Friday, June 5, 2009

eLearning Implementation Planning


If elearning is so good, then why are so many companies not seeing the results they had hoped for with their elearning programs? The answer to this question in most cases is poor planning, “people don’t plan to fail--they fail to plan” I believe is the famous quote. What is the end goal that you wish to achieve with elearning and what is your plan to accomplish that goal? 


A great number of companies these days seem to think that having access to a myriad of information will somehow transport students to a higher level of performance. People haven't changed the ways that they learn something new. They still have to practice new concepts to get comfortable with them and get feedback to ensure they're on the right track. If companies don't adopt sound learning principles to base their elearning efforts on then they will not realize the performance improvements they hoped for. 


To have success with elearning it has to be understood that elearning itself is nothing more than a delivery tool. You have to have a plan to put an elearning infrastructure in place that will grow both the elearning program and the people driving the program. Further, and this is crucial, you must have something in place to measure the effectiveness of your elearning’s implementation. This comes usually in the form of simple testing initially but further on will require a tracking or management system. I could talk at length on this topic but just wanted to share a few key pointers. 


Good Luck!


Paul