Posts tagged: Elearning

Just to be clear, we aren’t saying all off-the-shelf learning management systems are bad. Not at all! What we are saying from 20 years of experience is this.

• When a company with a sizable training program chooses off-the-shelf LMS software that does not meet its technical requirements and match its learning management needs, the shortcomings quickly surface.
• Some of the biggest names in the LMS market have the biggest lemons, but a convincing sales team.
• When a company just basically needs to track training, a full off-the-shelf Learning Management System can be overkill… an overpriced solution to a simple need.

• A good eLearning script writer tries to think like someone in the target audience.
  • “What do I know?” Telling the audience things they already know can cause individuals to tune out or even insult their intelligence. However, skipping over information could leave the more novice members of the audience confused. You have to walk a fine line to bridge the gap.
  • “What’s in it for me?” To engage the audience, early on your script should establish that this eLearning is not only relevant, but also beneficial.
• When writing eLearning scripts, clarity is king. A good rule of thumb is to write at the reading level of your audience, but don’t make things complex just because your audience can handle it.
• Sometimes writers steer away from using a conversational tone because the client wants to present a professional image. They equate “professional” with formal and traditional tones, but that doesn’t have to be the case. A conversational tone can be quite effective for most training audiences.

This mistake may seem obvious, but clients often approve the project content and then decide to make changes to it later. Doing so can create issues because once the client reviews the storyboard and approves the content, development begins. Any change to content during media development could result in costly rework, such as redoing an entire video shoot. Other things can be impacted, too, such as the:

• Course outline
• Storyboard
• Visual assets
• Narrative audio track
• Animation work
• Test questions

Content changes can also impact decisions regarding the:

• Delivery method
• Program length
• Choice of professional voice talent
• And more

The development team supplies mock-ups of key screens and voice over samples for review.

If the eLearning in development is a new product and not part of an existing set of courses, there may be a third deliverable at this point. The team may provide a sample shell eLearning course for review and testing.

This initial meeting will cover several things:

• Team introductions
• Target audience
• Identification of key influencers and approvers for the project
• Overall project goals
• Plan for tracking development progress
• Other means of communication
• Target platforms and devices
• Schedule of content review meetings
• Project limits such as:
  • Total desired length of eLearning
  • Financial limitations
  • Final deadline
  • Dangers to scope

Often those creating the training are far more invested in the content than the target audience.

During the team introductions, it is vital to establish the Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for various parts of the project. Also, never underestimate the value of a good discussion about the target audience. To be successful, you must figure out how to make the training valuable to the target audience. Understanding the target audience drives the eLearning content more than any other factor.

It’s vital to establish the key influencers and approvers for the project. A common mistake clients make is waiting until AFTER the first version of the eLearning is created to get the key approvers involved. This tactic is tempting because this phase of development is  easiest to review and takes the least amount of time or communication. Nonetheless, it is VITAL that anyone who can stop approval of the project be involved in every approval step if at all possible. Otherwise, a key approver can introduce changes to scope at a point when there may not be adequate time or budget to implement those changes.

It is worth noting that a full schedule is usually not established at this point because the content needs to be reviewed before an accurate schedule can be developed. Often clients WANT a full schedule at this meeting, but it is like trying to build a detailed schedule for building a house when a rough blueprint has not even been created yet. At this point, you may be able to estimate general phases, but any attempts at a detailed schedule are really educated guesswork. Instead, put together a plan for when a full schedule can be established and schedule the content review meetings. While the best time to finalize a full detailed schedule is after the outline is fully created and approved, the development team can often publish a draft detailed schedule before this, modifying it after the outline is approved.

The meeting should also cover a list of things that could increase the scope of the project, especially since these are often these are not obvious to the client or even the development team. (We will cover a list of potential scope dangers in another post.)

In other articles, we have made the case that understanding your audience is the most important step in any eLearning development process. Your audience impacts your eLearning scope. Therefore, it makes sense that the initial questions you consider should be about your audience rather than your content.