Articulate is a software company that produces e-learning authorware to create your own media-rich, interactive e-learning courses.  The term Rapid E-learning is used quite often throughout their website and supporting Rapid E-Learning Blog written and managed by Tom Kuhlmann.

Here are 5 of my favorite posts at the Rapid E-Learning Blog that I think will help explain Rapid E-learning and show how you may take advantage of this development methodology within the e-learning space.

• 5 Simple Ways to Get Started with E-Learning Development
• 9 Free Tools That Help Me Build Better E-Learning
• How to Add Scenarios to Your Rapid E-Learning Courses…Rapidly!
• 7 Tips for Better E-Learning Scenarios
• 5 Secret Tips from an E-Learning Pioneer

BONUS: Don’t let the term “Rapid E-learning” fool you.  While it is possible to build quality e-learning quickly, Jon Lloyd at VMG doesn’t believe so. He outlines why in his post, There’s nothing rapid about Rapid eLearning.

I happen to believe it is possible to create quality courses quickly, however the expectations between the developer and the client should be measured and within reason.  Developing e-learning is a craft and you can’t rush the creation of a quality learning experience at the expense of the learner’s needs.  Remember, that is where it should all begin and end.

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So, what did I learn? It’s difficult to express exactly what I learned, but here’s a listing of the items that caught my attention:

• Reusable Learning Objects (RLO)
• Cisco’s RLO Strategy
• SCORM, AICC
• Metadata
• Functions of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS)
• Accessibility of e-learning to people with disabilities

The bottom line to this course was that learning, delivered by electronic means (e-learning defined), can be flexible, reusable and accessible if a strategy is carefully planned out and applied.

It’s on now to the next course, IPT 523 – Authoring Skills for Instructional Multimedia.  It’s a hard-skills course where we’ll be using Adobe Captivate and applying it to e-learning.  It should be fun and I’m currently using it for other projects.  It’s a powerful tool and capable of doing many things and I’m looking forward to learning more about it and applying it back to the work I’m doing.

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Sandra Stocks wrote an excellent paper on the Benefits of a SCORM-Conformant E-learning Strategy and applied it back to the organization she works in.  Sandra is part of a retail organization that serves pet owners with pet nutrition and pet products.  To educate staff on the items sold in their retail stores, Sandra is recommending to her employers an E-learning strategy based on SCORM.

What set Sandra’s paper a part from the others was how she illustrated one of the primary benefits of SCORM.  That benefit is being able to leverage third-party SCORM-Conformant content to be delivered on a SCORM-Conformant LMS.  For Sandra’s employer this saves time and money in development costs.  Instead of them building their own learning content to educate staff on products and services, vendors of the products they sell offer SCORM-Conformant learning content that they can leverage from and deliver on their own LMS.  An added benefit is they can also guarantee the quality of the content because it comes direct from the vendor.

This was just one of many benefits discussed by Sandra in her paper.  As someone who worked in a retail environment at one time designing and developing training, I was able to clearly see how her proposed strategy would work. 

Thank you, Sandra. Good work!

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Let’s begin by looking at SCOs. SCOs are a component of the Content Aggregation Model (CAM) which is a component of the SCORM. The CAM is comprised of Learning Objects divided into three categories:

• Assets
• SCOs
• Content Organizations

The contents of the learning objects are described by metadata. In addition, CAM includes a definition of how RLOs can be packed, delivered, and used.

Now, let’s look at RLOs and RIOs.  Discussions about RLOs and RIOs have occurred in many posts throughout this blog.  RLOs were discussed in Reusable Learning Object Strategies and RIOs were discussed in Expanding on E-Learning: Instructional Architectures and Learning Objects.  The bottom line is RLOs are comprised of RIOs.  RIOs by themselves do not have any context.  They are simply “chunks” of information.  When gathered together under a RLO, they create context meaningful to the learner.  This is illustrated in Cisco System’s Reusable Object Strategy.

It may be safe to conclude that although SCOs and RLOs are not the same, SCOs contain RLOs.  That’s the way I see it, but I’m open to correction on this. After all, that was the purpose of this blog – to create a discussion with other students of E-learning and professionals working in the field.

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A couple of the more common acronyms I thought I would tackle are LMS and LCMS.

• LMS - Learning Management System
• LCMS – Learning Content Management System

What is the difference between the two and can a “C” make all the difference in the definition? Let’s take a closer look and define what each one is and what they do.

An LMS is an online system that manages learners and the delivery of content. It provides access to training in the form of learning modules and tracks the progress and performance of learners during training activities.

An LCMS is different.  It’s primary function is to manage learning content, not learners.  It’s only connection to learners is that the LCMS stores learning objects and serves them to learners who need the information on demand or just-in-time.

