(Or – The Importance of Applying Instructional Design Methodology to Create Business-Focused Learning Content)
If done well, eLearning can be one of the most effective ways to train and support employees, managers, and executives in a corporate environment. With the digital tools and cloud-based Learning Management System (LMS) platforms available today, training content can be created and distributed on an enterprise-wide scale. This means that organizations no longer need to rely solely on often difficult-to-coordinate instructor-led training sessions that may only accommodate a few attendees at a time. Instructor-led training can also be hampered by scheduling conflicts and disparate time zones making it challenging to get instructors and learners together at the same time.
Enterprise-available eLearning training content can be repeatably used by learners without the need to pull trainers – who are often key resources within the organization -away from their primary roles. Learners have flexibility because they can access eLearning content when it fits into their schedule, and more importantly, when the content is most relevant to the task they are performing.
Developing business-focused eLearning content is ever-evolving, and if not done well can miss the mark on hitting training objectives and also fail to fully engage learners.
This is where the principles of instructional design and an instructional design methodology come into the picture.
At its core, instructional design is defined as the practice of creating instructional experiences to help facilitate learning in its most effective form (1). Design, in this sense, is more than a process. It’s a framework of thinking and application that can be embedded in all training interactions and learning content. This includes applying an instructional design model when creating eLearning content.
When an organization invests in eLearning without instructional design principles as a foundation, it can end up spending a lot of money and time on creating ineffective content that does not meet learning objectives and does not engage the learner. Training via any type of delivery format, including eLearning, is only as powerful as learners actually implementing the lessons learned in their work.
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