Contract eLearning Developers

Hi Rodney. The question of how long it takes to build a course is a common question people ask—and also a tough one to give a definitive answer to since so many variables are at play. This conversation thread has some good ideas on how to think about this challenge. And here are a few questions I find helpful for roughing out e-learning project timelines:

• How complex is the e-learning experience you want to create? A simple 15-minute course that just uses text, media, and pre-created interactions is relatively quick to build. But a 15-minute branching scenario or course with a large number of custom interactions logically takes a lot more time to make. Similarly, the complexity of the graphics you need someone to build will also impact your timeframe.
• What authoring app do you want the course built in? Storyline 360 is fantastic for building custom interactions but often requires more development time. Rise 360 is a speedier development app but doesn't have the same capabilities to create any interaction you can imagine. So it may not be a fit for the kind of e-learning experience you're envisioning.
• Are you hiring someone to just do the e-learning development work, or will they also be writing the course as well?
• What kind of review and approval process do you need? Are you able to sign off on the course yourself, or are there multiple stakeholders, all of whom need to give feedback and have it integrated into the final e-learning before it's considered complete?
• How many review cycles do you anticipate needing to get to a finished course? Are you comfortable with one cycle of reviewing and edits, or would you prefer more iterations to refine the course over time?

While the answers to these questions may not give you an immediate timeframe for e-learning production, they'll make time estimates much easier to determine for any e-learning development vendors or freelancers you're considering working with.