Will I Get My Money’s Worth?

Garry Hornbuckle
Posted By Garry Hornbuckle
July 26, 2010 – 1:49 pm

Although it comes in several different forms, one of the questions that new or prospective clients often ask before beginning a new eLearning development project is “Will I get my money’s worth?”. It’s a fair question. We are all operating in a very tough economic climate these days, and smart decisions about resource allocations can make the difference between flourishing and perishing.

Yes, it is a fair question. And, on the surface, it seems simple enough. Suppose, for example, that I do not know how to use the red-eye correction on my new digital camera (perhaps I don’t even know the feature exists). If could learn to use red-eye correction by taking an eLearning course online, it would seem reasonable to conclude that the training was successful, right?

But what if there is more to the story? Perhaps, I am disappointed with the family photos I’ve taken with my new camera because everyone seems to have “devil eyes.” My friend, who has a different brand of digital camera, tells me that she never has any problem with this. I take a look at her Facebook album and – sure enough – her photos look great! At this point I’m a frustrated and unhappy customer. And I’m a customer who may be wishing that I bought a different product.

Now – would a “How To Use Red-Eye Correction” eLearning module turn me back into a happy customer? A customer who is not only capable of eliminating red-eye, but is also confident in the buying decision I made, and ready to recommend my camera to others? Frankly, I doubt it.

“Will I get my money’s worth?” If I’m the digital camera manufacturer, I might think of red-eye correction as just one more checklist item needed for the inevitable side-by-side comparisons with my competitors. As such, I might see little value in creating eLearning for the new model. And, with little perceived value to gain, the question of value for my training dollar might never be raised. But, throw in an unhappy customer or maybe a whole bunch of unhappy customers. Well that could be different.

My example is somewhat contrived, but I hope that it illustrates my point. “Successful eLearning,” which it surely must be if I am to conclude that it was worth the development cost, is not nearly so simply a concept as we wish it might be. And if “success” is difficult to predict and/or measure, surely a precise, quantitative measure of “return on investment” must be even harder to come by.

So what does one do? Give up? Move forward with eLearning development projects as an act of faith? Conclude that training is little more than a black hole for resources? Absolutely not.

Next time, I’ll give you my “seven-layer cake” recipe for defining, creating, and measuring successful eLearning. In the meantime, I’d like to hear from you. If you’re in the training world, what challenges do you face in getting funding for training development approved? If you are on executive row, how do you evaluate the business worthiness of training projects?

Posted in Business, e-Learning | Comments (0)

The New Digital Divide

Garry Hornbuckle
Posted By Garry Hornbuckle
July 14, 2010 – 3:25 pm

If the “old” digital divide is between those with broadband access to the internet and those without, the new digital divide is between those with access who can use online content and those who cannot. Specifically, I’m thinking about individuals with one or more physical disabilities.

Broadly speaking, physical disabilities can be grouped into three categories: vision, hearing, and mobility. Each category encompasses a variety of impairments and a spectrum of ability; from able, to disabled, and everything in between. For example, while blindness is obviously one type of visual disability, so is color blindness. Loss or paralysis of a limb is mobility disability, but so is loss of fine motor control due to Parkinson’s disease.

For application developers, content creators, and information publishers, providing full access for individuals with physical disabilities is not a trivial endeavor. It adds difficulty to interface design, often requires development of additional media assets, and complicates quality assurance efforts. And that adds up to more time and more expense. So why do it?

In my view, there are four reasons that you should consider taking that extra time and expense to remove obstacles to access. The first, and the most obvious, is if you know that your target audience of information consumers includes individuals with disabilities. This might be the case with internal employee training, for example.

If you supply products and services to the federal government, including our military, the second reason is equally compelling. It’s the law. Section 508 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain or use electronic and information technology, Federal employees with disabilities have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access and use by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from a Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities.

The third reason, perhaps, is purely financial. Individuals with some degree of physical impairment or disability represent a significant market segment. This is a market segment with significant purchasing power, composed of millions of individuals that will look either favorably or unfavorably upon your company, your products, and your services. In the United States, for example, nearly 3 million consumers are visually handicapped from color blindness and over 1 million have Parkinson’s disease. Some 36 million American adults report some degree of hearing loss, and more that 100 million Americans are visually disabled without corrective lenses.

This is also growing market segment for two reasons. First, aging boomers are living longer and yet are increasingly affected by a variety of age-related health issues that can impair sight, hearing, and/or mobility. Second, an unprecedented number of young Americans now return from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with serious injuries that will be with them for the rest of their lives. Ask yourself, “Are there aging boomers in my work force?” and “Are my products and services of potential interest to veterans?” I’d be truly surprised if the answer to both was “no.”

I raise the issue of market opportunity to point out the potential financial rewards of designing for accessibility, and to open discussions of return on investment. I think that one should also consider what the economic impact of preventing a significant segment of the population from participating in the global knowledge economy could be.

Setting all practical, regulatory, and economic arguments aside, my fourth, final and (I believe) most compelling reason to design for accessibility is simply this: it’s the right thing to do. I can’t imagine any ethical or moral basis that could justify creating and maintaining a new community of second class citizens in cyberspace.

