Today's emerging technologies are enhancing human cognitive, affective,
and social capabilities at an astonishing rate. Nowhere is this
more evident than in the e-learning arena. Recent advances in
e-learning (which I loosely define as computer-supported collaborative
learning and experiential simulation) now enable guided, inquiry-based
education to overcome barriers of time and distance.
Consisting of a mixture of instructional media used by both learners
and educators, e-learning can generally be divided into two categories:
synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous, or live, learning means
that communication occurs simultaneously between individuals and
information may be accessed instantly. Examples of synchronous
learning include real-time chats and video or audio conferencing.
Asynchronous learning does not occur simultaneously, and is thus
often referred to as self-paced learning. Some examples of asynchronous
learning include taking a self-paced course, exchanging e-mail
messages with a mentor, and posting messages to a discussion group
about a course topic.
Although technology has advanced greatly in the field of e-learning,
designing and developing robust, effective e-learning projects
is still not easy. It probably never will be, either. Many tasks,
roles, and tools are required to complete the process successfully.
This article identifies the fundamental strategies I consider
critical to success. Although the focus here is on designing and
developing asynchronous learning (and sometimes, specifically,
self-paced e-learning courses), the strategies I discuss apply
to a variety of application design and development situations.
Educate the client about the fundamentals of e-learning
Regardless of a client's level of e-learning awareness or sophistication,
I find it necessary to start with some amount of educating about
e-learning itself. Sometimes the initial focus of the process
is just on terminology so that everyone is using the same definitions
for the same terms. In this industry, terminology varies widely—even
among experienced professionals.
You may have to help your client understand more about the e-learning
industry, too. Over the years I have experienced all manner of
client sophistication—or professed sophistication. It is
essential to educate your client on roles, processes, tools, options,
costs, feasibility, and consequences to ensure that all parties
are operating with similar assumptions and guidelines. You and
your client should approach the endeavor as a partnership. Assist
your client in realizing what an integral part they are to the
process. Build trust by providing them with sensible, honest expertise.
Don't be afraid, however, to exert control and don't be afraid
to say no. It's your responsibility to set and control the client's
expectations appropriately.
Determine the actual training need or gap, not the perceived
one
The "T" in CBT and WBT stands for, well, training. First
determine what problem your client is trying to solve and then
figure out whether training solves that problem. If training is
not the solution to the problem, then you are guaranteed to fail.
To determine the actual deficiency your client is experiencing,
work closely with them to perform a thorough analysis of the business
or work environment. Begin your analysis with what your client
thinks is wrong, then dig deeper, utilizing your previous experiences,
education, and intuition. There are a variety of resources that
can assist you and your client during this analysis.
Define your process and communicate it, focusing on key review
points in the cycle
Designing and developing e-learning often results from a complicated
interaction of ideas, tools, roles, people, technology, and desired
outcomes. You and your client want predictable results. A well-defined,
reliable process is a necessity—whatever form it takes.
Your process document should specify whatever activities are supposed
to occur and when they will occur—as well as specifically
detail your client's responsibilities, including input and review
cycles. Specify the "impacts": What happens if your
client doesn't deliver the various inputs or doesn't perform review
cycles properly—how will such failure affect your process
and schedule?
Identify key project personnel and define and communicate
their roles
Now that a process has been agreed upon, and you and your client
have determined what will happen and when it will happen, you
need to know who will be doing the "whats." Roles may
include buyer, acceptor, reviewer, program lead, project lead,
subject matter expert, instructional designer, web developer,
graphic artist, animator, audio/video developer, and so forth.
Regardless of the size of your company or project, roles must
be identified and filled. Perhaps some individuals will wear multiple
hats, but someone has to fill all the necessary roles.
One essential tip is never to mistake an acceptor for a buyer,
or a reviewer for an acceptor. The personal who "signs the
check" is often not the person who oversees the day-to-day
details of the project. On the other hand, the person who reviews
a particular module or lesson probably shouldn't have carte blanch,
as he or she may not be aware of the big picture. Establish at
the beginning of the project who signs off on what items. Also,
it's best for all concerned if you have only one person to perform
"acceptance." Acceptance by committee is all too often
slow, painful, and expensive.
Perform a comprehensive, realistic analysis regarding the
technical needs and specifications of the project
Examine your client's technical infrastructure. Will the training
be delivered only over their intranet? Or will delivery occur
by dial-up, network, hard drive, or CD? How many users will there
be? How media-rich will the training be? What kind of transfer
rates can be expected? For example, if half the audience uses
dial-up 56K modems, then a 100 MB, full-screen, full-motion digital-video
training "kick-off" is probably not the best solution.
