A version of this article appeared in Learning
Circuits published by the ElearningGuild, 04/16/2007.
The E-Learning Department of One
Greg Kearsley
Most guidelines for e-Learning planning and implementation are written for larger organizations and assume a certain level of staffing, IT support, and budget. And historically, only large corporations had sufficient resources to do e-Learning. But more small and medium size companies are getting involved with e-Learning without the availability of such resources. In fact, the main growth area for e-Learning over the next decade or so is likely to be in the domain of small companies and non-profit organizations. Typically in these settings, a single person is responsible for all e-Learning activities – an e-Learning department of one. This article focuses on e-Learning problems and strategies in this context (see Table 1).
Table 1. Problems and Strategies for the E-Learning Department of One
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1. Limited Budget |
· Utilize free trials/tools/courses · Rely on vendors for demos and assistance · Make use of existing software |
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2. Lack of Support from Management |
· Focus on high priority training opportunities · Emphasize ROI · Make presentations |
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3. Getting Employees to Participate |
· Create an advisory committee · Ask for volunteers · Create dependencies and deadlines |
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4. Getting Assistance from IT Department |
· Rely on externally-hosted courses/tools · Avoid enterprise solutions |
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5. Time Needed to Implement and Evaluate |
· Delegate/share tasks · Keep it small · Replicate what others have done |
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6. Nobody to consult with |
· Participate in blogs/forums · Attend conferences |
Budget
What are the main issues faced by the E-Learning department of one? Without a doubt, limited or no budget for e-Learning activities is the most common and most serious. Many training mangers are given the go-ahead for e-Learning but with no additional financial (or other resources) provided. This presents the immediate problem of how to offer e-Learning courses without the funds to buy courses or a learning management system to track their use. There are a number of potential strategies to deal with the paucity of resources. The first one is to make use of the trial version of courses and tools. Most e-Learning and software vendors will make their products available on a trial basis for at least 30 days (see Resources section at end of article for some suggestions). That means you can offer a course or use an authoring tool to create one at no cost, provided you can get the training accomplished quickly. And there is no harm trying out different courses or tools from different vendors while collecting feedback from your employees on which ones they like most. Such evaluations can stretch over an extended time period such as 6-12 months during which time you could get a good amount of training accomplished.
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Case Study: Buying Off-the-Shelf |
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The American Diabetes Association is the nation’s leading
non-profit organization supporting diabetes information, advocacy and
research. The Advice for the e-learning department of one? Choose a courseware vendor that offers good variety in their course offerings and an authoring tool so you can develop your own courses if you decide to. Also look for a pricing scheme that lets you buy a block of courses or course time and leaves you free to pick how many of what courses you want to offer. |
Resources Needed
A second strategy for dealing with limited resources is to make use of existing resources. For example, Microsoft Powerpoint (or OpenOffice Impress) can be used to create e-Learning course materials, especially if they are to be used in the context of a web conference (synchronous meeting). There are also Learning Content Management Systems available that will let you build an asynchronous (self-paced) course out of Powerpoint slideshows, adding quizzes or interactive learning activities. Powerpoint is available on most office computers these days and is easy to use. The other tools mentioned (e.g., a web conferencing system or an LCMS) are examples of products that you should have no trouble getting trial versions. The Guild provides a free e-book on LMS/LCMS systems that might be a useful resource.
Indeed, e-Learning doesn’t have to take the form of courses at all. A great deal of online learning takes place informally via search engines, email, blogs, and newsletters. You can harness these resources for training activities. For example, you could produce a series of email newsletters that discuss specific training issues or create a blog/discussion forum with volunteer experts who will field questions on certain topics and nuture participation. In fact, asking people to contribute to a blog or moderate a discussion forum is a good way to get them involved and interested in e-Learning. Another option is to make use of a test creation program (again, either free or on a trial basis) to create tests that can be used in conjunction with existing classroom seminars or training materials – and add some outcome measurements and accountability to your training program.
Management Support
Another typical problem for the E-Learning department of one
is lack of support from senior management or line managers. When e-Learning is
not a major organizational initiative, it tends to get ignored by managers who
usually focus on operational issues. The key to enlisting management support
(at any level) for e-Learning is to make sure that it addresses a high priority
operational issue, such as turnover, customer satisfaction, sales performance,
or reducing costs. The latter issue is typically a good one for e-Learning
since it typically lowers the costs of delivering training due to reduced
travel expenditures. In fact, cost savings can be significant, in the order of
40-60%. For example, consider a training seminar on applicant interviewing that
is intended to be taken by 100 managers in an organization that has 10 offices
spread out over the
Senior management needs to see a business case for e-Learning. This means that you need to identify the specific operational issues that a proposed e-Learning program will address, the cost savings or revenue increase expected, and the Return on Investment (ROI) for the resources required. If you are following the suggestions outlined in this article, the resources needed for e-Learning are going to be minimal and so your ROI should be look good (see example in Table 2).
