In the last article an overview was provided of the factors to consider for choosing off the shelf eLearning courseware. However, there may be circumstances where only a custom built course will achieve your company specific training objectives.

Preparing for custom eLearning Development

One of the most important aspects in the planning stages of eLearning development is to ensure that there is a clear plan and goals. Without a set strategy for eLearning development, your program may fail.

While there is no cookie-cutter strategy for achieving eLearning goals, the first aspect to consider is your eLearning development methodology, which includes the following key factors.

• Learning goals and objectives.
• Target audience
• The information (topics) to be delivered
• The expected outcomes for the eLearning courses
• The budget
• The number of courses to be developed
• A timeframe for implementation
• Storyboards and templates
• Technologies that will be required for eLearning development
• How employees will access the courses
• Scope of sophistication for delivery- Will your courses be interactive and include animations, audio, video, and/or simulations?
• The data and tracking required for tests and assessments

eLearning Development Design

Designing an eLearning course is more complex than designing a web page, and should be approached in a structured manner.

A framework that can help decide which learning tool to use in order to deliver and present the content in the right manner is the first step towards custom eLearning development. The Instructional Design Process provides this framework.

Analysis Phase

• Project plan
• Needs assessment
• Audience analysis
• Content analysis
• Technical analysis and media tool authoring selection
• Structure and organization of content

Design Phase

• Learning objectives
• Designing the lessons
• Evaluation design
• Media treatments

Development Phase

• Authoring and integration of media elements
• Electronic prototypes testing
• Courseware ready for implementation

Implementation Phase

• Distribution
• Reporting and tracking
• Maintenance

Evaluation Phase

• Recommendations and learning effectiveness evaluations

When designing an eLearning course, you must always keep the target audience in mind.

One of the most important aspects in eLearning development and design is interactivity. A well-developed and designed eLearning course will keep the end user engaged and entertained. Providing informative text and content isn't enough if you aren't able to get the learner's attention. Keep in mind that interactivity comes with a price – animations, video, software simulations, and more are needed to create interactivity. This will require specific development expertise, and take more time and effort to integrate these elements.

Another important aspect in eLearning development and design is structure. Your course must be structured so that your end user can easily find their place in a course and get to the next page. An important aspect of structure is navigation. eLearning development must involve clear navigation that is consistent and easy to see, yet not intrusive. Your user must be able to advance to the next page when appropriate, go back if necessary, find a help menu if any problems arise, and understand where each page fits in the course. The layout should be clear and consistent with easily readable text and high quality graphics. If your end user is confused about where to go next, he or she may not be able to complete the course or retain the information.

Another important point to consider in eLearning development and design is branding. Without logos and branding, your course will look generic and may not be perceived to represent company standards. When appropriate, display your company logo on course pages in a subtle, yet visible manner.

The next step to consider is whether to develop the courseware in house, or work with a custom development partner.

In-House eLearning Development

When considering in house development, you must assess whether you have all of the resources necessary to accomplish the task at hand.  The first step is to make sure that you have the expertise within your organization to accomplish the tasks needed to create a successful eLearning program.

The following skills will be required:

Project Manager(s) – Project managers manage the work and communication that will take place within your development team. Without skilled project managers to delegate tasks and coordinate project schedules, your program can become confusing and conflict between employees can arise.

Subject Matter Experts – Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) will ensure your eLearning content is accurate and provide or validate the information covered in course topics.

Instructional Designers – eLearning development first begins with Instructional Designers who map the course into an organized and consistent structure and format. Instructional Designers must have the skills to communicate effectively with SMEs, technical programmers, and graphic designers in order to determine how to arrange and display course content.

Graphic Designers – The essential part in developing an eye catching and appealing eLearning course are skilled graphic designers. The eLearning development process for graphic designers can involve not only creation of images, but also animations, photography, and video.

Writer – eLearning development must include a skilled writer who can work well with the SME. The writer must be able to convey the SME's knowledge in an articulate and easy to understand manner.

In addition to the above staff members, your organization may want to consider also having a quality assurance expert on staff that can ensure the course is sound in design and technical aspects. Some organizations have their project manager take on the task of quality assurance in addition to their other duties.

Working with eLearning Development providers

Now that you know what key players and skills are involved in eLearning development, you can determine whether you have the appropriate expertise to get started.  You may find that you will need to hire additional staff members or train existing staff.

If your organization doesn't have the staff, the skills, or the time to dedicate to creating an effective eLearning course, you may want to consider outsourcing your eLearning development.

Outsourcing, or hiring someone outside your organization to help in eLearning development, is often a sensible solution.

Outsourcing eLearning development can provide the following benefits:

• eLearning development providers have their own facilities, equipment, and software to aid in the development process.
• eLearning development providers have an established team of development expertise who know what it takes to create engaging and effective content.
• eLearning development can be completed in a shorter timeframe by a team dedicated to custom development.
• Organizations that choose not to outsource eLearning development often have to hire, train, and manage new employees to help in the development of content, which may result in high costs.

Now that you know the pros of outsourcing eLearning development, you must decide if this is the right solution for your organization. If the resources to develop and host content are already available within your organization, then in-house development could be the right solution for you. Another option is for a supplier to assist with specific roles, such as project management and instructional design.  If these resources are not available, you will need to research custom eLearning development providers, to determine what vendor best meets your company's needs.

Whether you work with an external provider to develop custom content or purchase off the shelf courseware, keep in mind that a good supplier can be a useful business partner in building your business case for implementing eLearning.

For more details and eLearning research, please visit our eLearning resources page which is located on our website at www.lexingtoninteractive.com/aboutelearning.asp

If you have any questions or eLearning success (or horror) stories you would like to share, please feel free to email robertduprey@lexingtoninteractive.com