This eLearning White Paper has an overview of the steps
involved in the development of an eLearning program. It is intended as a guide
to avoiding common pitfalls that frequently occur over the development of a new
eLearning program. Depending on the scope of this course some steps may
certainly not apply.
1. DEFINE THE SCOPE ON THE ELEARNING COURSE
This may seem like a logical starting point for and most
companies do start at this time. Unfortunately, most companies do not document
the course scope and since the course grows so can the scope. Considering that
this is the first time that you have developed an eLearning course, combined
with the fact you happen to be working with a new vendor my recommendation
could well be that you limit the scope from the project. Keep it simple and
invite for expansion once the first version from the course is deployed.
Generally the 2nd version of the course will require additional functionality
based on end user's input and feedback. You'll most likely need to add content
based on feedback.
2. DEFINE BUSINESS CASE/ DESIRE FOR THE ELEARNING COURSE
Once again ensure that this is done right up front. Having a
clear and defined business case/need for your project will be important during
all phases from the project. Having a document you can reference (and point
naysayers to) will probably be invaluable to you. You could also use the ideas
that you developed for your business case in your deployment letter to
strengthen the value of the course for the target audience.
3. IDENTIFY BUSINESS SPONSORS/CHAMPIONS TO THE ELEARNING
COURSE
This is not only an astute political move, but business
sponsors are likewise an excellent financial and political resource over the
development, testing and deployment phases from the project. Try to get
business sponsors from diverse functional areas as there probably will be cross
organizational interactions that may be smoothed out by having the right mix of
business sponsors fully briefed.
4. IDENTIFY AND RECRUIT TEAM MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
ELEARNING TRAINING DEVELOPMENT
Before describing any of the details for this step I want to
make it clear that it is essential to identify and assign project leader/s for
your project. Who will be the principle contact between the eLearning vendor
and your company? Who needs to possibly be copied in on emails? Who's going to
be ultimately responsible for making one more decisions? I would recommend
assigning one team leader. It is great to have technical people within your
organization which will help your eLearning vendor with technical questions
which they may have regarding your application and hardware standards. However,
ultimately the team leader in consultation with the group experts needs to make
one more decision. If you don't have a new central contact/team leader your
eLearning vendor can become confused about who they should contact with
questions they may have.
5. IDENTIFY AND CHOOSE YOUR ELEARNING VENDOR TO THE
ELEARNING COURSE DEVELOPMENT
Although this document describes this as one step, it is the
simple truth is a rather involved procedure. Please read CMC's white-colored
paper entitled "Selecting a great eLearning vendor: A guide to making the
best decision" for a detailed presentation of the vendor selection process
inside the eLearning industry.
6. DEVELOP THE ELEARNING COURSE
This step generally involves numerous interactions between
your customer and the eLearning vendor. The process should not be dictated from
the eLearning vendor, but rather you have to be actively involved during the
actual development process. The critical factor to take into account during the
vendor selection process is if the vendor is flexible enough to fulfill your
eLearning needs. Most often the development process requires regular
interaction between your client and the eLearning vendor. This is an important
consideration just before beginning an eLearning course as in many instances
the team leader and members will have to dedicate a significant period during
all phases on the course development.
7. TEST THE ELEARNING COURSE ALONG THE VARIOUS DEPLOYMENT
SITES
Prior to deploying the course you must do extensive Beta
testing. With respect to the media/program/platform that is used by deployment
your testing needs will change. The main thing to note with Beta testing or
prototype testing through the development process is you'll want to replicate
the final deployment conditions of this target audience as closely as is
possible. This relates to issues including rights management,
firewalls/security, and access to the internet, software configuration, server
bandwidths and so forth.
8. DEPLOY THE ELEARNING STUDY COURSE
Prior to deployment, you need to send out a deployment
letter for a target audience describing the actual course and what the actual
minimum technological requirements tend to be, the location of help files and
the main contact person/s regarding specific issues or suggestions. If the
deployment letter just isn't very specific you will get feedback from users
that may easily have been averted. For example, if people don't recognize that
the disc that they received is a DVD rather than CD they may make an effort to
play the DVD on their laptop which only features a CD drive.
9. CHECK IN TO ENSURE ADEQUATE TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR THE
ELEARNING STUDY COURSE
After deployment, follow up in order that users are getting
the tech support team that they require. You might be an LMS for deployment you
can follow up to observe how many people have documented and completed the
course after which it compare these figures with how many technical issues that
you're facing. Generally, you will have to provide technical support to 5-15%
of these end users based on the complexity of the course and the deployment
arena.
10. KNOW WHAT ADDITIONAL CONTENT CAN BE PUT INTO NEW
VERSIONS OF THE ACTUAL ELEARNING COURSE
Once your course has been around the field for 2 months get
some feedback through your user community to see if you find a need to add or
correct any content material. If your course is successful you will most likely
get content suggestions really early after deployment. Although suggestions and
changes are great because they will most likely strengthen the course as well
as broaden your audience's information base, it is vital that you create,
maintain and update a thorough change control system. You have to track such
data seeing that content changes, graphic design changes, course numbers, study
course descriptions, scripting and functional changes.