Of course there are still hundreds of millions of people world-wide that have no access to the internet at all, much less, broadband access. And that status quo isn’t acceptable either. But if website designers, software programmers, and eLearning authors would start building for accessibility today, we’ll be ready for everyone to participate tomorrow.

Is information accessibility on your mind? Let me know what you think.

Posted in Business, Design & Development, e-Learning | Comments (0)

Three Sides of the Same Coin

Garry Hornbuckle
Posted By Garry Hornbuckle
June 28, 2010 – 3:35 pm

I’ve always been uncomfortable with the term “eLearning” but I continue to use it because it seems that no one has come up with something that is both generally agreeable and more appropriate. My discomfort stems not from the “e” prefix – although it is terribly vague – but from “learning.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m OK with the dictionary definition of “learning” and it does in fact accurately describe what we generally hope to accomplish through an eLearning module. My problem is with the narrow definition of “training” within most organizations, and the direct tie often drawn between training, learning and eLearning. As in “our training division is responsible for all of our learning initiatives,” or “the training budget doesn’t include funds for eLearning.”

This gives me grief on two fronts. First, it’s now almost universally accepted that customer service is everyone’s job regardless of department, role or title. In many organizations, the same is true of sales. Common sense says that every single employee can recognize new opportunities, support your brand, and build customer loyalty… and that they can improve their abilities through proper training and experience. Yet few of us say “learning is everyone’s job.”

If that’s not enough to prompt a “Whoa!” moment, think about this. If globalization has taught us anything, it’s that almost everything can be made a commodity. In today’s world economy, the only sustainable competitive advantage is an ability to adapt and change more quickly than do our competitors. “Adapt” and “change” sound like “learning” to me.

My second concern is with the artificially narrow functional role often assigned to training. For example, both product training and sales skills training can be essential components of a product launch strategy. Too often, however, we see those activities as something done before the launch itself. Do the training, and then do the launch. Separate and definitely not equal.

Here’s my radical idea. Every product, service or communication your organization creates or provides IS training. Advertising is training. Promotional materials are training. Packaging is training. Documentation is training. Press releases are training. Newsletters are training. Blogs are training. Branding is training. Sales calls are training.

Why? Because “training” is an attempt to introduce, reinforce, or modify a fact, attitude, belief or skill in someone else. “Learning” is the set of processes through which that fact, attitude, belief or skill is internalized. Do it better than your competitors and it will be your values, your product, your brand, and your message that wins that valuable real estate in the human mind. Do it poorly and someone else will capture that turf.

Am I advocating the reassignment of all sales and marketing personnel to your training organization? Of course not. But just remember: communicating, persuading, and training are just three sides of the same coin, and learning IS everyone’s job.

What do think? Am I pointing out the obvious, or am I running off the deep end?

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Do you need eLearning?

Garry Hornbuckle
Posted By Garry Hornbuckle
June 14, 2010 – 2:36 pm

OK, that’s a trick question. Or at least it’s not the first question you should ask when thinking about your training and communication needs. eLearning is just a means to an end — although when properly conceived and implemented it can be an engaging, powerful and cost-effective means. But unless you have clearly identified the ends you want to achieve, choosing eLearning – or any other content delivery approach – is premature at best.

On the other hand, if you change the question to “Do you need learning?” it sounds almost silly. Surely everyone in every organization could learn something that would allow them to give better customer service, work more efficiently, make more sales, solve more problems, or in some other way better help your organization to achieve its goals.

So, where do you start? Well, it’s back to the basics — who, what, when, where, why, and how. WHAT needs to be taught or communicated? WHO needs to learn or know? WHEN and WHERE will those individuals be able to engage in learning? WHEN do they need to know, and WHERE will they be at that time? WHY is this information important? HOW can you judge whether or not the training or communication been successfully accomplished?

You’d be surprised (or, perhaps, you wouldn’t) at how often “we’ve got a PowerPoint” is considered as both necessary and sufficient to launch an eLearning development initiative. In my experience, such projects are unlikely – very unlikely – to truly succeed.

Of course, whether or not an eLearning project is successful depends upon how you define “success.” I’ll share some of my thoughts in a future post, but I would really like to hear about your experiences.

How do you decide to start an eLearning initiative? How do you measure its success?

Posted in e-Learning | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Learning from a Volcano!

Posted By Bob Duthie
April 22, 2010 – 9:01 am

Who had a backup plan to get around the problems a rogue volcano in Iceland caused to their training events?  Tuesday I learned about an annual international conference this weekend in Washington DC where many speakers and attendees were coming from Europe and the Middle East. I don’t know yet how it turned out, but I do know that next year computer and communications technology will play a bigger role to ensure that important training is delivered even if all long distance travel is shut down. Of course this means arranging to webcast the conference to the audience but also to bring in the speakers from different locations via video and visual presentations over the Internet. If travel is available the physical conference can go on because people still prefer to learn in groups, but not all speakers have to travel to the conference location which saves their time and reduces costs.  Such conferences can be recorded and delivered as elearning for many months after the live event.

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