E-Learning: Not Just For E-Normous Companies Anymore - distance education

HR Magazine, May, 2001 by Kathryn Tyler

Use instructional design principles. "Does the course have stated objectives, a map of course content and remediation built-in?" asks Tim Kidder, vice president of marketing for eMind, an e-learning firm specializing in financial services headquartered in Los Angeles. "Does the course use supplemental windows--graphics, charts, job aids, web sites?"

Minimize plug-ins. Plug-ins are software that users must download for the course to function. If, for instance, your course uses a video streaming component, users may have to download Real Player. Plug-ins must be downloaded and installed only once, but if your system is temperamental, they may cause it to crash. A good course should be engaging without taxing your system.

Limit the length. Reading from a computer screen is draining. An online course should not be like a reading marathon. If you have enough material for a six-hour course, break it into modules, recommends Kidder.

Pretend you are the learner. "I've seen many [trainers who develop online] courses that are broad and grandiose in scale, but [who did not] stop to say, 'What type of computers do our users have?"' says Best. "If the students are using dial-up connections, they're going to log out before the half-hour video clip downloads."

He recommends testing courses on the type of computer system your employees will be using. If your employees will be accessing the course via laptops with 28.8K dial-up modems, then that is how the course should be tested.