I'm new to elearning design and someone told me that when starting a project, it's good to figure out IT specifications. Can anyone tell me what this specifically entails or what I should be asking our IT department?
Many organizations have a standard machine configuration that makes it easy to narrow technical requirements for the "minimum platform configuration." Others may have a wide swath of platforms, browsers, and capabilities on the target menu. Either way, there should be a minimum specified platform or platforms for support of a program before beginning to design and build.
In my last job, we codified these technical requirements in an appendix to our SOP. See Appendix D of this document for an example. Yours might be more / less comprehensive.
Thanks both to Natalia and Steve. @Natalia, yes, we do have an LMS. I think that's a great idea to see what current tools they've been using to Publish elearning. Unfortunately, I work for a giant company and will have to search out the specifics on my own.
Well that's good. A big company with an active LMS means a lot of this work has already been done and you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Do you have an IT help desk or something similar? If you submit a request to get some help with the LMS, they will probably get you in contact with the person or team that manages it. If there are people in your company who have already been developing and uploading content to the LMS then they have already gone through this. You can save yourself TONS of time by reaching out to them. You will need a contact to help you get your first courses loaded anyway.
The main things you need to know are what development tool are you using (Storyline, Studio, Captivate, etc).
Is anyone else using that same tool? And LMS Manager or administrator will most likely know this.
Once you find a match to the same tool your'e using, ask what publish settings they use. There are usually lots of options but while you're getting started it will be great to know what already works with your LMS.
The same goes for your computer. A lot of the bigger companies have a few different models of computers available. Most employees get a standard model but programmers, graphic designers, and eLearning developers, etc often use a higher end model for the processing power you will need. Once you get connected with people doing this type of work, you can find out what they use.
There are a lot of pros along with the cons of developing at a huge company. I hope some of this is helpful. Keep posting throughout your process. In these early stages you may not even be sure what questions to ask. We were all just getting started at some point in our careers so please don't hesitate to reach out for help!
4 Replies
Hi Tracey,
A good place to start is to find out if you have a Learning Management System (LMS) and who manages it. IT? HR?
Are there others in your company developing eLearning? What tools are they using and what Publish settings work with your LMS?
If you don't have an LMS, this conversation changes quite a bit.
Hi Tracey,
Many organizations have a standard machine configuration that makes it easy to narrow technical requirements for the "minimum platform configuration." Others may have a wide swath of platforms, browsers, and capabilities on the target menu. Either way, there should be a minimum specified platform or platforms for support of a program before beginning to design and build.
In my last job, we codified these technical requirements in an appendix to our SOP. See Appendix D of this document for an example. Yours might be more / less comprehensive.
http://www.uscg.mil/forcecom/training/docs/training_SOP7_Sep11.pdf
Thanks both to Natalia and Steve. @Natalia, yes, we do have an LMS. I think that's a great idea to see what current tools they've been using to Publish elearning. Unfortunately, I work for a giant company and will have to search out the specifics on my own.
Well that's good. A big company with an active LMS means a lot of this work has already been done and you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Do you have an IT help desk or something similar? If you submit a request to get some help with the LMS, they will probably get you in contact with the person or team that manages it. If there are people in your company who have already been developing and uploading content to the LMS then they have already gone through this. You can save yourself TONS of time by reaching out to them. You will need a contact to help you get your first courses loaded anyway.
The main things you need to know are what development tool are you using (Storyline, Studio, Captivate, etc).
Is anyone else using that same tool? And LMS Manager or administrator will most likely know this.
Once you find a match to the same tool your'e using, ask what publish settings they use. There are usually lots of options but while you're getting started it will be great to know what already works with your LMS.
The same goes for your computer. A lot of the bigger companies have a few different models of computers available. Most employees get a standard model but programmers, graphic designers, and eLearning developers, etc often use a higher end model for the processing power you will need. Once you get connected with people doing this type of work, you can find out what they use.
There are a lot of pros along with the cons of developing at a huge company. I hope some of this is helpful. Keep posting throughout your process. In these early stages you may not even be sure what questions to ask. We were all just getting started at some point in our careers so please don't hesitate to reach out for help!
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.