gpadmin

The cost of using eLearning

Sep 062010

I am contacted weekly by companies or individuals that are interested in having eLearning developed for their organisations. What many don’t understand is what it costs and what is required to create and deploy GOOD eLearning content.

Well I’m here to tell you that for every hour of good eLearning, it is going to take, at least, 50 hours of development.

Yup you heard me 50 hours. Add it up and you already have costs far greater than many companies are willing to invest. But that is what it is, an investment!

Option A: Consider having someone create some training for you, then travelling around providing to your teams. When done, what do you have? People who learned something, may have some take aways with it and not much else. Then as people leave and are hired in your organisation, who is continuing the training or maybe just throw the course notes at them and wish for the best. Not a particularly engaging way for people to learn, is it.

Option B: take the time to develop good online learning that engages, and teaches the learner the skills or knowledge they need to know, quiz them to check for understanding which helps to prove your investment. Learners can then go back and review at any time, from anywhere and new employees can also benefit from all the material, content, quizzes, etc that were built.

And it doesn’t matter where in the world those employees are, time zones or travel costs are not an issue.

Which option do you choose? A long term investment that will continue to enhance present and future employees or a quick fix. Far too many companies spend huge amounts on implementations but think the cost of training should be minimal and that is why many of those projects fail. They didn’t invest in the people who needed to know how to use the systems.

Some might talk about rapid development software that can help you in creating your content but it still takes time. Next post is about what goes into the “development cycle”.

Photo by joannamkay – http://flic.kr/p/6PgSDu

Mobile Learning on the iPad

Mobile Learning No Responses »

Aug 292010

The iPad, the latest and greatest Tablet to enter the marketplace in a long time. I have used tablet computers before but nothing like this.

So let’s talk about how this one device can change the mobile learning space.

Smartphones are small light and basically a little computer in your pocket. The iPad takes most of that capability and increases the size of it my 300%. This offers the content provider an amazing wealth of real estate and opportunity to design dynamic and awe inspring learning. I have personally incorporated Captivate demos and even an avatar into learning that can be completed on the iPad. It is very convenient to consume content including learning content.

Another nice feature is the ability to attend virtual meetings or classrooms on the iPad. Many of the more prominent VMS (virutal meeting spaces) software like Adobe Connect Pro or GoToMeeting have iPad apps to give you access to your meetings from just about anywhere and now with many planes adding in-flight wifi the sky is no longer the limit.

In another post, we will discuss some of the amazing apps already available for the learner on the iPad. Once you touch one, you want one!

Photo by Electric Images – http://flic.kr/p/kdNTj

Outmodels in the wild

Basic eLearning No Responses »

Aug 232010

This is an amazing article/statement along with the photo I found on Flickr. It is so cool I had to present it here as part of my eLearning blog. I would love to hear what you think of it!

An organized system of learned behavior that is a total way of life of a people.

Each circle represents an individual with an outmodel (M) that represents its individual view of the world (color). The outmodel of each individual is heavily influenced by the outmodels of the individuals around them, and is influenced to a lesser degree by parts of the objective world with which the individual has direct contact (trees). As a group, the individuals create a common world view, or an organized system of learned behavior that is their total way of life (i.e., a culture). Commonly, individuals and groups resist changes or challenges to their world view. Thus, in the cynical view of this image, cultures clash when they meet, resulting in destruction of individuals unwilling or unable to change their colors.

Photo and prose by zachstern – http://flic.kr/p/btxEw

Creating a working virtual classroom space

Virtual Classrooms No Responses »

Aug 162010

When one is starting to create a virtual classroom space for their organization, many questions arise. This article we hopefully help you answer some of those and make your first session a brilliant one.

Tip 1
Content from the real classroom doesn’t always carry over well. Consider some of these factors..
… you can’t read the faces of the people in the room so other forms of feedback will be important to ensure they comprehend, such as polls or asking open ended questions

Tip 2
Keep your session to a maximum of 120 minutes and preferably 90 minutes. People’s concentration after this amount of time is challenging while listening remotely. Make sure to break up how the session is structured to keep them engaged, such as..
… polling them or asking for questions, showing a short video or captivate type demo, break into smaller groups and assign a question for them to answer, show slides or a live demo.