As you can see, one letter makes all the difference.  A very good write-up on the similarities and differences between LMS and LCMS can be found at Brandon Hall Research if you wish to learn more, but despite their differences both are effective when they work together in an integrated fashion. A whitepaper by IDC describes how both an integrated LCMS-LMS can form a learning system to meet the needs of the learner and the organization it supports.

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I guess this means I’m at the official half-way point of my first full semester of higher education in so many years.

Yes, it’s time for Spring Break!

I’m 34 years old (at last check) and my liver can’t withstand the commitment it takes to enjoy fun in the sun and the unpredictability of life that comes with youthful indiscretion.  Instead, I’ll be using the time to reflect and catch up on blog posts I should have been making over the course of the IPT 525 class.

I’ve got at least three posts in mind for this week:

• Compare and contrast LMS and LCMS
• A breakdown of the differences between RLO, RIO and SCO
• Praise for a fellow student in a paper she wrote on the benefits of adopting a SCORM-Conformant E-Learning Strategy

I’m looking forward to the time off and catching up.  I know this blog hasn’t necessarily turned out the way I wanted to, but with less pressure from completing class assignments hopefully I can get back on track.

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I made mention of SCORM in a previous post but didn’t get into too much detail about it.  SCORM is a very detailed subject when it comes to E-learning, but here’s my attempt to define it based on what I learned these past couple weeks and put it into its proper context.

SCORM is the Sharable Content Object Reference Model.  It is a set of standards and specification for web-based E-learning.  It’s actually the product of the Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative (ADL) founded in 1997 by the The United States Department of Defense (DoD) and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

The ADL Initiative’s overall vision is to provide access to high-quality learning that can be tailored to individual needs and delivered cost-effectively anytime, anywhere.  To accomplish these goals, SCORM was created to foster the creation of reusable learning content as “instructional objects” within a common framework.

The high-level requirements of the SCORM, often referred to as their “-ilities”, highlight the importance of this model in standardization of online learning:

• Accessibility – the ability to locate and access instructional components from one remote location and deliver them to many locations.
• Adaptability – the ability to tailor instruction to individual and organizational needs.
• Affordability – the ability to increase efficiency and productivity by reducing the time and costs to deliver instruction.
• Durability – the ability to withstand technology changes without costly redesign, reconfiguration or recoding.
• Interoperability – the ability to take instructional components developed in one location with one set of tools or platform and use them in another location with a different set of tools or platform.
• Reusability – the flexibility to incorporate instructional components in multiple applications and contexts.

As an instructional designer, I feel the ability to create E-learning under a set of guidelines such as the SCORM keeps the content relevant, easy to update and transferrable.  Some people may see the SCORM as restrictive, but the beauty of such standards is that even though the technology to deliver E-learning may change, the standards by which it is designed and developed remain unchanged.  ADL’s commitment to standards and regularly updating them helps with accessibility and interoperability.

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There are many different strategies centered on RLO’s.  On a more basic level are the strategies discussed by Hodgins in his paper The Future of Learning Objects.  According to Hodgins, there are three RLO strategies that will determine success.  These are either being used currently or will be in the near future:

1. Make it relevant, make is easy- for RLO’s to be readily adopted they must be deemed by learners as high-value.  They must be conceptualized, designed, constructed and selected quickly and easily.  The technology to facilitate this must be easy to use, but the underlying complexity of the technology doesn’t have to be rudimentary, nor should it. Learners are primarily concerned only with what is being presented to them and in context to their learning needs.
2. Connect everything to everything – RLO’s by their nature have a high potential for digital connectivity.  Leveraging technology can bring connectivity to a whole new level through the use of metadata (descriptive information to categorize and catalog content) by supplying a basis for making connections between RLO’s and people.  Technically, new paradigms emerge of sharing information by promoting blended learning solutions.
3. Everything is “just” a node – Learning content, or RLO’s, are decentralized, thus leaving the decision and control of what needs to be learned in the hands of the learner.  Because everything (the RLO’s) are on their own, yet connected to one another through relational metadata, learners approach their learning needs in a contextual fashion whereby based on their need they are able to pull together the “nodes” or RLO’s they need, assemble them and consume the learning when needed.

Cisco Systems have long been using RLO’s in their learning and have created detailed strategies that have evolved over the years to become more effective.  Their RLO’s are structured to give objects the necessary context to ensure a meaningful experience for the learner.  It also allows for RLO’s to be leveraged in problem-based learning, exploratory environments, performance support systems, job aids, help systems or blended learning solutions.  The strategy Cisco employs is focused on design, development and implementation of RLO’s with the underlying philosophy that if these areas are taken care of, the training will be effective creating a better learning experience and accommodate multiple approaches to learning.  This strategy is expressed in Learning Object Development (LOD) stages:

1. Granular analysis – determining performance objectives based on specific audience(s).
2. Design and mine – where the training solution is structured, objectives captured and content types identified.  It’s also an opportunity to find what is currently out there on the subject and leverage from the content if possible.
3. Reuse and develop – actual development of the training solution, reusing (if possible) learning objects in existence and forming the training in context to the training need.
4. Delivery and reference – the training solution is delivered in a variety of formats and chosen learning architectures.
5. Lifecycle maintenance – once a learning object is created, it can then be maintained over the course of its lifecycle.  A change to a single learning object that is shared among many different training solutions can be updated in one location and published to many destinations.

