put graphical representations of what you want to put on the page. Other items such as color and size are also important to make a note of in order to determine fit both spacially and aethetically with other items on the page.

If you are just planning to put your lectures online or presentations such as PowerPoint, then perhaps storyboards are not the first step that you should be taking. You might want to first begin to consider alternative lesson types and assignments. Begin to consider how multimedia elements, simulations, or other activities might benefit the course. Plan for a better course, and then consider storyboards.

I could probably continue to talk about storyboards for quite some time, but for now, I think that it is important to move onto the template and the examples using that template.