Tag: elearning development

A very frequent question I receive from those considering putting their training online is: How long does it take to create an elearning course? The answer–you guessed it–is “it depends”.

Take for example the request I received the other day to take an existing PowerPoint course of 34 slides and turn it into an elearning course. They asked: How long to create a course from this? My answer back was that I needed more information.

There are a multitude of factors that go into every course, including the expertise of each designer, graphic artist, programmer, QA tester, Subject Matter Expert, and project manager involved. Or if you will even use all of these roles in the creation of your course. Don’t confuse the technology (an elearning tool that can convert PowerPoint into slides in a course) with actual course design and creation. Sure, you can find someone who will turn your presentation into a Captivate or Storyline file within a matter of hours. But will you have an effective course? Will it change learner’s behavior? Will it grab their interest or will they click straight through to the end? Essentially what you will have is not a course – you have a PowerPoint presentation in a different format.

I have a number of questions to get you started if you are considering creating some elearning for the first time. This are questions every freelance and company will ask (or indeed should be asking) interested clients. Meanwhile, to put some actual numbers to the question of how long it takes to create elearning, I’ve recruited this SlideShare presentation uploaded by Chapman Alliance. It offers research collected from 249 instructional designers regarding how long it takes to create different formats of learning, beginning with instructor-led training and moving into the three levels of interactive elearning (detailed below the presentation).

Executive Summary:

Level 1 eLearning (Basic) – Including content pages, text, graphics, perhaps simple audio, perhaps simple video, test questions. NOTE: PowerPoint-to-eLearning often falls into this category. Basically pages with assessment

49:1 – eLearning output, Rapid Development, Simple Content, Specialized Authoring Tools (i.e. PowerPoint to eLearning tools)

79:1 – eLearning output, Most typical (average) Level 1 eLearning Content

125:1 – eLearning output, Complex projects, difficult to produce, more media production

 

Level 2 eLearning (Interactive) – Level 1 eLearning content plus 25% (or more) interactive exercises, allowing learners to perform virtual “try it” exercises, liberal use of multimedia (audio, video, and animations)

127:1 – eLearning output, Rapid development through templated interactions, simple animation, efficient or low-end media production

184:1 – eLearning output, Most typical (average) Level 2 projects

267:1 – eLearning output, advanced and custom interactions, embedded simulation activities and lots of media

 

Level 3 eLearning (Advanced) – Highly interactive, possibly simulation or serious game-based, use of avatars, custom interactions, award-winning caliber courseware

217:1 – eLearning output, templated interactions, templated games and simulations, efficient simulation development practices (rapid development)

490:1 – eLearning output, Most typical (average) Level 3 projects

716:1 – eLearning output, complex projects, advanced learning simulations and games, extensive media production  NOTE: Several respondents listed times greater than 2000+ hours of development per finished hour (very advanced learning simulations and games)

The following is a set of initial questions for elearning projects that I’ll ask of someone interested in creating a course or program. These are just preliminary questions to see where a client is at in their development of training material and their understanding of online learning.

Is the content completely new? How much already exists? Will additional research need to be done to build out the basic source content?

Will you use a separate Instructional Designer to create instructionally sound content, design course flow and interactivity based on adult learning theory?

Do you have your objectives defined? Do they focus on what you want learners to be able to DO at the end of the course?

Do you have any training or guides currently in place for any of your topics?

Do you have dedicated Subject Matter Experts who are available during the content development phase?

How much learner interactivity do you want?

Do you have existing graphics or will the need to be sourced or created?

Do you need to shoot your own photographs/create your own graphics or can stock images be used?

There are many variables that need to be considered for voice narration, including cost, development time, editing, retakes etc. Do you want to include it or can you leave it out?

If you would like narration, how much voice over would be appropriate?

Do you want to formally assess the learner’s knowledge by scoring knowledge checks and assessments? Do you need to track to scores and send them to your LMS?

Do you want to track learner completing/drop out rate?

Will you use a rapid development tool or will you custom program each course?

What will your review and feedback process with the designer/s be and who will be involved? Does everyone know this process?

Who will manage the process and all the stakeholders?

The answers to these questions will steer the development of a design document, which will outline the look and feel of the course, level and types of interactivity, stakeholders and their responsibilities, development time frame and terms, and define the overall goals of the training course and/or lessons.