The Edge: Getting The Most Out of E-Learning

Choosing the Best Online Training Content for Your Oganization

http://www.toytrunkrailroad.com/TTR010219.asp


Sometimes in life you have to take the good with the bad. Fortunately, that doesn’t have to be the case when you are choosing online training content. A little forethought can help assure that you get the most “bang for your buck.”

Your challenge is three-fold:

1. Choose training content that imparts the skills that will assist your organization in achieving goals.

2. Make sure the content chosen is usable and accessible to the greatest number of students.

3. Confirm that the content can be delivered quickly and efficiently.

Some suggestions on what to look for from a study done by The E-Learning Competency Centre may be helpful to you in evaluating content:

• Completeness: cover what is needed in sufficient breadth and depth.
• Clarity: easy to understand.
• Appropriateness: up to date and credible.
• Effective Chunking: doesn’t try to fit too much all on one page or in one lesson.
• Navigation: simple, easy to see where you are, the less scrolling the better.
• Technology: takes available bandwidth into account, SCORM compliant, deals with multimedia easily.
• Technical Assistance: Do I need special hardware? What support is included?
• Learning Aids: Can I find what I need, when I need it?
• Use of Media: Graphics and audio add to the training, not take away.
• Assessment: Prescriptive testing capabilities can save lots of time normally wasted reviewing already familiar material unnecessarily.

posted by Brian M. Gwyn @ 8/30/2004 08:22:00 AM