Gathering e-learning requirements

Nov 16, 2015

Good morning E-Learning Heroes community! Long-time reader, first time poster. My organization is looking to develop more in-house web-based trainings to help engage our employees in their learning. Up to this point we've been fairly reliant on simple click-through e-learning and in-classroom training, but we've found it harder and harder for our employees to make time in their busy schedules. As such, we're looking to make some big strides into e-learning. We have both Articulate Studio and Articulate Storyline, and quite a few additional resources at our disposal (Shutterstock, high-quality cameras and lighting, etc.)

Now that the background info is out of the way, I was wondering if you all would be able to share any advice on how you go about getting specs from clients with regards to what they'd like to see in e-learning? Do you have a set of questions that you ask to determine the best approach, or do you rely more on casual conversation to pinpoint what might best suit their needs? I have some experience gathering requirements for in-classroom training, but e-learning seems to be a beast unto itself.

Any help you could offer would be wonderful - thank you!

13 Replies
Eugene DeMarco

My name is Gene DeMarco and I work for MRCC. We are a full service custom eLearning provider and I saw your posting. I was curious if you have entertained outsourcing the project to a vendor or at maybe just a part to get you started. We'd love to help
We offer in certain cases up to 70 percent savings over most vendors. We have trained Instructional Designers, Rapid Development Tool i.e. Storyline, Captivate, Lectora experts, Graphic Designers, Animators, Project Managers, and all staff required to make your learning engaging . Our customers include Whirlpool, FINRA, Papa John's, Kellogg's, Pearson, Cengage, and Hunter Douglas just to name a few. Please let me know if this is something you’d wish to explore. Let me know.

Gene DeMarco

gdemarco@mrccsolutions.com

sean@cobblestonelearning.com Learning

Hi Eric, are you trying to understand the medium that would best suit your learners or trying to understand what they need to learn?

I would start with the latter and then look to decide on the approach to take. 

For example, if you have a topic such a stress management or how to facilitate 1:1s for managers, using social media or online discussions may not be the best option as this type of learning may be more personal.

Video might be great for scenarios but technical information might transfer better in text. It really depends on the content and learning objectives.

Finally I would say use what you have. Creating video and interacting with it, works great in Storyline. Utilise your users to test too, this is an asset you have at your disposal. Build samples, gauge reaction and adapt as you go. I have found this more agile approach more productive and fun than a too detailed planning phase. Calling it a "pilot" usually gets around needing approval :-) 

Bob S

Hi Sean,

Glad you posted. I may be taking your stated premise too literally, but you talk about wanting to expand elearning efforts from your click-through approach mainly because your learners have less and less time in their schedules....    I'm sure you know that while super engaging, things like video, narration,  interactive scenarios, etc generally require more learner time, not less.  For example, Ii's almost always faster to read something than to wait for the narrator/actor to complete speaking the lines.

I mention this only because it can be a common misconception for many of us IDs that start chasing the holy grail of more engaging content for the wrong reasons.  So my first advice would be to make sure that your foray into better elearning is going to address actual business realities. For example... if you think that by creating better elearning your learners will actual make time to take more courses (and they may!!!), then great. But then that should be the stated objective your team places metrics around. 

All that being said, it often comes down to a couple of things....

  1. What are the must-have learning take-aways.  If you can only have them remember three specific things, what would they be..... THESE are where you first want to add interactivity/practice to aid retention.
  2. What topics do the learners have the hardest time grasping. Adding more engaging ways of learning here can also pay real dividends.
  3. And candidly speaking, just as in your classroom training, you then look for areas that are easy to add fun exercises around; in the case of elearning it's areas that more easily lend themselves to something other than straight reading for example.

The key is to do those things in the right order..... that way when you realize your 8 min course has actually ballooned to 28 mins when your first learner actually goes through it, you know which pieces to cut back on.  :) :) :)

Hope this is helpful and what you were looking for.

 

Regina Floyd

If I'm working with a new client and I'm not familiar with the audience for the training, then I generally start with a Kick-off Meeting to gather information.  At this point, I avoid asking the client 'what they would like to see.'  (I want the strategies used to reflect the audience, learning objectives, and content.)  Here are some examples:

  • Tell me about the audience (education, age, position, etc.)
  • What are their primary job duties/tasks? Which tasks is this training focused on?
  • Is this training part of a larger curriculum/training track? 
  • Does the audience currently receive training on this topic?  If so, what is working and what is not working?  (Ask for copies of the learner feedback; if the training currently exists as instructor-led or other delivery method, request copies of the material. Request a meeting with the instructor to gather more information. If possible, request info about the performance issues and/or an interview with a supervisor.) 
  • What should they be able to do when they've completed this training?
  • Do they use job aids for these tasks?
  • Is this training going to be accessed through an LMS? Are there Section 508 requirements? Is the training completed at work? At home? Does the audience use mobile devices? (Gather any relevant technical requirements/limitations)
  • Do you have an existing style guide (for terms, colors, logos, etc.)?

See Cathy Moore's blog on Kick-off meetings (to keep it focused on tasks): http://blog.cathy-moore.com/2014/04/how-to-kick-off-a-project-and-avoid-an-info-dump/

You might also gather the names and contact information for SMEs, reviewers, and approvers. 

After reviewing all the information from the kick-off meeting (and possibly a few interviews), you can present a detailed design strategy (objectives, course outline, example strategies/activities/assessments/media).  

Ruth Clark's, eLearning and the Science of Instruction, is a good resource for determining instructional strategies for specific content types (based on research-based evidence).

If you don't already have an approved template/style for the eLearning, then you might want to present a mock-up/prototype to discuss layout, functionality, etc. This can save a lot of time, especially if you are going to use the same design for multiple courses. 

Depending on the level of interactivity, eLearning is generally more expensive to develop than instructor-led training, so I recommend getting client sign-off on deliverables. (For some reason folks review more carefully when they have to sign :), which helps avoid the endless redos. 

James Finder

I would definitely recommend Cathy Moore's work as well. Here are some links to help get you started.

Cathy Moore's Speakerdeck on information dumps vs actual training: https://goo.gl/YVFvue

PLExD's survey of requirements when designing an eLearning project: https://goo.gl/K5SwLE

The PLExD Process for developing eLearning content: https://goo.gl/JqYgsR

Kirkpatrick's Rubric for analyzing eLearning content from businessballs.com : https://goo.gl/MRJU9i

Have a great holiday!!

James

james@getplexd.com

Holly Eva

Hey Eric: Attached is what I use whenever a manager starts talking to me about needs identification/requirements gathering. I call them my "magic genie questions" because it's like a gateway to make them stop and think about what it is exactly that they want out of this training. I hope this helps!

I also fully support Cathy Moore's aforementioned blog, so much great information in there and her methods really do help you to keep the training meaningful and engaging!

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