Tip 3
Remember that a person can only concentrate on a subject for about 7 – 10 minutes, so make sure you change activities around that amount of time for better retention.

Tip 4
Use full screen mode as much as possible to prevent learners from trying to perform other work while in the session. The more dedicated they are to learning the more they will retain.

Tip 5
If the session is part of a series, then have an assignment for the learners to complete in between sessions. This helps then retain more information on the subject and will also prepare them for the next session.

Tip 6
Use a moderator, their job is to…
.. Start the session and ensure all systems are working, everyone can here, etc.
..provides learners with any rules to follow during the session like raising their hand or asking a question
.. Moderator will monitor question/chat room and forward pertinent questions or comments to knowledge expert(s). This relieves the KE from this task and allows them to better present the material.

Tip 7

Try to have more than one knowledge expert to talk, (as well as the moderator). This will change the tone that learners hear, or use recordings within slide decks to keep learners engaged.

mLearning, the Next Generation

Mobile Learning No Responses »

Aug 092010

You have heard of classroom learning, blended learning and eLearning, now here comes mLearning!

mLearning or Mobile learning uses mobile devices such as smartphones and iPod touches and even iPads to provide learning to the student.

A great example of this is in the ESL arena. Students learning English can walk down the street, listening to words and repeating them. It looks like they are talking on the phone but they could actually be doing their homework! They don’t need a classroom or a computer to complete a class or exercise.

Smartphones are the next major area for the advancement of mLearning as it is basically a computer in your pocket. Along with content being presented with audio and video, you can even connect to a virtual classroom/meeting space to attend a lecture. So even if you travel, you can attend your classes. Check out the iTunesU section of iTunes and see all the universities already building podcasts as mobile learning.

Mobile learning will also help content providers create more Just-in-Time (JIT) components so the learner can learn a new skill while on the go or while performing a new task.

The iPad pretty much expands this into a whole new form factor and capabilities but that’s another blog! Are you taking your learning on the go?

Photo by nasa1fan/MSFC – http://flic.kr/p/63DATM

Just in Time – Learning

Basic eLearning No Responses »

Aug 092010

Just-in-Time Learning, provides you with ability to learn and develop a skill, quickly and just at the appropriate time. For example, You are completing a special application for a client, that just happens to be siiting across from you. You know this form but are not sure of all the components, and how to complete it properly.

You activate a button on your screen and it takes you to a new window that demonstrates how to to complete the form and special items to look out for or questions to ask the client.

Just-in-Time learning is amazing when developed properly and employees are trained to use it correctly. It can dramatically reduce incorrect documents, speed up approval of applications and improve the interaction between the client and you.

But, if you don’t train your staff you might here this…”the computer is telling me to ask you …..”. Staff need to understand that the interaction of JIT is for them and NOT the client. JIT correctly used can benefit all, both in and out of the organization. Try it!

Photo by Caro Wallis – http://flic.kr/p/7UQWnJ

The Fifth Discipline – Learning

Basic eLearning 1 Response »

Aug 042010

Peter Senge wrote in his book The Fifth Discipline, “The ability to learn faster than your competitor may be the only sustainable competitve advantage”.

So what Peter may be saying is, if you encourage your employees or organization to continue to learn, and are adapt at performing conitnuous learning better than your competitor, it will give you an advantage. I agree one hundred percent!

It is time organizations get with it and start to encourage staff to continue to learn. Static minds do not create or expand or adapt to changes easily, leaving you and your company behind.

Look at the way some technology companies work versus others. Sales staff for one company I work with has improved it’s revenue and sales double through the use of eLearning and Just-in-Time training to enhance the sales skills of their sales teams.

It is no wonder this company wants to expand on the learning offered to employees, the proof is in the numbers.

So how does your organization stack up, are your expanding your learning offerings, even in a time of financial challenges? It may be the way to get back to more profitable times. Investment in people and knowledge is invaluable.

