E-Learning 1.0

Tips to Make E-Learning Stick
By Susan Boyd

Training effectiveness isn't measured by smile sheet evaluations or posttest scores. The true test lies not in the classroom or online, but back on the job. Do learners apply new skills and competencies in the day-to-day environment? The following tips will help ensure that your learners do, and that your company's investment in e-learning pays off.

Create a job-focused curriculum

• Meet with managers to discuss their business goals and objectives and how training will support them. Gather sample documents and business examples to use in designing the training so that it relates to the learner's job. Ask managers and learners how the training and materials can be designed to best meet their needs.
• Break down the curriculum into concise skills based on job needs. Be sure to relate each training skill to a job skill. List objectives in terms of skills, not prior courses taken. For example, rather than stating that the Introduction to Excel course is a prerequisite to the training, list the skills the learners must have mastered, such as creating a worksheet that includes totals, copied formulas, and a header.
• Use a blended approach. Determine which parts of the curriculum need to be offered asynchronously, synchronously, and face-to-face. Consider whether topics need in-person interaction and support (face-to-face), require guided instruction and facilitation (synchronous e-learning), or can be done independently with minimal support (asynchronous e-learning).
• Create a curriculum of courses rather than one long master course designed to teach all people all things. Chunk material into modules that can be completed within 15 to 20 minutes. Be sure to specify how each chunk of learning fits in with the others and what prerequisites are needed before completing each section.

Make learning interactive

• Design content to be as engaging as possible. Based on your budget, media format (synchronous or asynchronous), and bandwidth, choose among video, audio, digital photos, animations, drawings, and clip art to capture the learner’s attention. Involve him or her often by including thought-provoking questions, case studies, surveys, analogies, quizzes, and tests.
• Don't forget to include real world examples, photos, sample documents, charts, and interviews to make content relevant to the job.
• Build in practice time as each new concept is presented. Include a few assessment questions after each major concept to test for understanding throughout, not just at the end. Create case studies or scenarios in which learners are asked to apply the knowledge and skills learned rather than just demonstrate recall.
• If you're doing software training, create job-related exercises that reflect how the software is used. Simulate the software or ask learners to use the actual software to complete a list of exercises after each module.
• Build in learner feedback. In an asynchronous environment, learners use such tools as discussion boards and email with instructors and other learners. Learners in a synchronous environment can use a chat room, discussion tools, or follow-up emails after the learning event.

Offer support materials

• Create quick reference cards for job tasks. These can be provided to learners when they register for the course or printed from the Internet or intranet.
• Develop a list of FAQs and show learners where to find it on the intranet or Internet. Include online help guides with troubleshooting tips.
• Send out a copy of slides for a synchronous session ahead of time. That helps focus the discussion and also provides a place for notes.

Prepare learners

• Demonstrate e-learning courses in meetings and classroom training sessions. Get learners to practice using the technology in a guided session.
• Market the benefits of online courses: Stress how flexible they are to meet scheduling and travel needs. Include testimonials in company newsletters and emails.
• Make sure learners have the right software and hardware for the courses. Offer technical support in getting started and provide headphones for audio.
• Pilot the e-learning courses with designers, subject matter experts, and six to eight representative learners. Conduct follow-up interviews with learners to collect suggestions for improvement and determine how to enhance the learning experience.

Prepare managers

• Schedule manager overview meetings to demonstrate the technology, discuss system and time requirements, and identify learners' support needs. Make managers aware of e-learning's benefits: reduced travel time and cost, increased learner productivity, and its ability to be tailored to meet individual needs.
• Identify the manager’s role in approving the training, preparing the learner, supporting the learner, and conducting follow up. Set up learner and manager agreements, learning contracts that encourage both to discuss their expectations, how new skills can be incorporated into the job, and the effort and time needed to make e-learning successful.
• Stress that a "learning at the desk" culture needs to be established and adhered to or the benefits and cost savings can't be realized. Communicate to managers that training should be treated like a business priority and scheduled and completed within a specified timeframe. Get managers' buy-in that learners shouldn't be interrupted while e-learning.

Support learners

• Send immediate confirmation when a learner enrolls in a course and include any technical details needed to get started as well as information about the required timeframe for course completion.
• Remind learners to make their desk an environment conducive to learning. Recommend that they clear their desk, print out course materials and job aids, have a place to jot notes and questions, and turn off the phone ringer and email notification. Ask them to post a sign outside their door or cubicle that says training is in progress and, please, no interruptions. They may also want to include the time they will be available after training.
• Identify whom the learner should call or email regarding technical problems, course feedback, and so forth.
• If possible, assign a mentor to follow up with the learner. The mentor can be a previous graduate of the course, a subject matter expert, or a "super-user" within the department who has mastered the task, skills, or knowledge presented in the course. The mentor should complete the course as well to make sure he or she is familiar with the objectives, format, and content. Then he or she can work with the learner to illustrate how to apply the training to job skills.

Monitor and report the results

• Review training statistics daily or weekly and prepare exception reports that show what didn't happen as expected--for example, compare the number of course registrations to completions.
• Survey learners via phone or email to identify obstacles that prevented them from starting or completing a course. The reasons may include problems with hardware or software, scheduling issues, interruptions during training, work demands, the course not meeting their needs, course design issues, and so forth.
• Follow up with managers to discuss ideas for improving completion rates in their departments. Give each manager a report of people who didn't finish and ask for support and suggestions. Perhaps the course wasn't tied effectively to the department's specific goals and the manager can help you modify it. Or interruptions or scheduling was a problem and the manager can help ensure that learning happens as planned next time.
• Identify graduates of the course who might be willing to serve as mentors to new learners face to face, over email, on the phone, in virtual meetings, and so on. Create a list of responsibilities for mentors and review with managers and mentors.

Evaluate learning

• Include an evaluation at the end of the course to get learners' immediate feedback (Kirkpatrick's Level 1). Questions should be focused on the engagement of the learner and his or her subjective opinion of the format and content.
• Send out a follow-up evaluation to learners within one week of course completion (Kirkpatrick's Level 2). This can be an ungraded posttest used to determine whether learners have mastered the skills and concepts. Information from this evaluation can help you revise the course.
• Survey learners again three to four weeks after training to determine how the training has been applied on the job (Level 3). How is the training being used and how helpful was the course? Offer incentives for completing the follow-up evaluation form--for example, Amazon.com points, entrance in a drawing for tickets or certificates, free lunch pass, and so on.
• Conduct phone and email surveys with managers to determine whether training made an impact in meeting business objectives (Level 4). Since it may be difficult to measure ROI formally, managers' feedback on the value of the training can help support and justify its expense.

Enhance the course

• Use feedback gathered through the evaluations, surveys, interviews, and helpdesk call tracking (ask the helpdesk to report on the questions they're getting about the course) to make revisions and additions to courses. E-learning can't be static or it won't meet evolving job needs.
• Prioritize and schedule course changes.
• Inform managers and learners about the changes and how they'll be implemented.
• Complete course changes and pilot the revisions as needed.

Identify future training needs

• Discuss additional training needs with learners. Ask them what skills they need training in to do their jobs effectively.
• Discuss with managers the additional training needs that learners identified and ask for confirmation. Determine whether managers have other training needs.
• Prioritize training needs and business objectives.
• Locate resources and schedule time for new classes.
  

Published: May 2002