By Jason Foster

The Effectiveness of eLearning

Topics – Questions to cover

What are the goals of an eLearning strategy?

Why consider eLearning for the organization?

What makes eLearning effective?

What is the Return on Investment?What is the process of

implementing eLearning?How to select the best

LMS?

• Online learning can be just as effective as traditional classroom learning

• Quality affects learning in the online environment• Learning increased significantly with well-

designed and well-implemented online courses than those not carefully planned.

-Tallent-Runnels, M.K.Teaching courses online:

A review of the research (2006)

eLearning is Effective…when done right

Quality and effective e-Learning courses must adapt the following three main considerations:

What is Effective e-Courseware?

Training Goals

Learner Differences

Environment

Investments in learning impact business performance

Staff expect a tailored training program and a leading edge approach

Technology enabled learning is essential to compete

The workplace and talent pool are rapidly changing

Staff are technologically astute and expect on going development

Staff and Managers need flexible approaches

Why eLearning?

eLearning Strategy GoalsGoal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3 Goal 4

Easy access to remote

employees or customers

Motivate reluctant and hard-to-reach

learners

Provide an engaging learning

experience for young & old

Play to the strengths and

interests of individuals

Goal 5

Encourage partnership

and collaboratio

n

• Increase in geographical coverage (number of learners)

• Reduced staff and travel costs for trainers• Improved service offering to customers• Reduced travel costs for learner visits• Reduced assessor time per learner • Speed of learner completion vs traditional

methods • Speed for staff to create and access course

materials • Speed for learners to access course materials

Return on Investment

Where do you want the organization to be in 1-3 years?

5-Stage Framework of Implementing eLearning

Stage 1: Supplement

Stage 2: Targeted

Stage 3: Strategic

Stage 4: Integrated

Stage 5: Optimized

Implementation Phase

Transformation Phase

Expansion Phase

eLearning Roadmap1. Develop Strategy

• Include the introduction of Learning activities with traditional instructor led training within organization

2. ID Content & Users

• Pilot program identifying content/courses and user groups (Corporate, Internal, External) to generate lessons learned

3. Create Pilot Course

• Create and implement an eLearning Course and assess effectiveness.

4. Develop Marketing Plan

• Create marketing plan and Intranet site to promote e-Learning courses.

5. Build Processes, Skills

& Standards• Begin large scale

migration of content/courses to eLearning and mobile devices.

6. Launch LMS

• Implement centralized LMS to deliver, manage, track, and report eLearning activities, including ROI

7. Assess & Improve

• Implement continuous improvement program to assess and improve repeatable processes, controls, standards, and skills- Tier1 Performance Solutions (2007)

Key areas to avoid when implementing an eLearning Strategy

Focus on the strategy – Avoid Failure

• Failure to establish a measurable plan. Sometimes the best choice is not always the cheapest or easiest to agree upon.

• Failure to recognize the importance and connections of people and technology within the organization to attain learning goals.

• Failure to recognize the system is put in place for learning, not to solve problems.

• Failure to consider learning across the organization (think big)

• Failure to recognize organizational values, culture, and the mission.

• Failure to measure progress• Failure to Start and Stay Focused on the strategy.

-Moore, K (2007)

Process of selecting an LMSConduct a thorough needs analysis

Establish requirements checklist

Calculate Return On Investment (ROI) upfront

Secure buy-in approval from management, IT/IS/IM department,

and finance Based on requirements, select a

short list of vendors

Have vendors conduct demonstrations

Make final selection

LMS Purchasing MistakesSkirting Sr.

ManagementFailing to list

needsComparing apples to oranges

Excluding IT from process

Focus more on price than

valueOverlooking Scalability

Ignoring LMS Interoperabili

ty

Overlooking vendor track

record

Customization over

Configurability

Main Functions of an LMSSome of the main functions that a LMS should be able to handle

are: Registration Options

Multimedia functionality

Support for blended learningSkills analysis and results

measurementEasy-to-use Interface

Assessment & Reports

Skills management

SCORM and AICC compliant

Usability – User Interface Navigation should be: Other features:Easy to learn Follow a

consistent structure

Offer freedom of choice

Be adjusted to the users’ most common behavior

Table of Contents / Site Map

Search functionHelp functionMultilingual

Support

Learning Environment

Learning Environme

nt

Communication Environment

Distribution Environment

Test Environment

Interaction Environme

nt

Thank you!

Clark, R., & Mayer, R. (2011) E-Learning and the Science of Instruction. San Francisco: Pfeiffer Publishing, 23-24.

Moore, K. (2007). Keeping the e-Learning Strategy Focused. The eLearning Guild’s Handbook of e-Learning Strategy. Santa Rosa: The eLearning Guild, 7.

Tallent-Runnels, M.K., Thomas, J.A., Lan, W.Y., Cooper, S., Ahern, T.C., Shaw, S.M., & Liu, X. (2006). Teaching courses online: A review of the research. Research of Educational Research, 76(9) 93-135.

Works Cited