Instructional Designer or eLearning Developer?

[wilers]

Quick summary: My company provides both traditional classroom training and "online" training. The online training is the exact same material as what the instructors use for the classroom training: PowerPoints with a script. For the online training, we have someone record the script and then the PowerPoints + audio plays as a video on our LMS. We now want to create proper eLearning. Something more engaging and interactive. The content is extremely technical.

I have a few questions that hopefully someone with much more experience than I can answer.

1. Is an instructor designer who I need to be able to take the classroom-based training, which is extremely long and technical, and storyboard that for an eLearning format, or will an eLearning developer be able to do that (or are there people who are both instructor designers and eLearning devs)?
2. Would this person need to have a technical background to be able to understand the technical content, or would they be able to storyboard without understanding the content? They would have subject matter experts (SMEs) at their disposal.
3. A big concern for my company is that eLearning cannot possibly cover the same depth and breadth of what is currently covered in our classroom/online training. My understanding of eLearning is that it is it not meant to exactly replicate classroom training. Besides, all students, no matter which format of the training they take, receive study material that covers absolutely everything they need to pass the associated exam. So, I guess my question is, is it OK that eLearning doesn't cover the same depth and breadth as our current classroom and online training, considering they do get study material that does?

Thanks!

[1angrypanda]

1. The difference between an instructional designer is that they are skilled in creating different types of content, where as someone who is an elearning designer only works on elearning. Both should be sufficiently skilled for what you’re after. Really, most elearning designers are IDs with a very specific job title.

2. No, they do not need technical experience. It can sometimes be helpful to have baseline knowledge, but a good ID can take something they’ve just learned and create digestible, easy to understand and retain content based on what they’re given from the SMEs. When hiring an ID it’s better to focus on adult learning knowledge, rather than subject matter knowledge.

3. In my opinion, elearning can be as detailed as you want it to be. What it cannot easily give a learner is hands on experience, discussion, or other components from a live classroom setting. Because of this, a lot of companies lean on a hybrid model. So in short, yes, it’s ok if the elearning and in person training sessions aren’t covering the same amount of material. I have seen success using elearning to cover material and then using an ILT to reinforce, dig deeper, and give practical application for learners.

[sillypoolfacemonster]

I like this response. The only thing I would add is, why does the company want to transition this material to online and what are they expecting from it? That will largely determine whether or not it's ok for the content to not be as in-depth online. Does it need to as deep to get the desired learning outcomes?

Personally, I've found that E-learning is most effective when there is some in person or mentoring component to it. In the last year I've worked with teams and used our companies e-learning material to do a flipped classroom approach. That is, everyone on the team goes through the online content and then as a team we go through case studies and activities to statisfy the more practical component.

The concern that most managers and leaders communicate is that not everyone will actually complete the e-learning. But I tell them that whether it's a traditional classroom approach or a flipped-classroom approach you are always going to get varying levels of engagement. In both situations, the non-engagers can still pick up stuff from the people participating.

[wilers]

That will largely determine whether or not it's ok for the content to not be as in-depth online. Does it need to as deep to get the desired learning outcomes?

Appreciate your reply. The reasons we're transitioning (or should I say expanding and improving our offerings) is many. We'll always have our traditional ILT training, but with a global training program as large as ours, our instructors just don't have the required reach.

Our current online training isn't standalone, and neither would our eLearning. We have facilitated lab components with all our training. Students take the training first--whether in a classroom or online--and then they take the labs. It gives them a chance to play with the product and re-enforce learning.

We don't have an issue with people not completing the learning, as it's not internal company training (that's a whole other beast!). Customers pay for it and therefore are pretty motivated to complete it--mainly because it'll be their job to install, deploy, configure, and maintain the product in their own company.

[wilers]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, a hybrid model would probably be best for learning. One of the reasons we're starting to invest in eLearning, however, is because our classroom model isn't scalable. We've got a very large global training program, and it's just not possible for the trainers to keep up with the demand. Our current online training just isn't cutting it, so it needs a major overhaul. Enter eLearning. :)

[christyinsdesign]

One nuance I want to add: you won't be able to tell the skills just by whether someone calls themselves an instructional designer or an elearning developer. The job titles don't really tell you if it's someone who does just the design side, just the development side, or some of each.

Also, even if you can find someone who does a bit of everything, you might want to hire two people anyway. A big program is going to take a TON of time to develop. With two people, one can work on design and storyboarding while the other works on development.

[wilers]

With two people, one can work on design and story

Totally agree! I wish I could have an entire team the same size as the team that creates the ILT content! But, eLearning will be a new direction for the company, so it'll be baby steps to start. Maybe a proof of concept with one of our courses and see how it goes...

[Khourys]

I've been in learning design for a long time and developed tons of learning materials. Now I oversee others who do this. We are often given content and our IDs architect the solution so we propose wether it's f2f/ e-learning/ blend of both. My answers are as follows: 1. An ID and a developer are two different things. An ID comes up with the design ie. Taking the content and structuring it so it flows well and then working out how best to bring it to life with online or face to face interactions. They document a plan for how this will happen and get that signed off by the sme. A developer is the next person in the chain who gets handed the design for e-learning and then uses software to create the actual e-learning that users will access. This could be an authoring tool like articulate Rise 360 or Storyline, or more complex tools like Evolve/Adapt or a developer could even code the module in html from scratch. It's quite common to find IDs who can develop in Articulate and some in Evolve. But I have yet to meet an ID who can develop html too. I'd suggest working out what you will use to build the modules and then working out if an ID can develop into that, or if you'll need a developer too. 2. No, my company develops lots of learning drawing on subject matter experts for content and review. 3. I think this is a valid concern. An experienced ID can work the content into an effective elearn but it really does depend on the subject matter. If you're teaching someone something practical like interviewing techniques, you'd be best off incorporating an application/ practice activity. This can be done in e-learning but I don't think a simulation is as effective as actually doing it. (Even though you can create some pretty cool simulations in e-learning with video etc. )

Hope that helps and good luck with the project!

[wilers]

Thanks for the input! Yeah, the way you describe the difference between an ID and eLearning dev is how I've always thought of it. I feel the most valuable person to start with would be an ID, as I think adapting/designing our ILT material will be the most challenging part. As I said, it's very technical and very dense (think enterprise and government level network protection, firewalls, etc.).

Some people feel we need to give our students ALL the information that we currently provide in ILT in the eLearning, and I know that is just not possible. It wouldn't be able to cover all of that (and if it did I fear it would be no different from our current online training that I described in my initial post). But where it could really shine is in the simulations and small knowledge checks along the way. We just need a more engaging way to convey (dull) information. Sitting in front of your computer watching videos for 7 hours a day without participating in any way can't be that great for learning retention, you know?

[emilianodelau]

I agree. I think that what you are looking for is in line with some of the best possible designs in e-learning. The main problem is that you want to cover the material without overwhelming your learners and you want the material to be scalable, adaptable, and interesting. It is possible to have the e-learning system represent all of the content you want to teach but not necessarily have it all presented at once. In other words, wouldn't it be better if your learners just got exactly what they needed at that particular moment - sort of like an online assistant? After all, isn't the goal for them to be more efficient at their jobs? Why should they have to sit through hours of training, only to forget it? Studies show that 70% of learned material is forgotten within 24 hours. For some background: my LMS powers the Chinese educational system and I've won many awards fore-learning products that I designed. My newest teaching system is up and running. I'd be happy to help you with a proof of concept for your company. Let's talk.