To my TDO/L&D colleagues, and anyone else whose attention I may have caught:

Have you ever had an itch to jump into the world of e-learning development?

While I have worked and studied in the field of training and education for many years now and have become experienced in training design and development, I had never before taken the opportunity to explore the technical side of e-learning.  That changed for me in the past year! I’m happy to share my experience with you.

To stretch my own brain a bit and grow the list of skills that I can bring to the table, I decided to jump into e-learning development with both feet.  Armed with an Articulate 360 Storyline license (thanks to my workplace!), I began exploring. Luckily, it is rather user friendly and so I picked it up quite quickly.  I happily jumped on the AI bandwagon as Articulate offers a AI assistance version. It’s been very helpful. The AI assistance on Storyline includes things such as image, sound effect, and summary generation, text-to-speech, and the creation of quiz questions based on the uploaded content.  As always with AI, you need to double-check its work (i.e., keep the human-in-the-loop!), but I have found that it produces high quality output and that it’s a nice time saver.

In addition to Articulate 360 Storyline, I also invested in a subscription to Canva. It is also very user-friendly and provides a design platform that empowers anyone to create visually striking content with no professional design skills required (i.e., for people like me!). Canva has been an enjoyable new toy to play with and has allowed me to design images, with the help of its integrated AI, to make my e-learning more colourful and engaging. 

While I was an e-learning developer novice last year, I can confidently say that I have grown into being a solid intermediate skilled e-learning developer, with props to the large e-learning community offering a gazillion how-to videos on YouTube.

As we know from the “no significant difference” (NSD) meta-analysis (Russell, 1999) comparing classroom and online learning, the effectiveness has been shown to be equivalent.  The important differentiator is whether or not you have sound design and development. This can exist (or not!) in both modes of delivery. Striving to introduce interactivity into e-learning (e.g., matching, quizzes, videos, audio, animation, etc.) and even potentially peer-to-peer interactions (through forum discussions and group projects) can bring your Interactive Multimedia Instruction (IMI) level from a dreaded level #1(i.e. a boring, passive e-page turner) to a more satisfying learning experience at a level #2 or #3. 

Whether or not I ever become an e-learning developer with advanced skills, understanding the functionalities that a common e-learning development tool offers, will better enable me to optimize e-learning interactivity as an instructional designer. It will also help me be more effective in my interactions with the e-learning developers who may ultimately develop the courses I design.        

For those of you who have been mainly focused on learning theory and designing and developing for a ‘brick & mortar’ classroom, I throw down the challenge!  Don’t be afraid to jump in and learn something new!  While some of you may prefer face-to-face classroom training & education, there is always the opportunity of exploring blended learning.  Upfront e-learning followed by face-to-face facilitated discussions, mentoring, problem-solving, and group work can optimize the value of the limited time that students get access to subject matter experts (SMEs). This can provide some variety into your organisation’s training delivery methods, as well as avoid the wasted time of merely having SMEs read the lines off a slide! (*Caveat: I know there are some fabulous instructors out there who would never dream of reading word for word off a slide deck!)

So, are you a seasoned Learning & Development expert who hasn’t yet exercised the technical side of the trade?  I highly encourage you to set a stretch goal and give e-learning development a try!  As for me, I will continue to practice this new skill. It’s allowed me to try something new, stretch my brain in a new way, add some spice to my trade, and hopefully it will help me avoid a career mid-life crisis 😉

Let me hear your thoughts.  Has anyone been fiddling with making this jump?  

-Kim

KJ_Consulting@outlook.com