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Table 2: ROI Example: Customer Service Training |
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Companies continually lose existing customers to competitors at account renewal times because of poor customer service. In this example, a survey reveals that approximately 1000 customers per year don’t renew due to customer service issues. The company decides to try an e-learning solution, asking their 100 customer service representatives to take 3 online courses to improve their customer relations skills. It is expected that as result of this training, there will be a 20% reduction in customer losses (i.e., 200 customers). The average value of each customer’s account is $1500 per year or a total worth of $50,000. The cost of the courses is $150 per employee. The ROI calculation is the estimated value of the training / the cost of the training: Estimated value of increased customer renewals for one year = $30,000 Cost of customer service training for 100 employers = $15,000 ROI = 30,000/15,000 = 2 Note: A ROI value greater than 1 is a viable investment; the higher the number, the better the return. |
Selling & Sustaining E-Learning
Which brings up another aspect of selling e-Learning – you will likely need to make lots of presentations – to managers and employees. Because e-Learning is not something that most people in smaller organization have much experience with, a lot of educating is required. Managers are going to be interested in hearing about how it has worked at other organizations and there is plenty of useful materials available from the E-Learning Guild and other e-Learning sources (e.g., http://www.learningcircuits.org/case_studies). Employees are going to want to know why this is a better alternative to the forms of training that they are familiar with. Convenience is usually the big selling feature with employees, in terms of taking the training when and where they want without having to travel.
The selling process for e-Learning needs an ongoing effort. Even after successful implementation, there will be new employees and new managers who need to be educated. You should plan on making regular presentations, updating everyone on results and new developments. Such presentations should review the nature of the e-Learning being provided (showing course sample is good), the business case and expected outcomes, the actual results, and the next steps.
One good strategy for both selling and sustaining e-Learning within your organization is to create a steering or advisory committee comprised of a cross-section of managers and employers who will be affected. An ideal size for this committee is 6-8 members and should involve individuals who are enthusiastic about (or at least interested in) e-Learning. This committee should be used to review courses and tools, plan implementation and collect feedback. Such committees are a good way to establish an organization structure for e-Learning even though none exists formally. And committee members can be rotated on a yearly basis to bring in fresh ideas and allow different facets of the organization to be represented.
Employee Participation
Another major problem that e-Learning projects often encounter is getting employees to participate fully. To the extent that the e-Learning is of the asynchronous (self-paced) variety, employees must take the initiative to start and complete the training. This is other side of the convenience factor – e-Learning can be done any time/any place, or no time/no place. This potential problem is usually addressed by having employees committed to a training schedule that indicates when they will complete all or portions of e-Learning activities. Using a Learning Management System, it is easy for a manager to check on the progress of an employee in satisfying such a schedule.
Another strategy for increasing employee participation is to enlist volunteers to take the courses, perhaps as reviewers/evaluators. This strategy is particularly effective if the volunteers are supervisors or senior employees who command some respect among their staff. Knowing that others have taken the courses tends to create peer pressure for everyone else to take them.
Finally, if completion of e-Learning courses is tied to participation in other training activities (the blended model), that provides additional motivation. This works well when e-Learning courses provide basic information that is then built upon in face-to-face or hands-on sessions. Alternatively, e-Learning can be used for advanced instruction tailored to the needs of each employee following a training session common to all.
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Case Study: Course Completion Issues |
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LTP Management Group operates a number of restaurants in LTP selected e-Learning because of the convenience it provides to managers to take the training on their own schedule. However, this is a two-edged sword. Lisa Burgs reports that the most time-consuming aspect of e-Learning is ensuring that managers complete the training in a timely manner and the need to follow-up with them to ensure completion. This is one of the reasons why many organizations opt for real-time e-Learning using web conferencing tools and scheduled sessions. The fact that the training has a specified time (and participation is required) increases the chances that it will get completed. On the other hand, this eliminates one of the major advantages of e-Learning, namely the convenience to the employee of not being tied to a training schedule. However, it still provides for the freedom to take the training from any location (including home or hotel) and eliminates the travel costs and time way from work associated with attending training events. Since a reduction in travel costs is often one of the major justifications for e-Learning, this benefit alone may be sufficient for some organizations. |
IT Assistance
One important consideration for implementing e-Learning is the potential involvement of your organization’s Information Technology (IT) department. While you want the support and assistance of your IT department for e-Learning, you don’t want to require any more of their involvement than necessary since this normally means internal budget requests. The best way to minimize their involvement is to look for externally-hosted, web-based courses and tools. In fact, most course and LMS vendors offer this option. This means that you do not need the IT department to obtain, install or maintain any software. To the extent that things are web-based, they should be available via any machine that has internet access and a browser – which is almost any computer these days.
You should also avoid so-called “enterprise” solutions.
On the other hand, it is unlikely that you will be able to conduct e-learning activities without some involvement of your IT department (or the IT person in a small organization). Even running courses or tools from an external host will probably run afoul of plug-ins that need to be installed, or firewall issues. So cultivate good relationships with your IT staff, but try to find e-Learning solutions that minimize the need for their help.
