Examples of bad eLearning, anyone?

I am tempted to say "Most of it..."

I think it may be difficult for people to point to examples, on the basis we'd probably get sued.

A lot of the poor stuff is hidden behind corporate firewalls.

Bruce

Oh I see :(

Thanks Bruce, I didn't realise.

I'll take down the post

Leave the post - someone may be able to show you something that is badly designed, however, remember that "bad" is very objective.

I have one client who thinks "click-click-click" powerpoint + audio is black magic, and their staff LOVE it.

Just be careful.

Bruce

Here: http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/en/serve-ability/index.aspx

Slides that have nothing but bullet points and random photos of the same guy over and over that are completely unrelated to the content.

The narration, however, is top notch.

For balance, here is a good example of training on the same topic: http://web1.ocad.ca/accessibility/ascs/#

Disclaimer: I had nothing to do with the creation of either of these courses, nor do I know who built them.  I stumbled across both because I was tasked to create a course on the subject and was researching how others had approached it in online course format.

I went through a few skillsoft courses on Microsoft Office that almost made me cry...primarily because I couldn't turn the audio off and the pace was excruciatingly slow.

When do you need this? I might be able to add this as a weekly challenge to highlight common course design mistakes. Might be fun to turn a dozen expert designers loose to see who can design the worst course

Haha. That could be a fun challenge. Might want to be specific about the criteria of bad. Looks bad or feels bad is different than works bad. I've seen a few courses that looked GREAT but cost a LOT more than the problem and ended up not solving a thing

Oh David, you are brilliant! Then the following week, the challenge could be to make over their own or someone else's bad course! 

Great point Steve - perhaps add a twist - make sure you describe WHY it's bad.

Recently loved Dave Kelly's piece on this: http://davidkelly.me/2014/04/judgement-vacuum/ 

"You simply can not judge a learning program – and by extension the people who designed and developed it – without understanding the context under which it was developed." 

Okay you guys convinced me. It's on like Donkey Kong!

Do you all agree that this works best as a two-part challenge?

Part 1, we share bad course examples. Most courses should be designed to be bad (tougher than it sounds, trust me) and based on common mistakes (writing, flow, navigation, design, etc.). Then in Part 2, folks choose someone else's sample to fix? Or should everyone fix their own sample?

Steve that's a huge point and ties into the super awesome David Kelly post Holly shared. It might be easier to add some constraints around tangible nuances that are bad in every case. Things like inconsistent design elements, navigation, and overall usability.

We could also focus on bad content where slides use many words without saying anything: "All employees, managers, and supervisors are required to adhere to, understand, and obey all rules, regulations, and policies while on company time, property, and events." HUH???

This is going to be fun!

I'm in! Let's make this the baddest challenge ever. We can do it!!

@David: PS - I vote for fixing our own bad examples rather than some one else's. Way more satisfying, in my opinion.

Or,  make this a little longer running.  Choose one of the bad examples and then everyone makes it over - I always find it fascinating how differently people approach exactly the same material.  Then the next week we could choose a different bad example.

Has this challenge happened yet? I am also looking for some before and after examples.

"Bad" e-learning should be judged on the basis of the Level 3 / Level 4 evaluation six months after the launch and the budget... Listen to Steve Flowers.  If you create a slick, gorgeous e-learning course that impressed all your friends at the e-learning industry convention but fails to deliver a positive return on investment for your client/employer... well, your pretty course was a waste.

Hi!  Is there a link to the challenges?  I am teaching a class next spring and would like to use this as a discussion exercise on the difference between good and bad eLearning.

here is a link. https://community.articulate.com/series/45/articles/death-taxes-elearning-mistakes