I would like to know on how to do the time estimation for developing a course.
Is there a standard method to arrive at an estimation? Can anyone share an industry standard template, if that exists?
I require this information, as I will be shortly starting to play more role in project management and I am finding it very difficult to provide any time estimation for developing new course.
I would caution that many of these studies are fairly old, as far as elearning goes. Modern authoring tools have greatly reduced the time to build courses. Some things still take the same amount of time like writing scripts, getting feedback, and approvals.
ATD did an update on this data in 2017. The ratios are lower than their 2009 data, which seems to be more due to changes in how they asked the questions than real changes.
The 2017 data is pretty close to Chapman's data from all those years ago.
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There is no single right answer, but there are a couple of industry benchmarks you can use.
Bryan Chapman did a study several years ago that breaks things down by task: http://www.chapmanalliance.com/howlong/
This research from ATD on the time to develop learning may also be helpful: https://www.td.org/Publications/Newsletters/Learning-Circuits/Learning-Circuits-Archives/2009/08/Time-to-Develop-One-Hour-of-Training
This post discusses the variables affecting time, including actual vs. elapsed time: http://blog.omniplex.co/how-long-does-elearning-take-to-develop
Thank you Christy!
This information surely helps. I am aware of the Chapman benchmarks, I will look into the other links that you have provided.
Cheers!
This was really helpful. Thank you. It saved me a ton of research time for a request I received from my manager.
I would caution that many of these studies are fairly old, as far as elearning goes. Modern authoring tools have greatly reduced the time to build courses. Some things still take the same amount of time like writing scripts, getting feedback, and approvals.
ATD did an update on this data in 2017. The ratios are lower than their 2009 data, which seems to be more due to changes in how they asked the questions than real changes.
The 2017 data is pretty close to Chapman's data from all those years ago.
https://www.td.org/insights/how-long-does-it-take-to-develop-one-hour-of-training-updated-for-2017
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