Ensuring eLearning Success in 2012: Think Like a Charity

In the past, charities may have lookedlongingly at big corporate eLearning budgets, but in the current globaleconomic climate, those same corporations would do well to look at theinspirational work that is being done in the third sector. The expression “necessityis the mother of invention” has never more true than for these charities, whohave to be really inventive with both their time and money.

Charities here in the U.K. are doing suchfantastic Learning and Development (L&D) work that this year the CharityLearning Consortium launched the first Charity Learning Awards – to celebrateour charities’ eLearning journeys as well as their successes. The well known and much loved U.K. children’s charity Barnardo’s was a well-deserved winnerof the best overall eLearning program. Lisa Johnson is Barnardo’s Assistant DirectorIS Learning and Development. She is an inspirational leader, who I know looks at what she’d liketo achieve first – and then works out a way to achieve it within a charity’sbudget.

Wewere particularly impressed with the charity’s wide use of learning technologies,including virtual classrooms, increasingly popular short videos that they makein-house, wikis, and an online community. To immediately overcome anyreluctance to virtual classrooms, all new recruits now enter the virtualclassroom environment as part of their induction. It’s such a simple, buthighly effective, means of introducing them to the concept of virtual learning,and the L&D team can also showcase their resources at the same time. It’s asimple, but brilliant, idea – and one that businesses could easily emulate.

These kinds ofinitiatives are proof that you really don’t need a big budget to make eLearninga success, although it helps if you have a good helping of creativity anddrive. So who better to give eLearning advice to others than the exceptionalLisa Johnson? Here, in associationwith The Charity Learning Consortium, are Lisa’s top tips for eLearningsuccess:

Keep in contact with yourlearners

Despite the popularity of eLearningand virtual classrooms, it is vital to maintain face-to-face contact with your learnersso you can to keep up to date with their changing needs. We can credit a largepart of Barnardo’s success to the L&D team’s ability to listen to thechallenges staff face, to appreciate their issues, and to develop solutions thatmeet them. This has had a noticeable impact on Barnardo’s learning culture.Staff members are now choosing self-directed learning, rather than justrequesting training.

Be creative with existinglearning technologies

Barnardo’s L&D team supportsthe development of some 8,000 staff and volunteers, at

1,600 sites spread across the U.K. andNorthern Ireland. Managing the learning needs of this diverse workforce takescreativity and imagination.

ELearning, and the use of otherlearning technologies, has revolutionized the way Barnardo’s supports its ITusers, with 60% of training now provided online. Barnardo’s uses a range oflearning technologies, including eLearning, virtual classrooms, video, wikis,and an online learning community.

When the team discovers a newtechnology, they immerse themselves in understanding how to make best use ofit, in order to fully understand the benefits and challenges the technologypresents. This allows the team to build up a toolkit of resources that they canuse in any combination to provide the right solutions.

Engage new recruits early – getthem hooked

Initially, staff members werereluctant to try eLearning, but the Barnardo’s team helped them overcome theirconcerns by introducing individual learning contracts, team-based learning, andthe promoting of learning in small bite-sized modules. The Barnardo’s team alsoobserved that when virtual classrooms were introduced some learners wereanxious at first, so the team ensured virtual classroom sessions became one ofthe first learning experiences for all new staff.

All new recruits to the charityare now given a 45-minute virtual classroom session that introduces Barnardo’sIT systems. After attending this first session, staff members overcome theirnerves and are happy to sign up for more.

Learn to walk before you run –success comes in small chunks

Make your resources easy tofind and quick to use. The Barnardo’s team didn’t implement the full range of learningtechnologies overnight. The team took a measured approach, graduallyintroducing learners to new technologies, taking time to consider feedback, andengaging groups in testing new content.

The Barnardo’s team has alsocreated a single point of access for all IT-related learning resources. This isaccessible from within the organization’s central document management system.It provides a series of task-based links that guides users to the appropriateresources for the precise piece of learning they need. Whether it is a piece ofeLearning hosted on The Charity Learning Consortium’s customized Moodle site, ashort video demonstration, a printable user guide, or even an e-mail to amember of the team, this approach allows learners to choose how they prefer tolearn.

Keep reviewing your progress –plan for the future

The issues you need to dealwith will change over time and you need to be able to adapt to a range of challenges.Regular analysis of calls to the Barnardo’s IT helpdesk led the team to produce“tips and tricks” online fact sheets. As a direct result, “How to” calls werereduced by 50%. The team continues to review this data and update the learningresources as inquiries change.

At a strategic level,Barnardo’s continually assesses organizational and external challenges thatwill have an impact on our learning community. For example, the team expects tosee an increasing need for flexibility and mobile technology, with a growingnumber of staff members working from home and on the move. Barnardo’s is exploringdeveloping the right content, applications, and hardware to support a moremobile and diverse workforce to keep one step ahead of the needs of staff.

Withthanks to Lisa Johnson, Barnardo’s AssistantDirector IS Learning and Development. Barnardo’s wonthe Charity Learning Award 2011 for the Best overalleLearning program, and is “short listed” for The Learning & PerformanceInstitute’s Learning Awards 2012.