All throughout these stages, evaluation takes place to make improvements to the development process or impact of the overall learning experience.

Whether the strategy is the basic model illustrated in the Hodgin’s paper or the detailed Cisco Systems model, they do work and make an immediate impact when applied.  In 2003, ASTD awarded General Motors an Excellence in Practice Citation for illustrating their blended approach to performance-based training among auto mechanics at their dealerships.

The problem that faced GM in 1999 was that mechanic training became too expensive.  Traditionally, it was instructor-led training over the course of several days.  The training grew far too complex as GM began introducing more models into the marketplace.  With more models came more demand for training that would have forced GM to expand its training infrastructure nationwide at a cost too great for the company to meet and continue to support.

The solution was to restructure the delivery of training by using E-learning as a delivery method including the use of video, web-based, computer-based and interactive distance learning.  This reduced the number of training facilities needed and increased the availability and effectiveness of the training.

Although there as no mention of the use of learning objects in the paper highlighting the reasons behind awarding the citation, it is conceivable that GM made use of learning objects in a strategy to accomplish their goal of reducing training costs and creating effective performance-based learning among their mechanics.

RLO’s may have been used for web-based and computer-based instruction where the “basic building blocks” of mechanics are developed (such as Electronic Fuel Injection or ABS Breaking Systems), but when accessed by the mechanic who is taking a service course on a specific model of vehicle, the RLO’s are assembled and presented in an organized fashion in context to the model they are studying.

—–

On their own, RLO’s are just “nodes”, as mentioned in Hodgin’s paper, but if they are brought together in a strategy (whether basic or detailed), the learner has a better experience resulting in better performance.

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Defined in a previous post, RLO’s are the equivalent to lessons, a collection of Information Objects (chunks of content) compiled in context to a learning objective.

The move to learning objects over these many years offers the promise of capturing knowledge, organizing it and enabling it to be shared and reused among many learners to create new knowledge.  H. Wayne Hodgins from Autodesk, Inc., wrote a whitepaper titled The Future of Learning Objects.  In his paper he discussed how RLO’s increases the effectiveness of learning and human performance by offering up such objects in a defined content model.

This model comprises a strategy that consists of the following:

• Common component-based approach
• Structured content based on a common hierarchical data model
• Metadata at each level of the content hierarchy
• Process methodology
• Technical infrastructure for developing, assembling and managing granular content objects written independently of the delivery media and accessed dynamically through a database

The end result is a database-managed repository of reusable information objects and metadata that can be used for all forms of learning and media delivery types (Hodgins, 2002).

These repositories are commonly known as learning management systems (LMS).  When the chosen model brings together objects in a relevant, meaningful manner and applied strategically, learners have a better experience.  Better experiences lead to better performance.

In the next post, I’ll discuss how when these content models are applied they increase learner performance with some specific examples.

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Those are often the most spoken criticisms of this learning medium.  Most of these criticisms stem from poor experiences with E-learning.  As someone who has consumed and developed E-learning, I don’t disagree when I hear such statements, but at the same time I believe it doesn’t have to be accepted as fact.

Let’s step back for a moment and think about E-learning in and of itself.  What is it exactly?  E-learning is training, or learning, distributed by electronic means.  Organizations or individuals implement training to address a gap in knowledge, skills or ability in its target audience.  Delivering learning using electronic mediums (CD-ROM, web, etc.) speeds up the transfer of learning, widens access by removing logistical barriers (mainly time and place) and decreases delivery costs.

Mind you, none of these intended objectives can be achieved unless E-learning is built on sound instructional design principles and is based on the performance of the learner.  There is a popular book authored in 2002 by Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps titled Telling Ain’t Training.  The book outlines a paradigm for creating training that is performance-based.  It demonstrates how to be a better trainer by designing, developing and delivering training that is built around the learner’s needs and changes in performance or behavior of the learner after training.  Regardless if the training is delivered by an instructor or by electronic means, the content being taught must be “learner-centered and performance based.”  This way you ensure the delivery of learning that is engaging and relevant to the learner because it is relatable and actionable – they can take what they learn and apply it in context to the work they do.

While criticisms against E-learning are justified, it’s largely due to bad experiences people had with the medium.  If E-learning is designed correctly and focuses on the intended performance of the leaner (the result) the overall experience will be better and inexpensive for the developer if they employ the use of reusable learning objects (RLO’s).

In my next post I’ll discuss the use of RLO’s and how they leverage performance and efficiency in E-learning.

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