Surviving the e-learning Apocalypse

SURVIVING the e-Learning revision APOCALYPSE We've all been there. Your e-Learning course is going INTRO smoothly and then when revision time comes along it feels like all hell breaks loose! But with some keen wits and the helpful tools provided here, you can come out of the trenches unscathed and with a dazzling course to boot! RIP UNDERSTAND AND DEFINE THE 1) SCOPE OF REVISIONS BEFORE THE PROJECT KICKOFF Define what types of content changes or how many cycles will be included as in-scope revisions by your vendor and which activities may require additional charges. Also speak with your vendor to ensure your team is aware of which items can be changed easily once implemented and which items would require significant work to change. Examples: Text changes - easy change X Script changes to already recorded audio: significant change SETTING AND 2) STICKING TO REVISION DEADLINES DEADLINE Establish clear objectives and closing dates for getting in all your revisions with your vendor. You want to set enough time to thoroughly review the course but not so long that the process is dragged out and additional charges are incurred. CONSOLIDA TE 3) REVISIONS IN ONE PLACE Sending one off revisions in a trail of emails from a dozen different team members can quickly turn into a frustrating disaster with details getting buried and lost. A helpful strategy is to use a collaborative cloud tool where your team can jointly edit and add revision requests which can then be shared with your vendor in one clean file. Example tool: Google Drive spreadsheets ESTABLISH A CHAIN OF CONTROL Be sure to establish early on and communicate to your vendor who in your development team has the final say when it comes to content design and revisions. Often there can be opposing views when it comes to the direction of a course and your vendor needs to know whose instructions to follow. Failing to do this can create redundant work and unnecessary additional revisions which may lead to additional costs. ESTABLISH A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES Ensure that everyone on your team understands their individual responsibilities within the project along with the roles of each member of your vendor's team. This understanding ensures that the right communications are being sent directly to the responsible parties which leads to maximum development efficiency. ENSURE ALL INVOLVED PARTIES ARE CONTRIBUTING IN UNISON 6 Avoid situations where various project contributors such as additional subject matter experts, copy editors, and stakeholders are providing their input at vastly different stages or late in the project after significant content has already been developed. This can lead to the need for significant revisions and in some cases an unfixable course that simply misses the vision completely as the necessary people weren't actively involved throughout the project. MAKE MINOR REVISIONS INTERNALLY In the time it takes you to document one spelling fix request you could have already fixed three. Empowering your team with the appropriate permissions or tools needed to make simple content edits themselves can vastly improve the turnaround time on revisions and give your vendor more time to tackle the m more complex changes. SHARE THESE TOOLS EAGUES SURVIVE AND HELP YOUR COL THE NEXT WAVE ! Sources: www.scholarix.ca Scholarix