Other technical factors to consider include browser types (Internet
Explorer, Netscape, AOL, and so forth.), browser versions, plug-ins,
level of tracking, what system will be used to track it, and whether
data needs to tie in with an existing system.
Analyze the e-learning content thoroughly
After exploring your options, pin down the specific instructional
treatments you plan to use. What level of interactivity are you
aiming for? Are you expected to address various learning styles?
What general approaches will the training take: page-turner, discovery
learning, gaming, or task-based procedural (to name a few)?
Set realistic goals for the program. Perhaps you don't have the
budget of Steven Spielberg; maybe your team is small and just
getting started. Whatever your financial situation, strive to
make interactions meaningful, engaging, and relevant. If the purpose
of the e-learning is to teach a procedural task, the activities
in the e-learning program should mimic (and reward) performing
the desired end behavior. Clicking the Next button to continue
the lesson is not considered meaningful interactivity. An individual's
motivation must be extremely high to sit through a bland, lifeless
"page turner" kind of lesson. Creating engaging e-learning
is hard work. Align the learning objectives with instructional
themes, rehearsals, evaluations, and remediations (what the program
does to help a learner who is having trouble with concepts or
to correct mistakes made during the learning activity).
Be specific about your actual deliverables
If you don't specifically define your deliverables, how else will
you know when you're done? Be sure you understand what your client
expects to receive. In addition to determining what exactly the
deliverables are, you need to answer—specifically, during
the analysis and design phases—a variety of questions regarding
the project's scope:
- How much content is there?
- How much research and instructional design is required?
- What is the course structure?
- How many types and amounts of interactions?
- How many types and amounts of media?
- How many types and amounts of rehearsals?
- How many types and amounts of evaluations?
Also keep in mind the collateral materials: job aids, administrator's
guide, user's guide, CDs, cover art, and so forth. Be specific
about what's to be delivered, who is going to do it, and how costs
(such as duplication) will be allocated.
Acquire an intimate knowledge of your development tools
Obtain or develop experts in these key areas:
- Project management
- Instructional design
- Graphic design
- E-learning authoring tools
- Web infrastructure
- Audio/video
All of these areas are critical to the success of your project.
If your team cannot adequately cover all areas, consider contracting
with third parties who can both perform the required work and
teach your team how to perform the work. Always look for opportunities
to help your team become self-sufficient.
Consider the importance of interface design and web optimization
Employing or contracting a graphic designer to create an effective
interface, complete with custom buttons and eye-pleasing color
schemes, is worth the expense. First impressions are critical
to your learners. Furthermore, the e-learning product you are
producing reflects the company and organization it is supporting.
It's a shame to see programs with wonderful instructional design
fail to engage learners because a small portion (5–10 percent)
of the budget wasn’t allocated for a professional graphic
artist. A graphic or web designer can help in other critical areas,
too, such as the use of web-safe palettes; the appropriate file
formats for graphics, audio, animation, and video; file-naming
conventions; and directory structures.
Test your application early and often, from both a user and
technical perspective
Don't wait until two days before the anticipated completion date
to test your application in the actual environment in which it
will ultimately be used. I cannot overemphasize the importance
of testing your application early. Hopefully during the technical
analysis phase, course components and requirements were designed
to be compatible with the delivery environment. Even if the delivery
environment was adequately explored in the development phase,
testing should be conducted early and often to ensure operability
and minimize unpleasant surprises.
Also, from a human factors engineering (usability) standpoint,
don't forget to test your application with actual learners. If
it turns out that half your testers have great difficulty navigating
the application, then your design needs to be changed. Don't wait
until you are out of time and money to find out if you have a
flawed design. Test prototype versions of your program that contain
key sample interactions, interfaces, and navigation schemes with
actual learners—again, early and often.
In summary, creating an e-learning project is complicated. You'll
have most, if not all, of the following areas to contend with:
instructional design, project management, interface design, web
design, Authorware, Fireworks, Director, Dreamweaver, Macromedia
Flash, Toolbook, LearningSpace, 2D animation, 3D animation, Internet,
intranet, extranet, HTML, DHTML, Perl, JavaScript, audio, video,
RealMedia, Shockwave, browsers, CMI, and databases, to name just
a few—and, oh yes...changing learners' behaviors, delivering
client satisfaction, and achieving profitability or a return on
investment.
Whether you have a large or small team, or whether you are corporate
or academic, keep these strategies for success in mind to find
a scalable, repeatable process that works for you. |
