It’s not that rapid e-learning tools are entirely replacing trainers or instructional designers. They are, however, becoming a preferred choice of developing and delivering training in the corporate world. Their ease of use and overall cost is relatively low compared to the more traditional forms of training. Nevertheless, these software applications are merely tools and in the hands of inexperienced instructional designers or subject matter experts tapped as trainers, they are ineffective.

Instructional designers  have their place in the training process as they analyze and validate training needs. With their knowledge of adult learning and how to maximize the potential of each learner, they can organize and present the content in a fashion that is easy to learn and relevant to the learner. More importantly, they can create activities and exercises that give the learner an immediate opportunity to demonstrate what they learned and get corrective feedback.

Sadly, I have to agree with the author of the blog post that inspired this particular post that some companies are trading quality for speed. While it is understandable that managers and human resource departments need people to be trained quickly and efficiently, the science behind adult learning often gets overlooked.

I feel the profession instructional design is losing some ground as being an established function within organizations. This is largely due to the economy. When cuts in a company need to be made, training is often the first to go as instructional designers are largely a support and administration function of an organization. They are not a line function, which generates revenue directly for a company. Such cuts, in my opinion, are not necessarily a wise move as I discussed in a previous post.

Rapid e-learning tools, in place of qualified instructional designers and trainers give a false impression that anybody can put together training and I hope that changes when the economy turns around. Instructional designers must do a better job demonstrating their value within their organizations. At PinPoint, we’re happy to say we use rapid e-learning tools, but we back-up everything we produce with sound instructional design.

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Within the last 3 months I have been using Adobe Captivate as part of my consulting business.  It may seem ironic that I’m taking a class on a software tool that I’ve been using and mostly learned on my own, but by taking a formalized class I think it will result in me producing better training.

Wish me luck!

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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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