Enhancing learner engagement to increase behavior changes and decrease skills gaps.

Buying Your First Home: Planning Your Finances

Tools Used in Development: Vyond, Canva, Articulate Storyline, Google Suite, Adobe Suite

Time in Development: About four months

Client: Ivy Waterman, DFW real estate agent

Executive Summary: This course addresses the need to educate the public early about the financial process involved in purchasing a home.  Existing courses target buyers who are 30-90 days away from making a purchase. This is too late. Research shows home purchases in the United States are declining, mostly because finances aren't in order.  If prospective buyers could begin to develop the skills for saving and financial planning, first home purchases would rise. This brings referrals and repeat business to real estate agents.

Challenge: Courses about purchasing homes are very text-heavy, and in-depth content isn't explained well.  There are no engaging elements, no participant takeaways, or checks for understanding. In addition, the content is scattered without a defined sequential path. 

Solution: I developed a first-time homebuyer course with interactive eLearning and video elements, using Storyline, Canva, and Vyond. Modules can be done individually, as microlearning courses, or together as an entire course. Before diving into the financial planning concepts, participants rank their comfort level to self-evaluate their starting point. Each micro-module is a scenario, guiding participants through real-life situations they can relate to. At the end of each module, they have the opportunity to complete the corresponding activities in their handbook. The final module guides participants from beginning to end, so learners can review their work. In the end, participants rank their comfort level to self-evaluate their improvement.

Results: The First-Time Homebuyer Course has increased positive budgeting practices, in turn,  increasing prospective buyers and referrals for my client.