If you have been wondering whether e-learning would stay or go, it’s now time to turn your attention from ‘if’ to ‘how’. This emerging technology is clearly changing the face of corporate learning and development as we have known it. To ready your organization, the first piece of the puzzle needed is an e-learning strategy.

Why an e-Learning Strategy?

No doubt e-learning offers tremendous potential. But while it may be tempting to jump on the bandwagon when an internal resource discovers a great tool that can be used to create online learning, or you encounter a vendor’s services that ‘sound perfect’ for your organization, jumping too fast can lead to a risky fall.

"Too often we are so enamoured with the opportunities that technology offers that we neglect the climate in which it will be implemented. To leverage the potential of e-learning technology for sustained, beneficial change, a sound business and people-centered strategy is essential." advises e-learning speaker and author Marc J. Rosenberg. i

Perhaps the need for an organizational e-learning strategy is best illustrated by some real life examples from organizations that failed to lay down a strategy first.

The most compelling story is that of the HR practitioner who recently admitted that her problem isn’t selling senior management on an initial investment in e-learning, but how to ever get any additional monies, after having a botched implementation of an e-learning solution that cost over $1 million.

Or, how about the training practitioner with mud on his face after his online learning programs brought down the company’s entire network, halting most business operations and revenue generation until the network was restored.

Or the Director who approved the purchase of a Learning Management System (a significant investment), but confessed later that he didn’t really understand what it was or would do.

Or, perhaps even worse, the organization whose first online foray was with some ‘page turner’ courses containing only text, a few graphics and forward/back buttons, but virtually no interactivity. The employees tried it and hated it. When the organization realized their mistake, and later put together quality e-learning with interactivity, they couldn’t get employees to try e-learning again.

An e-learning strategy can pay big dividends in avoiding eventualities such as these. Even if your initial entry into the e-learning arena is not anticipated to be large – and, in fact, many industry experts recommend starting small – an e-learning strategy will help to ensure the various elements and technologies will eventually fit together. When you have a solid understanding of your needs and the plethora of technology-enabled learning options, you can lay the foundation for both short-term and long-term success in changing the learning culture of your organization.

KEY E-LEARNING STRATEGY ELEMENTS

A shift to e-learning is a shift towards a new learning culture. An effective e-learning strategy will take the long view and be built on a strong business case. It will range from technology issues to environmental factors, and will consider the transition from a change management perspective.

Following are a dozen elements that should be considered when developing an e-learning strategy for your organization.

Business Case

What business needs will be met through e-learning? Align your e-learning strategy with the strategic and business plans of the organization, and make a solid case in terms of business outcomes. If your organization spans several divisions or operating companies, develop an e-learning strategy at the enterprise level.

Benchmarking

What are the best practices in e-learning? Do your research, exploring the strategies and lessons of those who have gone before you.

Examine benchmarking reports, best practices articles and case studies. Seek to find out how your competitors, your industry and organizations with a similar business structure are approaching e-learning.

e-Learning at the 5,000 Foot Level

How narrow or broad will your organization’s approach be – initially and long-term? Will online courses be synchronous (with learners online at the same time), or asynchronous (with learners online at different times), or a blend of both? How will e-learning integrate with classroom training? What tools will you employ to begin to create a new learning culture in the organization?

Optimally, an e-learning strategy will consider all potential aspects of the new learning technologies available, including: online courses, portals, knowledge management, collaboration tools, electronic performance support systems and even access for suppliers and customers. Even if you don’t anticipate a large ramp-up initially, taking the long-term view during strategy development will help the various technologies come together as seamlessly as possible in the future.

Technology Strategy

Where does e-learning fit into your overall technology strategy? Working in close partnership with your organization’s information technology group, explore all the long-term possibilities.

Issues to be considered include: infrastructure, platforms, bandwidth, delivery methods, internal or external hosting, application service providers, and Learning Management Systems.

"Make IT Your Friend" is a common refrain being heard across the e-learning field, and is one well worth heeding.

Organizational Readiness

Organizational readiness is essential to the success of any intervention, and e-learning is no exception.

Brandon Hall, a leading independent researcher in e-learning, offers several questions you can use to assess the readiness of your company: ii

1. Do you have management support?
2. Do you have enough potential users to justify the cost of purchase or development?
3. Do you have a target audience who can use or learn to use a computer?
4. Will they accept a Web-based program?
5. Will they learn from this particular program?

Will the program provide a method of instruction that is easier, faster, cheaper, safer or more engaging than the alternative?

Investment and ROI

What is your e-learning strategy going to cost? Your business case will need to include capital investment in new technologies, initial start-up and ongoing costs, and a clear cost-benefit analysis.

The most compelling return on investment (ROI) figures come from organizations with large numbers of geographically diverse employees, where savings in travel and meeting costs can quickly justify e-learning start-up costs. But any organization that can deploy knowledge and learning faster, more effectively or just-in-time can calculate a return on investment.

