Business owners, managers and executives new to the eLearning field sometimes find it hard to grasp industry concepts and terms. Though most of the times they’re not going to be developing the courses themselves, they need to fully understand industry terminology. But beyond just a definition, professionals should also not miss out on the business benefits new words bring. It's their deep knowledge of the industry that will get them the results they wanted. And it all starts with technical concepts and terms.

Any professional eLearning designer would agree that users are always at the heart of what they do. The bulk of our articles last year focused on users. But what about designers themselves? Who are they? What impressive feats do they perform? What skills do they possess? How crucial is their role in developing educational materials for a new generation of learners? Let’s not forget about these oft-overlooked professionals who help make eLearning possible, personal, effective and immediately applicable.

New to eLearning course development? Never built a course before? You don’t have any formal background in designing educational materials and interfaces? Making something useful and effective can be a little bit daunting especially for first-timers. But don’t worry. Here are some indispensable reads to the basics of creating winning eLearning courses.

The Year of Responsive Design Responsive design is more than just a passing trend. The concept was introduced a few years ago but prevailed as one of this year’s top design issues. Everyone, from web designers to marketers, began to see the value of adopting the design principle.

Whether you are just getting started with eLearning and looking to get a better understanding of eLearning best practices, or you've been creating courses for a while and are trying to find ways of making your material more effective, considering the basics of eLearning is key.

Effective learning doesn’t require expensive technology and elaborated training sessions. It doesn't even demand the impossible from you, the course developer. But it does call for a change in mindset.

Emotions play a pivotal role in learning, too, and eLearning courses should reflect our natural tendency to rely upon our emotions as we learn, grow and discover. Four inspiring leaders provide excellent examples of how to incorporate more emotional content into eLearning courses throughout the year.

The best marketers know their audience—what their needs and wants are, what problems they have to solve. The best teachers empathize with students, the best doctors with patients, and so on. But you get the point. Professionals who do their best work don’t contemplate their navels.