Why we should ask more from e-learning partners
At World of Learning 2014 CommsLearning's Paul Service will share the secrets of how smart e-learning agencies are evolving to support the dramatic increase of in-house e-learning skills.
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E-learning growth has driven dramatic increases in in-house e-learning teams. So what should your e-learning partner offer now to better support the customers' new requirements? At World of Learning CommsLearning's Paul Service will share the secrets of how smart e-learning agencies are already evolving behind the scenes to support the dramatic increase of in-house e-learning skills.
E-learning is now a mature and established delivery method for any sizeable training programme. It’s no longer the black art it once was with businesses being held to ransom with high cost inflexible modules developed by a select few. Some people would even say that ‘anyone’ can develop e-learning today, equipped with some basic PowerPoint skills and a copy of Articulate Storyline. So if that’s true, or even partly true, what value can an e-learning agency bring to your business today when you have many of these skills in house?
"In house teams are growing in strength and whilst it’s true that you don’t need to be a programmer to produce powerful engaging and impactful e-learning, it’s still not the case that ‘anyone can do it’," explains Paul Service.
In house teams are being formed and are growing in size month by month. 'What is their background? Where have these people come from?' There is no formal path or education track into e-learning. Most common is for someone to work in HR/L&D who has some technical ability to be given the ‘opportunity’ to take on 'digital learning' for the business. The problem with this is that although they will have the capacity to be a great instructional designer, it will take time and experience (usually learning the hard way).
"As an agency that has been developing e-learning for over 10 years, I think it’s fair to say we’ve learned the hard way on a number of fronts. The biggest lessons we have all learned are not around the technology, or even around a particular learning methodology. The big lessons are all around process, scope, organisation & control. And this is what I see one of the roles of the e-learning partner of the future is to share this knowledge."
Looking ahead to his presentation at World of Learning Paul Service explained: "We need to work with the in house e-learning development teams to share what we have learned about how to build better e-learning faster. Each team is unique and will have different gaps to be filled. Some may need more guidance on the scoping and project management, others more around design and creativity. Whatever it is we are there to coach support and guide."
"Do we still need e-learning partners? Well I, for one, certainly believe and hope so. Apart from anything else there will always be spikes in demand/capacity where outsourcing will be the right solution. However this must be delivered in such a way that leaves the company in control, i.e. using in house templates, source files & documentation handed over," adds Paul.
"Beyond capacity issues though, technology is constantly developing and it’s our role to keep engaging, testing and pushing the boundaries of what you can do with digital learning. Whilst the fundamentals of a traditional e-learning modules have now stabilised, there is still much talk and excitement about the new learning technologies. Mobile learning is still finding it’s feet, social learning is yet to really take off plus many more which we know are just around the corner. The e-learning partner of tomorrow will still be there to manage spikes in capacity, but will also help coach and guide your internal teams and to bring the latest and greatest that digital learning has to offer to business."
World of Learning takes place on Sep 30-Oct 1, at NEC Birmingham.