I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to participate in an online chat about e-learning best practices with our own Paul Signorelli. As I answered questions for Paul, I had the opportunity to reflect on my experiences in introducing blended learning at Gwinnett County Public Library, an organization, that until a couple years ago, relied almost solely on classroom-based ILT for training. In my ferver to get e-learning off the ground, I took a few lumps along way that could have been avoided had I taken more care to address early on a few fundamental questions in implementation regarding physical assets, supervisory needs, and administrative concerns. I volunteered to Paul that I would be happy to compile and share a general e-learning preparation checklist for libraries considering e-learning, or for those that are relatively new to it. Here goes (or visit the Google group T is for Training for a printer-friendly version):
E-Learning Preparedness Checklist
Physical
□ Does each work unit have an adequate number of PCs to be used primarily for e-learning?
□ Are the PCs in an area away from potential distractions?
□ Does each training PC have the necessary equipment and configuration for e-learning?
- Consider equipment such as:
- Headset microphones for webinars
- Webcam for video conferencing
- Browsers correctly configured (i.e., Java, Flash Player, Active X controls, popup blockers, software applets, etc)
□ Is there a Help Desk/Tech Support system in place?
□ Are there bandwidth bottlenecks during peak times of PC use in the branches?
Supervisory
□ Do employees have scheduled off-desk time to participate in e-learning?
□ Is training viewed as an essential job function and supported as such?
□ Are policies/guidelines in place to restrict hourly employees from accessing e-learning off the clock?
□ Will concepts taught in e-learning be modeled and reinforced in the workplace?
Training Administrator
□ Will e-learning offerings conflict with branch/department scheduling?
□ How will new e-learning opportunities be advertised?
□ Which, if any, e-learning classes count toward CEUs for your professional staff?
□ Have you communicated your vision for e-learning so that staff know what to expect?
□ Do you have the buy-in of key stakeholders, such as the Director, the IT department, line managers, etc?
□ What evaluative criteria will be used to determine the success of e-learning initiatives?
June 3, 2009 at 9:44 am
Delighted to belatedly discover your posting here. I think the simple checklist really hits the target in helping anyone involved in e-learning to see some critical and basic issues to be addressed, particularly in terms of the connections to be made betweeen supervisors, those they supervise, and training which results in positive change. Anyone wanting to explore the overall theme of how to obtain better results from any sort of training (onsite or online) will probably gain a lot from “The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning” by Wick, Pollock, Jefferson and Flanagan. It really supports much of what you said during our online conversation.
June 11, 2009 at 11:16 am
Thanks Jay, I think this is a very useful list. we have been brainstorming ways to make administrators ware of the needs of the online ce participants. this will be a useful tool for us.