How Implementing E-Learning Templates Enabled Us To Produce More With Less Elsa Glassman & Peter Heald, Sandia National Laboratories
I was able to sit in today on this online forum and here are some of the notes taken during the session.
Challenges when developing courses:
- better design into templates
- one template doesn’t always fit every course
- developing them
- creating quality scenarios
- length of modules
- speed up the development process
- increase production of course
- maintain quality
- reduce costs
- provide consistency
- decrease time to produce
What is a template?
- framework for content
- build once & reuse many
- standards
- standard look & fee
- pattern used as a guide
- separates form from content
- frame into which you place content
- structure for specific tasks
- area for holding, sharing and updating information
Perceptions of Templates vs. Reality
**participants polled: disagree that they are boring, agree courses will look the same, neutral on rigidity, agree only certain types of content work
rigid: as flexible as it is designed to be
only for certain types of content: content needs to just fit the format of the template
boring learning: templates can incorporate variety of different elements (flash, captivate, etc)
all look the same: you can change colours, fonts, etc. but the location, format is the only part the same
Pros vs. Cons
- time and effort are max., but not easy customized to different content or applications
- tight integration removes guess work, but takes time to change processes due to interdependencies
- can be very flexible, but increases complexity and decreases benefits
- content goes quickly into templates, but content must be designed for templates
Why use them?
- product design: customer can have a clear idea of what they will get beforehand
- project roles & tasks: predetermines what the roles & tasks will be
- cognitive load & usability: learner knows how to navigate and use course due to consistent look and feel
- data collection: consistent data across all courses
Template type & Goal
MULTIMEDIA DEVELOPER TEMPLATES – minimize time and effort spent on creating courses
COMMUNICATION TEMPLATES – ensure critical information is communicated
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN TEMPLATES – provide framework for designing content for use in templates
COURSE CREATION SOFTWARE – ensure a consistent development & delivery process
FEEDBACK TEMPLATES – facilitate data analysis and summary
How-to guides were created: – one for instructional designers, one for multimedia developers **available to participants after presentation
Decision Aids (COLT site)
– ie is your content appropriate for online training or classroom training
– pre-made activities (multiple choice, pick and drag, definitions)
After templates
courses took 6 months now only 3 months
2-4 courses a year, now 15-20 courses per year
programmer took several hours to produce a report, now anyone can generate a report in seconds
programming took 180 hours per courses, now takes 60 hours per (typical) course
course cost for program owner $30K-$50K, now $3K – $15k
Advice when creating your own templates
- document your process
- take your time, don’t try to standardize the whole process all at once or a full template library
- keep it simple – if the template requires training to use, it’s not simple enough
- expect changes – you’ll have mistakes and successes, learn from both
- be flexible – allow for variance
- collect pre & post template data to show impact
- there are no guarantees – standardizing does NOT ensure effective content; templates do not ensure good design
Template resources
http://www.horton.com/html.elformsword.aspx
Ray Jimenez – 3-minute eLearning: Rapid Learning and Applications, Amazingly Lower Cost and Faster Speed of Development: Demos, Examples, Template, & Video Vignettes
Patti Shank – The Online Learning Idea Book: 95 Proven Ways to Enhance Technology-Based and Blended Learning.