Five Technological Considerations When Choosing an E-Learning Solution
Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS): These systems are simply a combination of several types of e-learning software. Most LCMS provide the capability of tracking users, the ability to author content, and the ability to store and retrieve content when needed. These "mega" packages allow an organization to have an enterprisewide solution that takes care of every e-learning software need.
If the systems are implemented properly and used appropriately, they can be cost effective. Unfortunately, many times these systems are implemented into organizations without a clear understanding of how they will be used and without a plan for maximizing the functionality of the system. To effectively use an LCMS, training and instruction must be provided.
Five E-Learning Software CharacteristicsRegardless of what level of software you choose for your e-learning solution, you need to consider five characteristics. These are maintainability, compatibility, usability, modularity, and accessibility. Each of these characteristics is critical for success. It is important to note that, in reality, many of the characteristics overlap. However, looking at the five characteristics individually helps to ensure a broader understanding of the technological needs of e-learning solutions.
- Maintainability: The ability to maintain, over the long-term, your e-learning technology is critical. If it is difficult to add new users or delete old ones, hard to add content or inconvenient to recycle quizzes, instructors are going to abandon the technology quickly. In addition, if it is hard to perform updates or increase the sever capacity, problems will arise. You do not want to be at the mercy of a vendor for maintenance, changes, and alterations to your e-learning.
The system should be easy to administer and should be simple to update course content using pre-existing templates. Look for e-learning software that separates content from structure so you can update content without accidentally deleting critical navigational or menu items. Check out the help system to make sure that it is, indeed, helpful.
Examine the software. Make sure you are comfortable with maintaining both the content and the software itself. Look for the ability to recycle a course by removing users and test results but not course content. If a course is used over and over again, you want features that allow you to quickly move the old learners out and the new learners in. You also want the ability to archive records of past learners.
- Compatibility: Look for a solution that is compatible with other e-learning solutions on the market. You do not want to end up with a proprietary product that links you and the e-learning vendor together for life. Select a vendor that uses software and standards that are widely recognized. While it is impossible to have a solution that is "compatible with every known LMS or standard on the market," it is possible to choose e-learning solutions that are widely recognized and utilized.
Even though several groups are all vying for the right to claim to have the standard in e-learning, you can still make choices that ensure some level of interoperability. First, you need to determine which of the standards are most relevant for your situation. Ask questions like:
- Do we need to move content from one Learning Management System to another?
- Are we creating content to be placed into many learning management systems?
- Are we going to use the authoring package that comes with the LCMS we purchased?
- Do we need to find employees who can quickly create courses using this software?
- Usability: Another technical issue you want to address is that of usability. You want to be assured that the e-learning solution is easy to use. This is important because if technology is seen as cumbersome or difficult to navigate, the potential learners or instructors will never use it. You want the software to be intuitive. It should be easy to find the help menu, easy to move from one section of the course to another, and easy to have communications with the instructor.
Instructors are not going to want to read a huge, thick manual to be able to understand how to create instruction. Or spend hours trying to figure out how to create a quiz. The software needs to be simple and straightforward. This is true not only for the instructor and learners but for the administrators as well.
One way to ensure compatibility is to seek e-learning software that adheres to certain standards that are emerging within the e-learning industry. The basic ideal behind e-learning standards is to allow one vendor's e-learning modules to share information with another vendor's module. Standards allow e-learning modules to easily share information with LCMS or LMS systems. If all vendors adhere to the same standards, a learning module or learning object can be used interchangeably in multiple LMS or LCMS systems.
There are several organizations which are developing standards. These organizations are the AICC (Airline Industry CBT Committee), the quasi-governmental organization Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) who is working on SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model), and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
The most comprehensive is the SCORM project which encompasses many of the other standards. The important element in looking for compatibility is to understand that compliance with a standard like SCORM doesn't automatically ensure interoperability.
Interoperability is the ability to take one learning course and use it in many different learning management systems seamlessly. The standards are currently ONLY guidelines for interoperability and can still be interpreted differently by different vendors. It is important to know what types of courses you want to interact with your LMS, so determine from the vendor whether or not those courses can function with their LMS. Don't take it for granted that a SCORM compliant course automatically links with a SCORM compliant LMS.
