How To Create Great Custom Learning
Before we discuss factors that ensure the success of custom learning, let’s first understand the requirements for effective eLearning implementation.
For the success of an eLearning initiative, the vendor should have a clear understanding of the following:
- Objective.
This refers to your expectations from your e-learning initiative that the solution provider must be aware of. - Needs of a learner.
A need-analysis must be done to fully understand needs of a learner. It will give you an understanding of the learner’s profile, special needs and goals of the individual. - Logistics.
You need to give complete details of your logistics and infrastructure, such as where the eLearning course will be hosted, the available bandwidth and user support.
10 Essential Custom Learning Building Blocks
- Clearly define your eLearning solution.
It is imperative to have a clear framework of the eLearning program. Determine what your program is going to accomplish, who the users are, and how will custom learning change their performance. Custom learning initiative must enable all participants to easily update their knowledge as per their convenience. In this way, users have complete control over their learning and can choose learning formats that suit their needs. - Common vision.
You can have the finest ship, the most efficient crew and favorable weather conditions, but if you aren’t in an agreement about direction, your ship is likely to capsize. Similarly, institutions that work collaboratively with their staff and students to come to agreement on the vision are more capable of implementing appropriate learning initiatives. - Innovation.
Oftentimes, we choose complex technology and methodology in a hope to get desired results without carefully reviewing our needs. However no technology can achieve good results if the course lacks innovation. Merely blending learning with innovation is not sufficient if it doesn’t give learners an opportunity to improvise and that too, in a hassle-free way. Besides giving satisfaction and joy to learners, an innovative approach also improves user engagement. - Proper climate for students’ voice and choice.
Letting students learn at their own pace and in their own preferred way is just one aspect of custom learning. Coaching and learning requires favorable conditions for students to be able to share their thoughts, questions and ideas. In fact, to popularize custom learning it is important that the staff encourages students to voice their ideas. - Skills and experience of the vendor.
Experience not only means the number of years a vendor has been into the business, but also different technologies they have used. For instance, any vendor who is in the business for, say four to five years is considered to be stable. Also, a vendor who has past experience of working for a good number of clients across industries is more capable of offering great custom learning solutions. As each client has its unique requirements, it challenges the vendor to master different tools and technologies, and therefore, they are more adept at handling complex technologies. Overall, an experienced vendor anticipates problems in advance and troubleshoots, whenever required. - Great partnership.
You must consider vendors who completely understand your needs and who offer customized solutions. Vendors must have enough experience, skills and a good track record in technology and Instructional Design. They should possess required knowledge and expertise in using those authoring tools that you wish to use for your courses. Also, vendors should be able to deliver appropriate instructional module support services - from concept to commissioning. Ensure their project management capabilities and quality mechanism is in place to get the right eLearning solution that complies to your quality standards. Meet the entire team that will work on your project and ensure that there will always be a single point of contact from the vendor’s side who will address all your concerns. - Right authoring tools for eLearning.
Choice of authoring tools depends on your varied requirements and interactivity that you want to have in the course. Built in interactivity-both explicit and implicit- will create an engaging atmosphere for learners. Also, by selecting the right authoring tool, you can cater to varied user requirements and personalize your entire learning experience. - Market your eLearning initiative internally.
An eLearning initiative can’t achieve good results if you don’t have enough time and resources to educate your target user. They need to understand how custom learning will help them achieve their goals or aid in their performance improvement. Merely launching a custom learning platform and sending an email to notify participants will prove to be futile. It is vital to have a proactive promotional program to popularize eLearning initiatives of your institution. - Use an effective Instructional Design.
It is a known fact that Instructional Design can make the custom learning initiative a successful program. A competent Instructional Designer can contribute to the success of the custom learning initiative by making the course engaging and impactful. Owing to the incorporation of high quality interactions in the digital course, learners not only take up the course with zeal but also spread the word. - Choose the right Learning Management System (LMS).
It is essential to choose the right Learning Management System to deploy your online course. It helps in managing and tracking the performance of learners. It plays an indispensable role, especially if the training program is very large and there are many students. Although installing a Learning Management System is considered an expensive affair, today there are various Learning Management Systems available in the market to suit your budget.
Impelsys' custom learning initiative uses cutting-edge multimedia elements to make learning an enriching experience for users. However, for the course to perfectly blend with your institution’s needs ensure all the above factors are considered.
