Now that we’ve survived the Mayan apocalypse and a new year is upon us,maybe it’s time for a new career. How about eLearning?
Perhaps you’re a seasoned classroom instructor or a more traditionalinstructional designer ready to make a change. Maybe you were great at what youdid in the factory, in the field, or the office, and now they want you to be atrainer—not just any trainer, but an eLearning specialist. Or, you’re amanager, even an executive, and you just learned you are now in charge ofeLearning. Intrigued? Great; here are nine things to know on your first day.
1. The “e” in eLearningdoes not stand for “easy.”
If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Wait—everyone is doing it! But that doesn’t meaneveryone is doing it well. GreateLearning takes skill, experience, and leaders that have your back. Building eLearningis certainly a challenge, but it’s getting organizational buy-in and supportthat makes eLearning effective and sustainable over the long term.
2. This is not part-timework.
If your boss says to you, “Hey, if you’re not doing anything thisafternoon, I’d like you to build an eLearning course,” run for the hills. It’snot that you have to spend all your time on eLearning, but to do it well you mustset aside a considerable amount of dedicated time. And once you decide how muchtime you’ll need for your first project, triple it.
3. Not everything worksas eLearning.
Now that you are a big-shot eLearning professional, the worst decisionyou can make is to kill all your classroom training. Some organizations havetried that, and, for the most part, it didn’t work out so well. Anyone whobelieves the classroom is going away probably also believes the Internet is apassing fad. There are many things the classroom can do that eLearning can’t doas well (okay, can’t yet do as well).While not going away, classroom training will surely change, from lecturingfacts to facilitating discovery; from individual learning to teamcollaboration; from listening and remembering to application and problemsolving; and from the teacher as a “sage on the stage” to one that is more a“guide on the side.” Are you ready?
4. There is no singleway to do it.
Forget reliance on a single instructional or delivery model, or a cast-in-stonestrategy. Don’t get caught up in any particular tool or methodology. eLearningis constantly undergoing redefinition, and is as diverse and robust as thelearners and organizations that use it. Find what works for you and go ahead, butbe flexible and open to new solutions and new ways of working. In eLearning,change is the only constant.
5. The “good-cheap-fast”conundrum.
Have you heard the expression “You can have it good, fast, or cheap—picktwo”? Not a good philosophy for eLearning; do your best to fight it. Too muchfocus on perfection (yes, you can overdo it here) will lengthen the project andcost a fortune. Toning down the interactions or the design just a tad may shorten development time and lower costs withouthurting effectiveness. And cutting cost, while noble, can go too far. If youwant to build the cheapest eLearning possible, well, you get what you pay for. Andwhile “rapid” eLearning has merit in costs and time, there are some compromisesin the instructional approaches you can use. The key to satisfying all threecriteria is balance. Look at quality, speed, and cost equally, as three emptyglasses. Now take your pitcher of water (your total resources) and pour. Howmuch will you fill each glass?
6. Focus too much ontechnology—you will fail. Focus too little on technology—you will fail.
For some eLearning organizations, it’s the always next big thing—a newlearning management system, a new authoring tool, new hardware and software, oreven a new facility. Others couldn’t care less, sometimes so much so that theirancient technology starts to crash, along with their reputation. Remember—when technologyfails, the initiative fails, but when technology works, there’s no guaranteethat the initiative will succeed; you’ve just laid a foundation. Think oftechnology as a good, well-maintained roadway. Now focus on building the best,most interesting, reliable, and efficient cars you can.
7. A new world. Really?
You’re still addressing learning and performance. You’re still serving adiverse group of employees who have different learning needs, time frames,capabilities, and expectations. You’re still dealing with ever-changing contentand a management philosophy that naturally seeks to allocate just enough timeand resources to training (or maybe not enough, but never too much). Nevertheless, the playing field has changed. Youhave new platforms, tools, and instructional capabilities, new cost and timestructures, and you’ll need some new skills. Worry about this next week; for yourfirst day, just embrace the paradigm shift that, with eLearning, everything isthe same, only different.
8. Caveat emptor.
“Buyer beware,” if Latin isn’t part of your skill set. Vendors andconsultants are part of a vibrant eLearning industry. They can help you getstarted and can do some of the heavy lifting. Be a smart consumer, do yourhomework, and manage them so they don’t manage you! Get to know the industrythrough The eLearning Guild and other resources.
9. You likely don’t knowwhat you don’t know.
The most important point! As you enter the eLearning biz, recognize thatit’s evolving all the time, and so will your experiences in the field. None ofus knows it all; we are all learners on this journey. Ask questions and keep anopen mind.
Now, I could have talked about SCORM, learning objects, Flash, authoringtools, content management, EPSS, or a dozen other techie topics. They’reimportant, but not on day one. They are the trees, and you need to see theforest first. Often, the best way to learn to swim is to jump right in. Butwithout the big picture, without a firm understanding of the depth of the pondyou’re diving into, you could hit your head and drown.
