Tools, talent, training and, above all, time

More and more organisations are deciding to make self-study e-learning a key part of their l&d strategy, yet budgets are still severely constrained. As a result, many organisations are hoping they can have it both ways by simply adding e-learning development to the responsibilities of their remaining internal l&d staff. More often than not, this is failing to work as well as expected. So what’s needed if an organisation is going to make a success of in-house development? The answer is the four Ts (I’ve ignored any factors that don’t begin with a ’T’, because that’s what teachers do):

Tools

This is the easy part, because there are excellent e-learning authoring tools available, which provide the functionality you are likely to need as an enthusiastic amateur (because, in the end, that’s what most part-time, in-house developers are) without a steep learning curve. All the major tools - Adobe Captivate and Presenter, Lectora, Articulate Studio and its new sibling, Storyline - have had, or are in the process of receiving, major upgrades to make sure they are capable of tackling all the most essential e-learning tasks and can satisfy the need for delivery on mobile devices. While these tools aren't exactly cheap, they do represent good value in terms of what they can achieve. My experience is that it does not take too long to learn the basics of these tools, and the more advanced features can be explored in good time. What’s needed is lots of practice - more of that in a minute.

Talent

I’m afraid the whole talent management thing does leave me a bit cold, because it rather implies that talent is scarce. I don’t believe it is. With enough application, most people can do most things. Having said that, some people are better suited to some tasks than others, and e-learning development is no different. You have to enjoy making stuff. You have to feel some sort of affinity with technology. You have to be well organised and have an attention to detail. It also helps if you have a design sensibility and can write reasonably well. Not everyone fits this profile, just as it isn’t everyone who makes a great coach, instructor or facilitator.

Training

I’ve already mentioned that developers will need some training in the tools that you’ve chosen to use. Often this is as far as it goes, but learning the tools is only the start. Design skills take much longer. Career e-learning professionals will spend years honing their skills and, while this is unrealistic for in-house part-timers, one or two days is not enough. The main requirement is not for instructional design theory, although some of this can prove handy; the real need is for lots of practice under the watchful eye of an experienced coach. This may prove time-consuming or costly, but it definitely makes all the difference. Design skills are learnable, but the process can’t be rushed. Think of it as an apprenticeship.

Time

And now we get to the nub of the problem. E-learning development requires concentration, ideally over prolonged periods. It does not sit well with a job that has constant interruptions and frequent shifts in priority. You wouldn’t write a book in 15-minute bursts, and you wouldn’t design learning content that way either. A failure to block book serious amounts of time to development has been the downfall of many attempts to establish an in-house capability. There’s no point whatsoever in investing in tools and training, and then expecting great work to appear from odd moments spent here and there. Getting this right may well require a change to the way things are done, but without this change the results will be disappointing and inconsistent.