Blueprint for an enterprise e-learning architecture

Customer Inter@ction Solutions, Oct 2002 by Crowley, Rick

Cost. For learners and their managers, travel expenses associated with attending a week-long course represent a huge cost for a company, not to mention the opportunity costs of being away from the office or away from customers. By moving at least a portion of this learning online, the potential cost savings can be significant, especially for a large enterprise. Administrators of an e-- learning solution must consider the most cost-effective ways to manage and integrate e-learning with the rest of the enterprises applications. To reduce the cost of producing new e-learning modules, content providers must be held accountable for reusing and repurposing content available across the enterprise, rather than continually recreating it.

Access/scalability. Instructor-led training (ILT) poses timing, geographical and availability constraints that restrict access to learning. E-learning scales to make knowledge available to hundreds or thousands of learners simultaneously and at their convenience. E-learning also enables a company to better leverage global resources, using subject matter experts around the world. To meet the needs of a global, diverse audience, e-learning providers must offer multiple presentations of the same learning object based on a learner's profiling information. For example, a provider wouldn't attempt to stream TV-quality video to a learner in Asia using a 14.4 kbps modem.

Modularity. E-learning objects created in three-to-five minute increments can be reused in multiple training modules. This level of modularity also becomes an essential element in providing a highly personalized experience based on pre-assessments or other selection criteria.

Timeliness Timeliness and pervasiveness of training in an era of rapid change and growth is an ongoing challenge today. ILT content creation is often the bottleneck for delivering learning, because it may take six to twelve months to create a full, week-long course. Once the ILT is completed, it may not be offered for many weeks, may only be offered in a few locations and/or it may fill up quickly given the space constraints. E-learning can be as simple as providing video-on-demand (VOD) or audio-on-demand for anyone who immediately needs to know something to improve job performance.

Relevance. It's difficult to make all aspects of an ILT course relevant for all learners, since every learner enters a class with a different baseline of knowledge. E-learning addresses this issue in two ways: by letting learners select only the information they need and by providing a prescribed learning target for the individuals or groups. Online pre-assessments will indicate the learning opportunity most relevant to each learner.

Accountability. Aside from certification programs, it has been difficult to hold learners accountable for what they've learned, hold managers accountable for the development of their teams, or hold instructional designers and instructors accountable for the effectiveness of their offerings. E-learning tracks learner progress with post-assessments online. Online feedback buttons allow learners to provide specific feedback on each small increment of learning, rather than limiting the feedback to a brief evaluation at the end of a 40-hour training session. The number of times an object is accessed provides an indicator of its value to the learner and a good measure of its effectiveness. Managers can create individualized roadmaps of learning to ensure their employees master the skills they need. Content providers can be held accountable for reusing and repurposing content based on the cost of their creations.