Spokes Education

Feedback is one of the most important ways a project moves from a first draft to something clear, effective and ready to use.

But good feedback is about more than simply saying what you like or don’t like. When it’s clear, constructive and focused, it helps ideas develop, solves problems and keeps a project moving forward.

In our latest blog, our Learning Design Lead, Zoe, shares some practical tips for giving feedback that helps move a project forward.

Read the blog here:
www.spokeseducation.com/post/how-to-give-feedback-that-moves-a-project-forward?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Did you know that all our courses are now WCAG 2.2 AA compliant as standard?

Working largely with non-profit and public sector organisations, accessibility is usually high on the list of requirements, and it's something we're always happy to prioritise.

Our new templates and processes have helped us speed up production without ever compromising on accessibility standards. The result is courses that are fully compliant while still looking polished, staying consistent, and remaining functional and interactive for every learner.

Accessibility shouldn't be an afterthought; it should be built in from the start. That's exactly how we work.

A lot of what shapes effective digital learning comes down to small design decisions: how something is explained, how an activity is structured, how a question is written. They’re easy to overlook, but they make a significant difference to how the learning feels and how well it works.

We know that these kinds of decisions aren’t always easy to cover in a meeting or a quick email; they often need a bit more time to consider and reflect on properly. That’s one of the reasons we’ve started to share more of our thinking in our blog.

It brings together practical guidance from the work we do day to day, covering things like converting face-to-face courses into self-paced learning, writing for non-experts, and designing knowledge checks that genuinely support understanding. If you’re working on digital learning, it gives you the space to explore those ideas at your own pace.

You can explore all of our posts here: www.spokeseducation.com/blog

Is there something you’d like to explore in more detail? Let us know what you’d like to read about next!

At the start of a digital learning project, there are a few things you can share with us early on that help us hit the ground running. These are documents, guidance, and key information that give us a clear understanding of what we’re working with, how decisions should be made, and what the course needs to achieve. Having these in place early helps shape the design, supports clearer discussions, and gives the project a stronger sense of direction from the outset.

It's World Nature Conservation Day!

We're fortunate to have woodland right on our doorstep here at Spokes Education. Deer, muntjacs, bats, rabbits, badgers and foxes are all regular visitors, but the animals we see most often are squirrels.

It's fitting really, since our office sits on Squirrel Lane! It's not unusual to spot a furry face peering in through the window, checking up on what we're working on (and giving Molly something to bark at).

Fun fact: Duston, Northampton (where we're based) is famous for its rare white albino squirrels. If you ever visit us, keep your eyes peeled. You might just be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one.

The Child Protection Minimum Standards (CPMS) Working Group supports the participatory development of sector-wide standards for child protection in humanitarian action, promoting their use and capturing lessons learned to continually improve them.

The CPMS is managed by The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action, a global network of 320 organisations that includes several clients we've had the privilege of working with, including UNHCR, UNICEF, Save the Children, IOM, Plan International and many others.

We've developed free-to-access e-learning modules for many of the 28 CPMS standards across various languages, and we're delighted to have started work on two more:

• Standard 11: Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups (CAAFAG)
• Standard 13: Unaccompanied and Separated Children

We're proud to continue supporting this vital work and look forward to sharing more as these modules take shape.

One of the more interesting challenges in digital learning is how to translate something practical into an online format.

We worked with Danone (Nutricia) to develop training for healthcare professionals using the Flocare Infinity enteral feeding pump. Historically, this had always been delivered face-to-face, with the device in front of the learner.

To design something that felt as close to that experience as possible, we worked directly with the pump ourselves. We were given access to the device so we could test it, press the buttons, see what happened, and work through the same processes a learner would.

From there, we built a simulation using high-quality photography and interactive elements. Each screen was carefully constructed to reflect the real device, allowing learners to explore the interface, understand its functions, and practise key tasks in a safe and controlled way.

The result was a digital course that retained the practical feel of the original training, while making it easier for hospitals across the country to access consistent, flexible learning.

You can read more about this project, and others we’ve worked on, in the portfolio on our newly redesigned website: www.spokeseducation.com/danone-flocare

A lot of the work we do starts with the challenge of taking something that works well in a classroom and making it work just as well online. Our clients will often send us content from a face-to-face course that already has a strong track record; the aim isn’t to replace it, but to carry that same impact into a self-paced format.

When we look at it through a learning design lens, we’re not just asking how to rebuild it in Rise or Storyline; we’re asking whether it will still work when the learner is on their own. That’s where the interesting work begins.

Working across learning design, creative, and development, we explore questions like:

• What changes when a learner is working through this on their own?
• What opportunities does digital learning give us here that we don’t have in person?
• Is this something we should recreate, adapt, or redesign entirely?

From there, we can suggest practical ways to adapt or rethink the content so it still delivers what it’s meant to, just in a self-paced format.

We’ve shared more of that thinking here:
https://www.spokeseducation.com/post/how-to-design-learning-that-works-without-a-facilitator

One of the most useful questions to ask when designing digital learning is where learners are most likely to go wrong. In a classroom, you can often spot misunderstandings as they happen and respond, but in a self-paced course, that moment is gone.

This is particularly important when content is being adapted from face-to-face delivery. What would have been picked up and corrected in the room now needs to be anticipated in advance.
A useful way to approach this is to pause and ask:

• Where do learners typically misinterpret this idea?
• What am I assuming they already think or know?
• Which parts usually require extra explanation in a live session?
• Where might someone lose confidence or get stuck?

You won’t always catch everything, but identifying the most common sticking points early usually leads to clearer, more supportive content.

We’ve explored this further on our blog:
https://www.spokeseducation.com/post/how-to-design-learning-that-works-without-a-facilitator

As part of Nature Discovery Week, Hazel one of our Digital Learning Technologist's stepped away from their desks and spent a day volunteering at Cody Dock.

They braced the sunshine to support the restoration of one of London's last remaining Victorian brick-lined docks, learning traditional brickwork techniques while helping preserve an important piece of local heritage. While they were replacing old lime & mortar they learnt about what Cody Dock's goals are around restoring a space where people, wildlife and communities can thrive together.

A huge thank you to the incredible Cody Dock team for sharing their expertise and passion. Their work is transforming this industrial site into a vibrant community hub and an oasis for urban biodiversity, proving that even small actions can make a lasting impact.

Here's to celebrating Nature Discovery Week by connecting with nature, supporting local communities, and continuing to inspire the next generation to care for the world around them.