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Case Study: Plant Environments |
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Armen Arisian is the HR manager at NYTEF, a plastics manufacturing company with approximately 200 employees located in 5 states. He is responsible for providing a broad range of training ranging from sexual harassment and diversity awareness for managers, to safety training for plant workers. He is using off-the-shelf e-Learning courses as a way of meeting diverse training needs with limited staff and budget. One of the problems with trying to implement e-Learning in a plant environment is that most employees don’t have their own workstations. This is also true of many other work settings such as hospitals, retail businesses, restaurants, etc. The usual solution to this dilemma is to provide a training room equipped with one or more computers set up for e-Learning (i.e., internet connection, all necessary software and plug-ins loaded). Another potential solution is to provide laptops with wireless connections that can used anywhere in the facility. In this case, NYTEF created a training workstation at each location with their IT group responsible for ensuring the proper functioning of the computer. The biggest obstacle for e-Learning at NYTEF is finding the time to implement it. Even using off-the-shelf courseware and an easy to use LMS, it still takes time to organize and manage the training….although substantially less than with classroom delivery. Armen Arisian suggests three strategies for ensuring that elearning succeeds: (1) make sure that the training offered addresses the priorities of top and line management, (2) get line managers and supervisors to identify what training is needed by which individuals, and (3) be sure to communicate clearly with employees about the details of the training. In other words, when doing e-Learning with limited resources, you need to be on target! |
Time Needed
One of the biggest problems for the E-Learning Department of One is finding the time needed to plan, implement, and evaluate e-Learning solutions. Most of the strategy ideas discussed above don’t require resources, but do require a significant time investment. For example, the evaluation of a potential course or tool, or running an advisory committee can be very time-consuming.
Some general advice to minimize time requirements is to keep your e-Learning projects as small as possible. The amount of time required to implement an e-Learning effort tends to be in proportion to the number of participants. So rather than offer training to all 1000 employees, pick a small sample of perhaps 50 for an initial pilot test. Not only does this reduce the level of effort, but it may also allow you to pick a subset of participants who are more likely to complete the training and provide a better basis for subsequent training. Of course, you will eventually need to offer the training to all 1000 employees, but if the initial pilot goes well, you should have the rationale to ask for the additional resources needed to complete the full training program.
Another strategy to minimizing the time required for e-Learning initiatives is to distribute/delegate the responsibilities as much as possible. This goes hand in hand with the earlier suggestion to create an advisory committee since members can be asked to carry out some of the tasks related to e-Learning. Some line managers and supervisors may also be interested enough in training or e-Learning specifically that they are willing to play a major role in e-Learning projects. Of course the key to this kind of shared workload is to ensure that it appeals to the self-interests of the parties involved.
Off-the-Shelf Versus Do-It-Yourself
An issue closely related to the previous topic of time needed is the extent to which you go with off-the-shelf courses or try to create your online training materials. Locating and evaluating off-the-shelf courses is very time-consuming and it’s tempting to give up early and decide to develop your own courses. For an e-Learning department of one, this can be a serious mistake. Even with a good authoring tool, the amount of time required learning how to use it, as well as ancillary software such as a graphics/photo/video editor, can be significant (i.e., many late nights). Likewise, learning how to use an LMS/LCMS, a blog or discussion system, or a test creation program can require extensive time investments. And keep in mind that once you have created online learning materials, they have to be maintained. Every time there is a major change to the content of a course, they have to be revised. A popular rule of thumb is that 20 percent of the content of a training course needs to be updated annually. In a course with 100 screens or topics, that’s 20 that will need to be changed every year.
The more you can go with off-the-shelf solutions, the less time you need to spend learning course development/delivery tools or doing course maintenance. Most e-Learning vendors offer turn-key solutions that include some degree of customization to your training setting for relatively little extra cost. Keep in mind what was said earlier about vendors offering trial versions of the courses and systems so you can try them out before making any financial commitment.
If it is necessary to develop your own courses or e-Learning applications, try to use tools that require minimal skills and time investments. It has already been mentioned that a slideshow program (such as Microsoft Powerpoint) is a versatile tool that can be used to create materials for web conferences or self-paced courses. Similarly, screen recording software such as TechSmith Camtasia or Adobe Captivate allow you to produce training materials quickly and easily for any software application. Flash is a probably the most widely used tool for courseware development today and is not difficult to learn to use. Knowing how to use programs such as these provides a lot of flexibility to develop online training materials without a lengthy and expensive development process. But it should still not be your first choice.
Who to Talk To?
One person e-Learning departments can be lonely places. Many e-Learning managers report that they have no one they can talk to for advice or just to toss ideas around. Clearly this is one of the functions of the e-Learning advisory committee. For interaction outside of your organization, you can turn to discussion forums and blogs (e.g., the Info Exchange in the Guild’s Community Connection). And of course, attending any e-Learning conference will give you many like-mind souls to commiserate with, as well as a start to establishing your own personal support network. The e-Learning world is big, so don’t be afraid to reach out to it.
Resources
Note: All of the software listed is either free, or offers a free trial version.
About the Author:
Greg Kearsley, PhD, has been involved in the design,
development, and evaluation of online learning for over 25 years. He can be
reached at