Effectiveness of eLearning

Editor's Notes

• #3: In this presentation, we will be expounding upon the advantages of implementing online learning modules or eLearning into our business model. There are many issues that need to be addressed in order to successfully implement this type of learning. In particular, we will answer the following questions: What makes e-Learning effective? Why consider e-Learning for the organization? What are the goals of an e-Learning strategy? What is the Return on Investment? What is the process of implementing e-Learning? How to select the best LMS?
• #4: A review of online learning by Tallent-Runnels, Thomas, Lan, Cooper, Ahern, Shaw, and Liu (2006) concurs: “Overwhelming evidence has shown that learning in an online environment can be as effective as that in traditional classrooms. Second, students’ learning in the online environment is affected by the quality of online instruction. Not surprisingly, students in well-designed and well-implemented online courses learned significantly more, and more effectively, than those in online courses where teaching and learning activities were not carefully planned and where the delivery and accessibility were impeded by technology problems” (p.116).
• #5: Quality and effective e-Learning courses must adapt the following three main considerations: Training Goals: Intended outcomes will influence which guidelines and training types are most appropriate. Learner Differences: Prior knowledge and experience exert the most influence on learning. Environment: Technical constraints of the delivery platform, network, software, cultural factors, budgets, time, and management expectations. - Clark & Mayer (2011)
• #6: Here are some of many advantages and reasons why eLearning should be implemented in the organization: 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
• #7: These are typical goals that an organization would hope to achieve by implementing eLearning into the overall training strategy: 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 Encourage partnership and collaboration
• #8: Here are several possible ways that eLearning can bring a profitable Return on Investment for the organization. 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
• #9: This is a 5-stage framework that maps the path to learning maturity for an organization and its programs. It creates a focus on aligning learning to talent needs and attaining the critical objectives for each stage. It also provides sound strategies that increase the overall performance of learners and teams and accelerate business results. Supplement: eLearning is introduced to address scalability challenges and reduce costs, adoption is ad-hoc Targeted: Targeted learning begins to support specific initiatives and job roles Strategic: Learning is aligned to strategic business objectives and begins to connect to talent management Integrated: eLearning is woven into the workflow, accelerating business impact and organizational agility Optimized: Learning adoption is ubiquitous and has become a core organizational advantage
• #10: eLearning can be an additional learning strategy for an organization to improve business results. It can provide a cost effective distribution system of knowledge and information. The development of an eLearning Strategy is critical for the success of the programs. This roadmap illustrates the process of designing and developing a strategy to leverage existing infrastructure, custom content, and the industry’s investment and experiences with eLearning and mobile devices. - Tier1 Performance Solutions (2007)
• #11: Key areas to avoid when implementing an eLearning Strategy 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.
• #12: One of the biggest decisions a business or educational institution can make is to select a good Learning Management System or LMS. There are a lot of LMS vendors in the marketplace and only a handful of them are expected to be around in the future. The best approach to take is to know what you are looking for ahead of time. This slide gives some guidelines that can save you a lot of time and money and make sure you ultimately make the best choice for your organization’s specific needs. These steps are: Conduct 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
• #13: All LMSs are not created equal. A lot of money has been wasted on LMSs that don't meet an organization’s needs, or never go live because they don't work within the user’s environment. The task of researching LMS products and companies is daunting, filled with difficult decisions and plagued with misinformation. Here's a list of some common mistakes to avoid when purchasing a LMS. Skirting senior management. If you don’t make a persuasive business case to senior management early, you’ll have a hard time getting their signatures on the purchase order. More important, be sure to present your case in terms your leaders can relate to. Learning isn’t about altruism; it’s about creating smarter employees and a measurable competitive advantage for companies. Failing to list all your needs. If you don’t list your needs from the first conversations with your LMS vendor--and clarify the technical environment and cultural issues that an LMS must deal with--you're likely to end up with a product that doesn’t do what you need it to. Comparing apples and oranges. Be aware that several tools that are marketed toward LMS buyers aren't LMSs. For instance, some HR Information Systems have learning modules, but they don’t launch and track e-learning or manage training budgets, classrooms, instructors, grades, skills, certifications, and so on. Knowledge management systems may have features that support learning, but they're a whole other animal. Excluding IT from the process. If an LMS doesn't fit into your technical environment, you’re in trouble. IT generally has the power to quash any new application anyway, so it's imperative to involve them at the outset. In addition, the IT team will ask the right questions to help you make cost-effective decisions. Consequently, don’t let IT run the entire show. Focus more on price than