Share Your E-Learning Pet Peeves

David, do you like e-learning?

I absolutely love e-learning. I love building e-learning. I love managing e-learning. And these days, I especially love helping people build their own e-learning. E-learning is perfect.

Perfect?

Well, there might be one or two things I don’t miss about building courses.

Like what?

For one thing, the interminable QA cycles. No, I really don’t miss those. I lasted two, maybe three, rounds before getting restless and wishing the project would just end. Thankfully, those projects were rare.

So never-ending reviews are like lima beans?

Exactly! So what about you? Got any e-learning pet peeves?

68 Comments

David Anderson
Author

over 9 years ago08/12/14 at 5:10 pm (UTC)

You guys are cracking me up with your pet peeves. I know you all probably saw Tom's post today, but there are some good "love and hates" shared in his comments: http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/what-do-you-love-hate-about-e-learning/

Brandie Jenkins

over 9 years ago08/26/14 at 6:20 am (UTC)

I have two big pet peeves as a freelancer. One is those occasional requests I get where the potential client sends a training manual that is largely policy oriented to be converted to eLearning without allowing for any kind of formal analysis to determine what is eLearning material versus additional resources or electronic documentation. The other pet peeve of mine is those requests that I have seen on some freelance sites where they want a 30 minute interactive elearning course developed in less than 2 days and a very low budget. Clearly they have no clue as to what goes on behind the scenes of eLearning development.

diane clark

over 9 years ago08/26/14 at 8:13 am (UTC)

I can relate to SO many of these peeves it's ridiculous! However, two I would like to add are: 1. Specifically reviews by legal and compliance folks who think all training needs to mirror the marketing materials they've already reviewed and that won't be ready for me to use after the product is launched. Of course, that's if they even have time or resources to do a review! 2. Pressure to deliver the important course by a certain date - only to find out 10 weeks later only 16 people have taken it!!!

Brandie Jenkins

over 9 years ago08/26/14 at 9:01 am (UTC)

Diane, you just reminded me of another of mine. Analysts (or SME's) who think that everything needs to be included in an eLearning course, regardless of whether or not the target audience actually uses the information.

Scott Lindstrom

over 9 years ago08/26/14 at 9:27 am (UTC)

@Alanda, so agree with the 11th hour SME's that popup! Biggest peeve is when a SME wants something added and they say "it's just copy & paste." PS, it could much worse though, I once had a manager who refused to read a storyboard and wanted everything in the elearning course so he could "experience it." Yeah, that did not last long ;-)

Brandie Jenkins

over 9 years ago08/26/14 at 9:49 am (UTC)

LOL. Scott! I once asked an analyst why they felt everything had to be included in an eLearning course, and it was because they had gotten in trouble for leaving out information out on a change, so their new policy was to include everything. The problem was they wanted information included on a system that the majority of the employees didn't use. Only a select few managers had access to the system, and those changes were already being discussed in a manager's meeting.

Van Gerald

over 9 years ago08/26/14 at 10:48 am (UTC)

I had a client that said"we dont need course objectives, it is only an hour long course".

Melissa Milloway

over 9 years ago08/26/14 at 11:00 am (UTC)

This type of clipart http://officeimg.vo.msecnd.net/en-us/images/MH900071046.jpg … *shudders* I think because I develop elearning I am more aware of design and clipart makes me feel like the designer was not being thoughtful. Design issues in general irk me and make for a bad user experience. I also loathe long articles/text in elearning. I think that should be saved for a follow-along guide or another downloadable resource for those that have hours to spend reading training materials.

Maheswari Mohan

over 9 years ago08/26/14 at 10:17 pm (UTC)

I am reading through the peeves and thinking, "Oh yes! I have been there.." for every one of them. Mine is when the client wants a major design change at the last minute and says, "Could you just do that one thing and send it for review now?" :D

David Anderson
Author

over 9 years ago08/30/14 at 4:46 pm (UTC)

Try again option... on T/F questions:-)

Andy Houghton

over 9 years ago08/30/14 at 11:24 pm (UTC)

@David - Almost. Try again

Kristin Augusta

over 9 years ago09/05/14 at 12:38 pm (UTC)

I have one from today! Already a week behind timeline (on their side, not mine) - I get an email today. This is a 20 minute module, mind you... "I've reviewed half of the module and I'll look at the other half sometime today. I will have some changes for you, but this should mark the end of any major changes. I'll have the SVP review the module on Wednesday next week and then you can pilot and assign in the LMS. Just, a note, we HAVE to assign it no later than the 11th." What's wrong with this? His deadline for content changes was August 15th. He has added new slides, changed order of the entire module so that it needs all new transitions, and does he really think the SVP CARES about this module?!? (It's a complete VANITY project to introduce the project owner's new team.) Oh... Expand

Chris Warren

over 9 years ago09/16/14 at 6:13 am (UTC)

@Kristin - My head hurts after reading that.

Dominique Wheeler

over 9 years ago09/16/14 at 7:00 am (UTC)

An on-going pet peeve I run across all the time with the client is information overload. They want us to cram so much information that doesn’t apply to the main group just to ensure it’s covered. That’s not going to engage the learner I try to emphasize. When designing WBTs I prefer giving the learner the information they need to know to perform their tasks and any additional information outside the “need to know” can be provided as an additional resource. In my recent pet peeve, after already being in production a few days, the client asked me to insert some additional information in the WBTs I created and republished. Of course it required some new audio and screen recordings, but that wasn’t my main concern. Overall, the information was pertinent, but only to a small sub-group. I ... Expand

Andy Houghton

over 9 years ago09/16/14 at 7:25 am (UTC)

@Dominique '...prefer giving the learner the information they need to know to perform their tasks and any additional information outside the “need to know” can be provided as an additional resource.' That's pretty much the way we see things and why we're called: what you need to know. We use videos for the 'need to know' and suggest other material can be provided in a PDF - see our resources page http://whatyouneedtoknow.co.uk/resources/ and the PDF that goes with: Information Security for Mobile Devices. Also blogged about how less can be more here: http://whatyouneedtoknow.co.uk/less/

Dominique Wheeler

over 9 years ago09/16/14 at 8:23 am (UTC)

@Andy WYNTK thanks for sharing your resources. The explainer videos are great at conveying the topical information concisely and constructively. I will definitely add your resources to my Favorites! :-)