E-Learning by Design, Not by Default: An Overview for Setting your e-Learning Strategy – Clark Quinn, Ph.D. Quinnovation (blog)
Today the eLearning Guild began hosting another set of online forums. The opening session was by Clark Quinn of Quinnovation. I enjoy making notes in this “live blogging” manner so that I can refer back to them and I can share them a bit as a review of the presentations.
Clark’s presentation was a great start to September’s series of online forums. It was an extremely informative session for all levels of users of elearning design and development. He was wonderful at making sure all attendees’ questions were addressed. I look forward to catching any presentations he may give in the future.
“We can no longer just learn everything we need at the beginning and hope that it will carry us through the rest of our career lives.”
Problems group was facing with elearning:
multilinquistists
distance
resources
time
money
changing regulations
more simulations
competing with small organizations
internationalization
workers coming in with less skills then desired
retiring expertise
motivating learners
growing number of students
access for all learners
Is eLearning a solution or a distraction?
easy to try, but never the be all and end all of every thing
What do participants think eLearning is?
self paced, online
blogs, wikis, rss, courses, websites,
integration of technology into the learning/training process
web based
delivered over the internet/intranet
split between any learning over an electronic means and specifically training/course based
Elearning Myths
is a panacea
will go away soon
is about the technology
is about content
will replace training
is difficult and/or expensive (not with web 2.0 applications)
cheaper (no, used to sell it, but not cheaper – goal is to execute better for the same money)
only for the new generation (no)
if you build it, they will come
if you build it, they will learn (must lead to meaningful change and learning that works, is applied)
“It’s not about learning it’s about doing. Doing things better and more effectively.”
Empowering the organization through information systems.
Trying to achieve:
Integration. Innovation. Execution. Efficiency. Effectiveness. Performance Support. Community.
Strategy:
Step 0:
Tech – hosted or web based conferences
Benefits – broad reach, low downtime, single investment into system
Costs – you tend to get low quality, increased maintenance
Step 1: Improved Instructional Design
Tech – LMS – for tracking, are we getting the ROI we expect (LMS tend to have all the money put into system and non left for content)
Benefits – getting learning that will motivate and involve learners
Costs – improve capabilities, gets over used, is very novice based
Step 2: Performance focus
Tech – portals of resources (policies, procedures, other info)
Benefits – better performance, supports more then novices
Costs – redundant development, hard to search/use (many different ways to search for info by all users)
Step 3: eCommunity
Tech – blogs, wikis, discussion boards, yellow pages
Benefits- supports top performers, captures hidden knowledge (experts can talk, share new knowledge, brainstorm, one level of education supports another)
Costs – needs support, hard to catalyze
Step 4: Greater integration
Tech – CMS (material from others), xml/dita (semantics and tags added to info)
Benefits – decrease overlap, efficiency, silos eliminated between user groups
Costs – organization tends to become coordinated
Step 5: Broader Distribution can be supported by step 4 – making learning mobile
Tech – devices (mobile, cell phones, pdas, etc), media tools
Benefits – trading bandwidth for convenience, listen while driving, learn while waiting, don’t need large amounts of paper to take learning with you, Context sensitive – ie: fedex scanning a pkg before handing over,
Cost – redundancy can occur (low bandwidth, higher bandwidth), conversion costs for media
“if you’re not measuring it, why use it” don’t assume it’s perfect from the beginning
Step 6: Performance Ecosystems – Suites of resources so that everyone can work to their best, single place to go for what you need
Tech – competency, content (description), roles (who you are and what you can have access to, or tasks you might handle)
Benefits – unified approach to everyone’s efforts
Costs – linking systems throughout and organization as well as the organization
Words people were wondering definitions for:
web 2.0
SMS
ERP
LMS – learning management systems
CMS – content management systems
ILT – Instructor Based Training
WBT – Web based training
CBT – Classroom based training
Participants were 53% at level 0 and 30% level 1, a couple at level 2, 3 and 5
Essential eLearning Elements
-organizational implementation
-some project management to focus, keep scope, find resources, keep schedule
-enlightened Instructional Design
–performance focus (think of supporting full performance not just course content)
-flexibility (adapt to users, new technology)
-technology savvy (know what it is good for, get what you need but don’t go overboard)
-good partners/advice (find people who can support your efforts)
Learning
1) present….apply…practice…reflect…present…appy…practice…reflect
2) reference framework…examples…space practice…job aids…communicaiton…reference framework…examples…space practice…job aid….communication
-spacing practice out will promote retention and understanding of material
-reference examples can become job aids that learners can take to the real application
-included self reflection tests for learners to decided if they are ready to move on
“You’re not about training/learning, you’re abut empowering performance.”
“You’re not about computers or web, you’re about all technology.”
Next steps:
–identify your needs as an ID and organization
-assess your readiness
–recruit needed capability
-scan for opportunities
-choose your priorities
-plan your implementation
–execute