Managing the move to e-learning

Leading your organization to online learning requires a plan. This workshop guides you in creating that plan so that your move to e-learning is quick, economical, and sound.

This workshop will teach you to plan and manage e-learning projects. In this course you will learn to:

• Target e-learning to accomplish corporate business goals.
• Convert existing training programs to e-learning.
• Predict and evaluate the effectiveness of e-learning.
• Sell your e-learning plans to management and to learners.
• Calculate costs, profits, and return on investment.
• Recruit and direct your e-learning team.
• Direct the efforts of vendors, designers, technical experts, multimedia producers, and other specialists.

Length: 2 days

Taught by: William Horton

William Horton helps people make the transition to e-learning. His books include E-learning by Design, Getting Started with Online Learning, Leading E-learning, Evaluating E-learning, and Using E-learning. He also created www.DesigningWBT.com, and designed a network-based knowledge-management system. William Horton is a registered Professional Engineer, an MIT graduate, and a winner of ACM's Rigo award and IEEE's Alfred N. Goldsmith Award.

On-site base price: US$9,000, inside North America, for 25 students. For customization and variations, see our classroom training overview.

Virtual workshop base price: US$3000/day. Learners may download their handouts and order the textbook either from us or amazon.com.

• Who should attend?
• What does this course cover?
• How will I learn?
• Variants and customization
• What else will I receive?
• Audiovisual requirement
• Related resources

Who should attend?

This workshop is for managers, executives, empowered team leaders, and others who want their organizations to use e-learning effectively. It is for those making the strategic and tactical decisions concerning an organization's development of e-learning and Web-based training.

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What does this workshop cover?

Based on William Horton's book, Leading E-Learning, this workshop guides participants in making the key strategic decisions necessary to move their organizations to e-learning. Topics include:

• What is e-learning? E-learning is all the rage, but what is it exactly? Is it just CD-ROMs on a wire or virtual-reality schoolhouses? How is e-learning different from conventional training? How is the Web changing learners expectations and perceptions?
• Is e-learning ready yet? Is the technology reliable? Are learners ready? Is e-learning real yet?
• Why should I consider e-learning? Can e-learning teach as effectively as classroom training? Can I save money with e-learning? Can I make money at e-learning?
• What is the return on investment? Is e-learning a good business move?. How do I predict and tally the costs and benefits-including soft and fuzzy ones?
• Where should I target e-learning? Why not just replace classroom training? What are the easy targets? How can I use e-learning to solve specific training problems or to implement popular learning strategies?
• How do I sell e-learning? To whom must I sell e-learning? How do I convince them? How do I overcome the objections of entrenched HR departments, inflexible instructors, nervous IT managers, and skeptical learners?
• What kind of e-learning should I create? Synchronous or asynchronous? Instructor-led, facilitated, or learner-led? Pure, blended, or embedded? See major forms of e-learning and consider the tradeoffs for your organization and your learners.
• Must I do everything by e-learning? How can I blend e-learning and conventional training techniques? Can I inject e-leaning into classroom training? How can I embed e-learning into information products and performance support systems?
• How do I develop e-learning? How is developing e-learning different? How can I use software development techniques of rapid prototyping, usability engineering, and ergonomic analysis for precision design and development? How do I develop knowledge objects that can be reused on multiple projects?
• What tools and technology will I need? What hardware, software, and network connections are required for developing, offering, and taking e-learning? How I pick tools that match the goals of my project and the skills of my staff? Which industry standards should I follow and which should I ignore?
• What people do I need? What leaders and staff members do I need to manage the project, design the e-learning, build content, provide technical infrastructure, and conduct e-learning?
• Where can I get help? How much does your organization want to do? What help can you get from the IT department, system integrators, consultants, course-development firms, application service providers, and training providers? How do I screen vendors?
• How do I orchestrate my efforts? How do I get support, plan tactics, get a budget, provide technology, acquire courses, promote the program, conduct training, and evaluate and improve the program?
• How do I streamline production? What is the most efficient workflow for producing e-learning. See how to use patterns, templates, models, and standards to ensure your designs are effectively translated into courses.
• How do I evaluate e-learning? Learners say e-learning was fun, but did anyone learn anything? And did the e-learning project accomplish its business goals? See simple techniques to measure and prove the effectiveness of e-learning.
• How do I use e-learning for knowledge management? How does e-learning promote a new model of training? How do I integrate e-learning with other efforts to form the core of corporate knowledge management? What happens when e-learning is available on any subject, at any time, in any place?
  

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How will I learn?

This is a structured, but fast-paced course. It is brains-on rather than hands-on. We will be actively discussing and considering design issues, not operating particular software. You will examine and critique dozens of real-world examples, view animated presentations of crucial concepts, and engage in group and individual activities.

Variants and customizations

We can adapt the basic workshop to better fit your specific needs:

• Base major activities on your materials (+ $1000 USD).
• Use your materials as examples throughout (Call for price).
• Critique your current work (adds 1 day, $2000 USD).
• Base workshop on a critique of your work (+ $4000 USD).
• Redesign your current work (adds 1 day, $2000 USD).
• Video-recording for replay by other members of your department (+ $4000 USD).
• Follow-up Webinars (+ $1000 USD per 90-minute Webinar).
• Hands-on computer exercises using laptop computers or a computer lab. (Call for pricing and requirements).

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What else will I receive?

Besides the knowledge and skills you acquire, you will receive:

• William Horton's latest book, Leading E-Learning, published by ASTD.
• Over 150 pages of handouts, notes, design forms, and job-aids.
• Introduction to our trademarked Ergoglyphics®development methodology.
• Access to William Horton by e-mail or discussion group for follow-up questions after the class.

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Audiovisual requirements

To successfully present this course at your location, we will need the following:

• Computer screen projector with 1024 x 768 NATIVE resolution. Some projectors can project 1024 x 768, but only by stretching or shrinking the output to a different scale. These projectors will not work.
• Speaker and amplifier for computer sounds. Must be able to take output from the computer's stereo-mini plug.

It would be nice to also have high-speed Internet access for showing live examples. We will need to get through your routers and around your firewall.

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Related resources

Here are some related resources you might find useful:

• Book: E-learning by Design by William Horton

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