Photo by Stephen Poff – http://flic.kr/p/5FzYkw

Life Long Learning

Basic eLearning No Responses »

Jul 132010

The CEO of Motorola once said ” Motorola no longer wants to hire engineers with a four year degree. Instead, we want employees to have a 40 year degree.“. What he was talking about is Life Long Learning.

Many companies are now proponents of continuous learning for their employees and clients versus getting a degree and finding a job. Life long learners have a passion or interest in always learning more, something different or just building a new skill they didn’t have before.

We all continue to learn throughout our lives but life long learners crave new ideas, skills, languages or anything that enhances their knowledge and understanding of the universe around us. This is what many companies are now looking for in their employees not just a degree.

How your organisation handles LLL may be important to you as you consider which companies you want to work for. One that nurtures you and encourages you to continue to learn and grow or one that just wants you to work at a desk 8 hours a day for pay and not much more.

I remember one company I know that when you joined them, they created a 5 year learning plan to help you expand and improve your skills so you could learn, work better and improve your opportunities within the organisation.

Imagine how you would feel if your new employer was willing to invest in a 5 year plan to help you grow? Their staff retention was twice as good as others in the same industry and life long learning and investing in their employees to learn and grow was an important factor.

So consider how you and/or your employer go about building a life long learning plan to help you grow.

Considering Open Source Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Basic eLearning 3 Responses »

Jun 302010

Over the past ten or fifteen years that eLearning has been around, many amazing learning management systems have come forward both commercial and not. One of the first that I used was WebCT, which was created right in my own back yard here in Vancouver, Canada by UBC. It was originally free for learning institutions and cost for commercial/profit organizations.

It was created for the university and it ‘s students and faculty and quickly became a popular software force in the elearning community. Later it was purchased and made more commercial. I had used it for a company I worked for but then became too expensive to make it viable.

Once I started working with smaller to medium sized companies, I realized there were some very good open source learning management systems out there that provided all or most of the features of the commercial ones. Many were also created by universities that wanted something specific for their needs and preferred to create it versus buy it.

The open source community is vibrant and just googling open source LMS will find you many options. I have used Moodle and more often Atutor but there are many others. Most are free to download and install on your server so testing and tryouts are easy.

So before your organization spends major dollars on a commercial product look at open source options as well.

You may just find exactly what you are looking for, for the cost of a download and your server space. Which leads me to my last comment for this edition, make sure your write down exactly what it is you want your learning management system to do before you go looking, then you will be clearer about which one is for you.

Death of the all day software training session

Basic eLearning 2 Responses »

Jun 292010

Many years ago I attended or facilitated many training sessions, partularly computer software training that were one or more days long. We conducted things this way because it was felt important for people to get as much information as possible for the best time they had available and buck.

Many instances of what I call the 3 o’clock freeze or brain overload happened when learners would have this glazed look on their faces and pretty much stop learning, answering questions, etc. Of course, sitting in a classroom for 6 to 7 hours in a day seemed like a good idea but now I know better.

Today, employees and learners just don’t have the time in their day to spend all of it in class, or just don’t want to, so I started creating training sessions of 2 hours.

The outcome surprised me at first, it seemed like they weren’t getting much information or skills but what I found was that 2 hours was just about right.

The learners acquire some new skills, they remember all that is taught, for the most part, they go back to their desk and apply what was learnt almost immediately, meaning they used the new skills and so would remember them more often.

When using this type of learning paradigm, create a series of sessions the learner needs to commit to, and then once the first session is complete, it is rare that they won’t be back for more. What happened was they could use the skills they learned and were interested in advancing their knowledge more. They were excited to come back to class and learn more skills to make their job and duties easier or efficient.

So next time you are given the opportunity to create software learning, think about how to provide it as much as the content. If the content is really relevant to the learner and they learn some skills each session, they will return with excitement and interest instead of feeling like they must attend.

Older Entries

gpadmin

The cost of using eLearning

Mobile Learning on the iPad

Outmodels in the wild

Creating a working virtual classroom space

mLearning, the Next Generation

Just in Time – Learning

The Fifth Discipline – Learning

Life Long Learning

Considering Open Source Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Death of the all day software training session

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