Budget related issues such as cost-recovery and departmental charge backs should also be considered.

Build or Buy Strategies

Should you ‘build’ your own e-learning courses, or ‘buy’ access to content and courses already available?

Developing your own courses allows for highly customized material, but is very time and cost intensive, while purchasing or licensing arrangements can allow you to have quality courses available in mere weeks.

Bryan Chapman, e-Learning Analyst with brandon-hall.com suggests, "If the lion’s share (80%) of content is available externally, this leaves you the ability to focus on 20% custom-developed internally" for proprietary training issues. iii

People Resources

If your strategy includes ‘building’ online learning, what additional expertise will be needed?

While your internal resources may develop online competencies over time, your project team will need experts experienced with online instructional design, most likely external contractors.

Experienced internal trainers may be able to shift some or all of their energies to become involved in online course design, content development, and supporting learners through course tutoring. As well, these experienced trainers are well positioned to learn new skills to effectively lead ‘live’ synchronous learning events.

Learner Assessment

What is your learning assessment and testing strategy?

While assessment of learner progress during courses (pre-tests, quizzes, post-tests) will primarily arise during the instructional design phase, decisions relating to what information will be made available to supervisors and maintained in the employee’s training records need to be clarified up front, as does the impact of a course pass / fail.

Measuring Success

How will the effectiveness of your e-learning strategies be evaluated? In addition to the most widely used model for measuring training results, Donald Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation iv (which still applies to e-learning), new criteria are emerging for evaluating online learning, including interactivity, navigation and more.

Plan ahead for how you will measure success. It may also be appropriate to take some baseline measurements prior to implementing new technologies.

Environmental Factors

Whether it is the level of concentration created by the classroom trainer, a setting away from the workplace, or practicalities such as ‘no cell phone’ rules, most organizations have mastered the art of creating a conducive learning environment in the classroom.

When learning is online, however, when and where do we expect employees to learn? What will co-workers’ perceptions be when an employee is online learning? Are they ‘working’? Will their supervisor provide them with adequate time for learning? Will it be considered acceptable practice to forward incoming calls to voice mail, as they would do if they were attending classroom training? Is it OK to interrupt the learner to ask a question? Do we expect them to drop what they are doing if they are needed for an impromptu meeting?

"While the organization spends quite a bit of time and money designing ideal classroom environments, e-learning environmental factors have been largely ignored," says Elliott Masie, a pioneer in the e-learning field. "The assumption is that the worker will make the time, space and concentration. This is a dangerous assumption." Furthermore, studies at The MASIE Center indicate that of employees participating in e-learning in their workplace, 53% prefer to learn at a location other than their desk. As to when, roughly half prefer the learning event during working hours, while the other half prefer to study outside of work hours, including lunch-time and after work. It is worth noting that only 2% want to take e-learning on their day off. v

Well before implementing their first e-learning solution, organizations are well advised to carefully consider environmental factors. An e-learning strategy may include development of non-distracting learning spaces, permissions to study at home, supervisor coaching, well thought out launch strategies and regular assessment of feedback from learners themselves.

Change Management

What will be the impact of these changes on our organizations – the way we work, the way managers lead and coach, how employees carry out their responsibilities, the way we think about learning?

Change management is no stranger to those in the Human Resources field. As e-learning is more than just another training intervention – in that it will ultimately change our very paradigm of learning – its impact on the organization needs to be carefully considered. As HR professionals we need to consider the magnitude of change that e-learning will bring to our organizations and plan proactively for the transitions that will take place.

Getting Up to Speed

A pre-requisite to developing an effective e-learning strategy is for your organization to first gain a solid understanding of this new world of learning. If you are feeling confused or overwhelmed by all there is to learn about e-learning, you are certainly not alone. But to successfully implement e-learning, you will need someone on your side who is well versed in learning’s new technologies.

"You need someone to sift through the glut of information and services … who knows your company’s development plans… with an abundance of time… someone patient and not prone to fits of rage when confronted with a barrage of non-sensical sales pitches, " suggests Kevin Dobbs in Training Magazine. "You’re probably looking for an experienced trainer who also happens to be computer-savvy. The problem is, people with those skills are scarce." vi

The first and best place is to look is internally. Ask yourself if you can you redirect the energies of one of your training specialists or HR generalists to research e-learning, scope out options, and make recommendations to your e-learning task force. This individual will then be well equipped to later contract vendors, act as project manager and lead implementation. Other options may include a term position or an external partner you feel comfortable with. Regardless of your approach, you will need someone on your team who can act as your e-learning advocate and point your online efforts in the right direction.

Conclusion

With e-learning emerging as a driving force in corporate learning and development, taking a proactive approach to e-learning is clearly called for. A comprehensive e-learning strategy is a valuable force in HR’s strategic toolkit – one that will make best use of resources while positively impacting performance, retention and organizational competitiveness.