Everyone wants value for money, even from their eLearning solutions, but getting value for money can be confused with simply trying to save money, which is far from the same thing.
In recent years, for example, we have seen the rise in the use of rapid authoring tools to produce learning content in-house by subject matter experts, rather than outsourcing the process to specialized instructional designers. However, said Matthew Lloyd, managing director of e-learning solutions provider Omniplex: “When you adopt this process simply to try to save money, you have to beware of some issues.”
These include:
• Keep the learning project simple. Just because you’re saving money by producing learning materials in-house, don’t be tempted to overextend the scope of the project.
• Beware of hidden costs. For example, Moodle, an open source LMS, costs little to install and run, but users should not forget the associated maintenance costs.
• It is still important to use the right tool for the job at hand, regardless of the cost.
• Don’t use a tool that is too cheap and then get locked into that tool so you can’t migrate to a more effective one.
• If it’s not easy to find the resources you need once you start using the tool or system, then that tool or system is not right for you.
• Make sure you don’t have to go back to the tool or system vendors every time you want to make a change to that tool or system. Opt for high quality over the cheapest option, and remember that getting good customer service from your tool or system provider shouldn’t be a luxury.
• A bad (learning) design can cost you as much or even more than a good design. Eventually, learning materials produced with poor instructional design will cost much more than learning materials produced with good instructional design, even if the latter learning materials are initially expensive.
• It is what happens after the learning intervention, however it is carried out, that is key to the success of any learning initiative. Designers and developers must find ways to stimulate the brains of those who use the learning materials if the project is to be successful.
Lloyd spoke at a meeting, in London, of the eLearning Network (eLN), a UK-based non-profit organization run by the e-learning community for the e-learning community.
Lloyd’s summary was popular with the eLN delegates, but as speaker Cathy Moore from Indiana, USA, pointed out, people don’t do what their employers want them to do because of one or more of four factors: knowledge, skills, motivation and environment. Learning solutions can only affect the first two of these factors. If there are motivational and environmental problems, no amount of isolated learning programs will help to solve them.