As far as infrastructure is concerned, when it comes to eLearning, we think of servers, bandwidth, LMS/ LCMS etc. all very expensive to acquire and sometimes time consuming to set up. So, do you have the required infrastructure to get started with eLearning?

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Organizations don’t adopt eLearning in a vacuum. Most of them already have well-established Instructor Led Training (ILT) programs in place to address their organization-wide training needs thus far. And most of this is supported by instructionally sound training material. All they have to sometimes do is convert this existing ILT material into eLearning after suitable tweaking and treatment as required. However, there are two common mistakes organizations routinely make when planning an eLearning implementation – sometimes they tend to overlook what they already have and try to reinvent the wheel by developing content from scratch or they swing to the other extreme and assume that just because they have all the content they need, they don’t need that much effort to convert it to eLearning. As a result, they end up not factoring enough time, cost and resources required to define, design, develop, and deploy effective learning programs.

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The training industry, especially the e-learning industry has evolved from ILT, online courses, blended courses to rapid e-learning, audio/video and a range of instructional simulations and interactivities. Earlier, companies would convert manuals and instructor materials into slideshows for training purposes. Now, e-learning programs offer engaging, interactive and virtual experiences. A year or two ago, when recession affected industries, people focused on learning to retain their jobs.

Recent times have seen learning happen through social media tools. From YouTube to blogging, podcasts to micro-blogs, social news and bookmarking to wikis, social media tools have taken e-learning to another level.

The shift towards social learning is mainly because organizations have started recognizing the tremendous need to build, manage and formalize their social and collaborative learning programs.

Organizations are rethinking their training strategies and models to accommodate learning programs under ‘learning environments’ that offer collaborative learning and built in social media tools. According to Wikipedia, collaborative learning refers to various methodologies and environments where learners engage and actively interact to learn or attempt to learn something together.

A collaborative learning environment in an organization enables learners to converse with contemporaries, present as well as defend ideas and perspectives, exchange diverse beliefs, question other conceptual frameworks and get actively engaged. Learning in a collaborative environment can take place at any time. It can happen when individuals are in discussion in a group or over the Internet.

Some organizations may offer ILT training on a need basis, but over 70% of learning happens while reading, watching and listening or simply by talking with one another.

There are many new tools and platforms similar to LMS to manage, track and facilitate people to learn and work together. It’s a matter of time when collaborative learning will happen on the move through mobile phones, Blackberry phones and related mobile devices.

While Google has Google Wave, Microsoft’ SharePoint and Live Services, Adobe’s Connect, a few companies such as Saba, Plateau and Taleo are creating new tools and platforms to facilitate communication and knowledge-sharing.

What are your thoughts on Collaborative Learning? Will organizations be able to create learning environments to enhance informal and collaborative learning? Please comment and share your knowledge.

Thank you for reading my blog.

When I first read Dr. Robert Mager’s seminal book (more a booklet), “Setting Instructional Objectives”, I had my first ‘aha’ experience in the field of training and learning. At that time, I have just changed my career track from Sales to University Teaching and Corporate Training. I did not have a formal background in Learning and Performance Management and his principles guided me through my new career like a beacon of light to explore and learn further.

The book itself is a gem, so succinctly yet so humorously written that I finished my first reading in one sitting! It is one book that practices what it preaches. Its instructional objectives are so well set and so well achieved in me that I never read the book again for clarification. But I read it many times (and continue to read it) for the sheer pleasure of reading such a masterpiece.

His almost simplistic aphorism about setting quantifiable and measurable learning outcomes is so simple yet so powerfully logical. If used along with the other two principles of conditions (under which the performance has to be done) and criteria of acceptable performance, it becomes a cornerstone for all instructional interventions, be it classroom or eLearning.

ROBERT MAGER’S PRINCIPLES AS APPLIED IN COMMLAB’S PRODUCTS

For me, Robert’s principles always helped me answer critical questions while designing training programs or developing storyboards for eLearning courses.

• What will be content for the subject?
• What will be the duration of learning?
• What will be the instructional strategy (how best can a particular topic be presented)?
• What will be the type of assessments?

I would like to hear from my fellow learning professionals what they think of Mager’s principles and to what extent are they used in today’s world of rapid eLearning.

Thank you very much for reading my blog.

RK Prasad

CEO