Lessons Learned from the Development of a Prenatal Nutrition Online Training for EFNEP Paraprofessional Nutrition Educators

Abstract

ObjectiveTo share lessons learned from the development of a national online training for nutrition educators from the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) designed to prepare them to teach the prenatal lesson “Eating Smart and Being Active During Pregnancy” and to increase their self‐efficacy in teaching prenatal nutrition.MethodsSystematic development of a video based online training using Smith and Ragan's instructional design model, storyboards, scripts, Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, and theoretical constructs that impact self‐efficacy.Summary of results obtainedA four hour video‐based online training was developed that included 41 short clips depicting a paraprofessional nutrition educator teaching the Eating Smart and Being Active During Pregnancy lesson to low‐income pregnant women. Clips also presented explanations of the nutrition lesson's content, so trainees could address pregnant participants’ questions and misconceptions.Lessons learned during the development process included the following: 1) the use of storyboards and scripts helped improve communication about expectations between the nutrition professional designing the training and the filming/editing crew; 2) filming locations need to provide adequate space for all elements in a scene and the filming crew and equipment; 3) environmental noise and light can affect video quality; poor quality videos can distract trainees and make the editing process longer; 4) editing can become the most time consuming step in the development process when raw footage is of bad quality; 5) nutrition professionals designing training need to be actively involved in reviewing footage at the end of every filming day to make sure that the nutrition messages are conveyed appropriately; 6) the use of a memorandum of understanding with anyone involved in the development of the video‐based training helps to clarify timelines, specify responsibilities, and provide alternative courses of actions when initial design or editing plans do not work as expected. In this era of visual learning, our development process can be informative to nutrition educators, charged with developing video‐based nutrition education materials.ConclusionThe development of video‐based online trainings is time consuming. The use of research based theories should facilitate the decision making process, increasing the likelihood that the online training will be an effective learning tool.Support or Funding InformationColorado's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)