value. Insisting on an excellent cost/benefit ratio for your LMS investment is wise; trying to measure your best options merely on purchase price is not. For example, many organizations have bought low-price LMSs for certain units only to face another purchasing decision later on. Your organization might need an enterprise LMS that will consolidate all of its learning initiatives and scale to meet the needs of large, widely dispersed learner communities. Overlooking scalability. Scalability results primarily from open multi-tier architecture; Your IT team knows what that is (see Mistake #4). Basically, it’s a system that consists of Web browsers pointing to Web servers that present data that application servers summon from databases. Organizations can scale their LMSs as needed by adding computing power at any tier rather than replacing the entire system. Presuming (and you should!) that your organization’s learner population will grow in the future; you need to ensure that your LMS can keep up with growth and change. Ignoring LMS interoperability. Some LMSs only work with their own embedded authoring tools or content that the LMS vendor offers. Make sure the LMS you buy also supports the latest versions of e-learning standards such as SCORM and AICC. Overlooking vendor track records. Don’t base the purchase decision on good advertising. It’s important to find a vendor with customers that look like your organization, have actually implemented an LMS, are happy with the results, and are willing to talk to you about it. Selecting customization instead of configurability. Custom code is an enemy of flexibility, scalability, and efficiency. Your LMS should be easily configurable to your strategic business processes and be able to change with them. Hard-coded, one-off customizations require extensive programming from ground zero every time your conditions change.
• #14: Some of the main functions that a LMS should be able to handle are: Registration Options. Possibility for users to self-register in curriculums or separate courses, or be enrolled by system administrator. Multimedia functionality. Curriculum that links to other courses, learning objects, social media, 3rd party websites. Support for blended learning. Does it include both synchronous and asynchronous communication tools? Skills analysis and results measurement. Does it have tools for tracking progresses for groups and single students? Easy-to-use Interface. An interface to a virtual classroom with access to the range of courses Assessment & Reports. Test administration, assessments (certification) and regular administrative reports Skills management. Enables organizations to measure training needs and identify improvement areas based on the individual’s competencies. SCORM and AICC compliant. The LMS can import and manage content and courseware that complies with standards regardless of the authoring system that produced it.
• #15: Usability is defined as the possibility to achieve appointed purposes and to solve different tasks. To create a usable platform means that you need to abort obstacles on the way between the user and the target/purpose. Fast and easy access to the right information and easy use of the tools in the platform is of great importance. When evaluating platforms you should consider the real user’s experience. An important part of the user interface, and that influences usability, is navigation (how easy you can navigate through different parts of the courses) and search functions. These are decisive for the user’s possibility to assimilate the content. The navigation should be:   a) Easy to learn b) Follow a consistent structure c) Offer freedom of choice d) Be adjusted to the users’ most common behavior   Other important features: Table of contents / Site Map? Site map is an outline visualization of the content structure where the hierarchy and links to all pages in the learning content is illustrated. This gives better possibility to navigate more freely in the sections. Search function in the course material? To be able to connect search functions to the content makes it easier for the user to explore it and use it in different situations. Is there a situation adjusted help function? With situation adjusted help means that it is connected to the specific section where the user needs help. Multilingual Support? All functions in the whole interface is in a certain language – not just the content. Are other languages, other than English, supported?
• #16: Learning environment is the different functions in the platform that users and teachers can use in pedagogical contexts. It is important to integrate the possibilities of Internet based learning in the production and developing phases of courses and content. Digitalizing already existing material will seldom give the same result, and sometimes the result is that you only use the Internet as a channel for distribution. The user (student, teacher and administrator) must feel that his or her learning is enhanced somehow by the platform. Independence of time and place, and the possibility to collaborate is also most important. Find a good system with asynchronous communication with the possibility to send files between the participants. If you find a platform with a conference system that fulfils these demands, then you have created more value to the users. Every function in a platform has to be faced the question – what value will this function create for my users in a learning situation? Without these values there is a great risk that the Internet based learning only becomes a burden or an extra tool that only makes the course more extensive and difficult for the student.   The learning environments can be categorized as follows: a) Communication environment. Can be either time independent (asynchronous) or in real time (synchronous). b) Distribution environments – In what format is the content distributed to the user? c) Test environment – What different types of tests are there and how can they be used? d) Interaction environment – The participants’ possibility to influence the interaction between themselves and the environment.