eLearning Launch Checklist - Best Practices for Online Learning Rollout

If your company or organization is considering the move to eLearning, welcome to the 21st century. We mean that sincerely – the future of employee training will be based in some measure on eLearning techniques and concepts. Many successful organizations have already adopted some or most of their workforce learning and development programs to eLearning, whether by converting their traditional training to electronic format, or creating a new eLearning curriculum.

In any case, the decision to implement eLearning is both a wise organizational move, and a challenge to accomplish. It is important to understand the implications, and to plan the transition from traditional training to eLearning in a calculated and measured way.

To that end, we’ve put together this eLearning rollout checklist for companies that are considering an eLearning program. This checklist should be seen as a guide, not as a recipe. The training needs of every organization are different, with varying requirements and challenges. Partnering with an experienced team of professionals is often the best way to ensure long-term success.

How to assess your eLearning needs:

In order to successfully convert or implement an eLearning program within your organization, it’s a wise move to assess the training needs of your organization. Understanding where your workforce needs to be in terms of training is the first step to developing a successful eLearning program. Here are some questions to ask of your L&D team, and of your employees themselves.

• What is the driver for converting to or implementing an eLearning program?
• Is there any of our training that does not lend itself to eLearning?
• Do we have the expertise in-house or should we outsource?
• Is the infrastructure in place to support an eLearning program?
• How much of our training should be eLearning?
• What is our current training budget and how much can be allocated to eLearning?
• What types of eLearning design should we consider?
• How will we gauge the success of an eLearning program?

The answers to these and other company-specific questions should be considered carefully before taking the next steps of moving forward with an eLearning rollout. If your decision is to partner with a team of eLearning design experts like Designing Digitally, Inc., then we can help you in this assessment process.

What you need to know when rolling out an eLearning program:

Once you’ve assessed the eLearning needs of your organization and are ready to move forward, there are some other things you should keep in mind. Here are some of the major considerations of designing eLearning for your workforce:

• Courses should be based on clearly defined goals and objectives. With any training program, it is important to define the learning objectives. It is especially critical with eLearning, as this is a self-directed and self-paced learning experience. Help the learner to succeed.
• eLearning modules should be concise and to the point. Shorter and more focused eLearning modules are more easily consumed when the learner has the time to devote to them. The more concise your lesson, the more likely a learner is to finish it.
• eLearning must be developed in a common format. In order to properly track and understand the effectiveness of an eLearning program, courses must be developed in one of the trackable formats like SCORM, AICC, Tin Can, xAPI etc.
• The right course design is crucial to any eLearning effort. It should be built with the learner in mind, and use the latest techniques for online training success.
  • Interactivity
  • Relevance
  • Attractive visual elements
  • Timely feedback
  • Game-based features
  • Branching scenarios
• A robust learning management system is crucial. Managing and tracking the delivery of eLearning courses is as important as how they’re developed. Integrating a comprehensive LMS will help to ensure greater utilization and success.
• Should include measurable results. Any eLearning program should contain assessments that measure the results of the lessons. Keep in mind that the results often say as much about the eLearning lesson as they do about the learner.

If eLearning is something that your organization is considering, partnering with the right design team can make all the difference. To learn how Designing Digitally, Inc. can help ensure your eLearning project is a success, contact us to discuss your needs. Our design experts can help to assess where you are, and where you need to be with your eLearning initiatives. Don’t get left behind when it comes to the latest training advances – we’re here to help take your training to the next level.