Planning for Effective E-Learning

I’m in the first full week of the IPT 523 course and term Rapid E-Learning was mentioned in our class materials and readings.  You may have heard the term Rapid E-learning and wondered to yourself, what does it mean?

As I understand it, Rapid E-learning is delivering training (learning) by electronic means, utilizing quick design and development methodologies along with available resources to bring a final solution to your target audience in the most efficient manner.  If you have conducted your own research on the subject, you may have found different definitions.  Nevertheless, the result is still the same – creating an engaging learning experience quickly and inexpensively.

In addition to this course I’m taking, I also operate a small consulting company called PinPoint Performance Solutions.  A recent project with a client happened to coincide with this course and had me thinking about the process behind developing e-learning. Although it was successful, the development of the e-learning modules from start to finish was a little rushed, but for good reason.  Under normal circumstances I would have a planned out development methodology into distinct stages to produce a quality learning experience.

1. Planning – analyzing the content, creating a look & feel and proof of concept
2. Design and development – produce the e-learning based on the instructional design concept formed during the planning stage
3. Testing – using a sample of actual participants from the target audience pool, test the e-learning module(s) functionality and effectiveness of knowledge transfer
4. Delivery – after final fixes to any technical bugs or errors and content edits (if necessary), deliver the project to the client

These stages were discussed to some degree in our textbook.  As I reviewed those stages, two things came to mind.  First, in order to produce a quality learning experience you really can’t rush the process, even though you are developing under the banner of “Rapid” E-Learning.  Second, quality is controlled by following a defined process or model.

The e-learning development model in our text, to me, resembled the traditional ADDIE model of instructional design.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  In fact, it just goes to show that proper planning leads to better results as I learned when building traditional training programs. 

By applying these steps or phases to your e-learning development, and using basic project planning methodology, a quality learning experience can still be produced at a cost and within a timeframe acceptable to everyone involved.

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