← Previous    Next →

Share This Post

Email Print Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Stumble Digg More Destinations

Leveraging Learning

• Subscribe to Feed
• Subscribe via Email

Popular Tags

#L2009 Appirio business business of learning change channel readiness cloud cloud computing cloudsourcing collaboration communities constraints content costs customer training design disruption eLearning enterprise learning industry news innovation instructional design learning Learning 2009 learning industry learning portal learning theory LMS outsourcing press release pricing productivity Rapid eLearning SaaS SaaS Training sales training scoping social learning social media strategy technology twitter velocity made good virtual training webinars

Seven Tips for Bringing the Rapid Back to Rapid eLearning

My colleague Jon continues to tally up the hits for his tell-it-like-it-is blog post There’s Nothing Rapid About Rapid eLearning. While he does a great job laying out the realities and timelines of “rapid” eLearning development, I thought a follow-up offering some tips and tricks for rediscovering the rapid might be in order. So here’s a starter list. Got some favorite tips and tricks of your own? Would love it if you’d add them to the comments.

1. Provide pre-defined not blank-slate solutions: Drive-throughs have value-meals for a reason. Lose the drawing board and offer your sponsor a few simple options to choose between.  If possible, show examples. They get to chose the option they like most, know what to expect, and you’re less likely to be surprised downstream by requests for more functionality than you had proposed. (Nothing like a late-breaking request for branching, or audio, or interactive simulation to completely blow the budget and timeline…)
2. Triage: Identify and prioritize the must-have topics and then build and deliver using a rolling-hand-off approach.
3. Think short and discrete: Forget the all-or-nothing hour-long recordings – give me a bunch of small, targeted “lessons” that I can find and use in the moment of need. Please. Please. Please.
4. Skip the storyboard: Save the polish for the final product not the interim deliverables. SMEs already know the tool, so you really don’t need fancy screen shots with callouts. A simple script or step/action table should do it. Put your energy into getting the core content right, rather than providing exhaustive documentation.
5. Use templates: This should be a no-brainer, but it’s amazing how often we re-invent the wheel, and how much time we waste in the process. Instead, for each of your pre-defined solutions (see tip #1) have a simple set of templates that at minimum serve as a baseline you can tailor to meet customer needs. (Strive to get as close to plug-and-play as you can.) Though the templates will surely vary depending on whether you’re building technical how-to demos, sales webinars, or educational marketing value-prop recordings, you should have a set associated with each solution type: start with consistently laid out scripts, slides, and style guides, and add in pre-defined wire-frames and a library of interactive eLearning assets as you develop them. Think and design for reuse even for those things originally “sold” as a one-off.
6. The first one’s the prototype: If you’re following tip #3, then it is just as easy to build the first “lesson” as it is to build a generic prototype.  And, once it’s reviewed, revised, and approved, you’ve not only got the look and feel locked down, you’ve also got your first deliverable ready for handoff.
7. Streamline the process: Keep it simple and front-load the check-points in order to minimize post-production rework. Try this:
   a. Lock your SMEs in a room (real or virtual) for a 2-to-4 hour working session: identify the topics; get agreement on the priorities, and which to tackle first; have SME demo as many topics as there is time for (starting with top priorities); ask questions, and take notes on the steps. b. Convert notes to a script. Do your homework, review source materials and/or get familiar with the application, and fill out as much content as possible. Flag any missing info or open questions inline. c. Have SMEs review script, answer questions, fill-in missing data: Ideally you will only need one review cycle for the script. Ask the SME to alert you if they need to see another version before moving into production. If requested, take the time to do another round here– it’s much easier and faster to redo a word doc than an eLearning lesson. Note: Steps b and c are done off-line by ID and SME, respectively. If the SME can support iterative handoffs, you can save time via parallel processing by having ID move on to the next script while the first is in review. (Alternately, process scripts in batches appropriately sized to the SMEs bandwidth.) d. Build (and QA) the lesson: use your favorite tools and templates; focus on high-accuracy vs. high-fidelity. Where possible, employ a specialist who can do this in their sleep. (Lots of saving can be had from paying a slightly higher rate for a top-notch developer vs. using a less-experienced yet cheaper resource.) e. Allow your “client” one review cycle of finished lesson:  set this expectation upfront. Encourage them to coordinate and consolidate the reviews of all pertinent stakeholders. f. Revise, finalize, and deliver. By this stage, there should be no major surprises. Anything more than a few tweaks or additional color commentary is an indicator that either a) you didn’t front-load enough, or b) your client is introducing a change of scope. Assess this honestly and then a) take the hit and improve your process moving forward or b) revisit scope with your client and discuss how the request impacts costs and/or schedule.  If the latter, be sure to do this before making any changes, so they can make an informed decision about whether the change is worth the impact.
   What have you found that works well?

~ posted by Beth Chmielowski on 17 Feb 10
   tagged as: eLearning, eLearning development, Rapid eLearning

2 Responses so far. Add Your Own.