What can organizations do to change these behaviors and actions?
Learning organizations need to begin evaluating their own capabilities by using tools such as performance analysis and training needs analysis (Mager, 1998). Do we lack the competencies to follow the research and best practices presented to us by the experts in our field? If we discover that we have made choices to develop information-centric page-turners, we need to ask the question, “Why?” We may have very good instructional designers who come up with creative learning interaction designs, but do not have the programming skills to implement the design.
Table 1 contains some suggested mitigations to the problems I have discussed in this article.
|
Problem |
Mitigation |
|
We have skills in instructional design but lack skills in programming |
Learning how to program in Flash or other programming tools is a very complex skill. Consider outsourcing this skill. Evaluate a vendor’s capabilities and pricing by looking at examples of their work. Ask for an example of a high-end simulation or learning game. |
|
We have skills in instructional design but lack skills to design a creative e Learning solution. |
This skill requires the ability to analyze needs-analysis data, consider all of the science, and synthesize a solution. One can learn this skill, and there are training programs and degree programs to teach it. However, I recommend outsourcing this task to a local company with a person who possesses this unique skill of design and synthesis. Ask for sample work, or work with the vendor on a project to see how creative they really are. Challenge them to explain the instructional reason for the design. |
|
We have a low budget so we cannot afford to hire vendors to outsource the skills of design and programming. |
Maybe you can't afford to outsource your entire problem, but you might be able to outsource some of it. Break the task up into components. The first component is instructional design. Keep instructional design in house. Learn how to conduct a needs analysis and write measurable learning objectives. Keep the interface between instructional designer and subject matter experts in house if you can. Your in house team can be responsible for writing the content. Secondly, find a design consultant who can work with you on your designs. This person should have a background in both programming and creative design. Finally, outsource the programming to a vendor that offers low cost programming. You will find companies located in India that offer reasonable prices for programming and e-Learning development. |
Conclusion
If a learning organization has the vision to take their e-Learning to the level of experiential learning within authentic contextual challenges, simply purchasing rapid development tools may not be the way to achieve this vision. Learning organizations need to recognize that effective e-Learning requires skills in instructional design, cognitive science, media arts, and computer science and the ability to synthesize all of these skills. If learning organizations do not have these skills in house they should consider building the business case to develop the skills, hire someone who has these skills or outsource the skill.
References
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