e-Learning projects are complicated projects, include many variables for their completion. As a junior project manager and analyst, I came often to the position not only to describe such projects but also to participate in their implementation! Training in a technology-rich environment is not always easy, and e-Learning projects, aiming primarily at developing an adequate infrastructure can support multiple life-long learning goals!
What an e-Learning Project is?
e-Learning is a recent addition to modern education toolbox, aiming at providing a more efficient and flexible methodology and appropriate tools for the facilitation of life-long learners!
There are many educational (as the “Learning By Doing” approach) and e-Learning approaches, writing strategies, system and tips someone can implement in order to facilitate the learning process of a group of learners.
But at the end of the day, for a large number of learners you need a consisted strategic plan to help them to achieve their learning objectives and acquire the necessary skills and competencies!
An e-Learning project is the integration and aggregation of all these approaches, instructional design, systems, tools, methods and services which aiming at supporting:
- the acquirement of the necessary skills and competencies to the members of the target group,
- the multiplication of high-quality learning materials,
- the facilitation of the effective uses by the members of the target group of their life-long learning goals
Ultimately a good designed and implemented e-learning project is focused on you!
An e-Learning Work-plan Primer
An e-Learning procedure as knowledge acquisition is not always typical and accurate procedures. Depend on many factors and many parameters can intervene in the process derail it from its original goals!
Sometimes trying to provide more value to people needed it most you can do various errors, can “contaminate” irreparably the whole learning experience. For this reason as a project manager, you should always on alert for discrepancies between the goals and the implementation while is is wise to keep a keen eye at the whole procedure (when possible of course!)
In order to avoid any problems you need a good e-Learning Project Plan, can help you to coordinate effectively the people, the resources, the assets and the activities around the project’s goals!
A typical structure of such an e-Learning project generally includes the following work packages:
- Analysis. It will record, analyze and organize all the user needs and requirement, providing the scope and the basic requirements of the project!
- Design. It will be based on the results of the Analysis package for the consistent design of the required components, modules, instructions and activities needed by the learners to reach their learning goals.
- Development. Based on package 2, this work-package focused on the development and integration of the required:
- Educational modules/components,
- Multimedia Assets,
- Graphic Assets,
- Quizzes, Test, self-evaluation tests, etc., and
- Supportive material.
- Evaluation & Feedback. This package typically includes:
- Connection to an LMS (Learning Management System), system integration or placement to the final delivery platform,
- Pilot deployment and trial operation by users,
- Overall evaluation based on user feedback
- Technical support and documentation
- Support Activities and Tasks. An e-Learning project and especially one that it is implemented in a corporate environment has many more requirements than developing training modules and delivered them to the right persons. Such a project has requirements such as the following activities:
- Project Management
- Assessment and Risk Analysis
- Return of Investment Analysis (ROI)
- Communication coordination and facilitation between the participating interdisciplinary teams
- Dissemination, propagation or promotional activities
- Exploitation plans
This structure may help you yo focus your attention in specific areas of the e-Learning project and will provide you a template to help implement such projects.
Question: What do you think? Do you manage often e-Learning projects? Write to us about your experience with e-Learning projects or with any e-Learning activity! Your comments may be helpful to many people.