By Helene Geiger
How can you get the biggest bang for your e-learning buck? Here are some guidelines that will help you squeeze a lot of value into a tight budget:
Involve all stakeholders upfront!
Nothing plays havoc with an e-learning budget like last-minute changes in direction. And nothing is more likely to cause last minute changes than bringing in a new stakeholder at the end of the project. To avoid expensive re-design, make sure that all stakeholders are identified at the start of the project. Explain their roles and potential time commitment – usually a few meetings at the outset to define the project, some review time mid-project, and further review time at the end. The time you spend gaining stakeholder agreement upfront will save you major headaches later on.
Set clear goals and objectives.
What are you trying to accomplish with your e-learning course? It’s a lot easier to hit the target if you – and the other stakeholders – agree on what the target is.
At Prometheus, we work with clients to identify goals and set specific performance objectives. These become part of the e-learning specifications for the project. And we give our clients a formal opportunity to review and sign off on the objectives before course development begins.
Create for the “lowest common technology.”
Nothing is a bigger money-waster than creating training that your audience cannot use. Before you begin an e-learning project, identify the lowest-common-denominator of technology that your audience will be using when they take the training. If you have some e-learners with dial-up modems and others with fast T-1 lines, develop for the dial-up modems!
Not sure what technology your learners will use? Prometheus can consult with you to determine an appropriate technology solution.
Avoid high-bandwidth media.
Do you really need that video? It’s expensive to produce, difficult to update, and cumbersome to use.
Prometheus has created a number of interesting, highly-interactive, low-bandwidth solutions that keep learners engaged without over-stressing the network – or your budget!
Consider using a template approach.
E-learning templates are pre-fabricated, pre-tested blueprints that fit most situations. Templates have all of the interactivity and navigational elements of an e-learning course built in – so you don’t have to pay for designing them from scratch.
To learn more about how to drive down e-learning design/development costs in your organization, contact us.
Helene Geiger is President of Prometheus Training Corporation.
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