Rapid eLearning tools can be rapid (sometimes) but is there any learning? While many of the new eLearning development tools like Articulate and Captivate are effective in the quick conversion of PowerPoint slides into web based SCORM content, their output is usually well… deadly. So, what is rapid eLearning good for?
In her book eLearning and the Science of Instruction, Ruth Colvin Clark has a useful model for determining which type of online training is good for which goals.
She puts forth the following general goals:
- Inform
- Perform procedure
- Perform principle
As you might guess inform is the simple transference of information as you might want to do when updating a company policy or rolling out new product features. Perform training either teaches people step by step procedures or works to help them make decisions and take actions according to general principles.
So which goal does rapid eLearning achieve? In our experience it’s inform and inform only and a relatively small subset of that. If you have something that just needs to be put out there quickly and you need confirmation that your people have accessed and understood it, then a short rapid-elearning course with an assessment on a SCORM LMS will work for you.
If, on the other hand, you have to “sell” your audience on anything, such as why the new policy is important or how to actually sell the new product features, you will need more than basic bulleted text rapid elearning. That is where KMI comes in. We can help not only in custom content development but also in the selection and best-practice usage of authoring tools for your in-house usage. Contact KMi for a free consultation.
