Insights summary
E-learning subjects
Induction – make a start with e-learning
This Insight looks at eight common problems that occur with induction and how e-learning offers the ideal solution to each. It explores how e-learning offers a low-cost, consistent, flexible, 24/7 solution that’s easy to update and can be instantly rolled out to audiences worldwide, used as ongoing support, and spur new joiners to take control of their personal development. It demonstrates why many organisations have found induction to be the killer application for e-learning.
E-learning in health and social care
As one of the world’s largest employers, the NHS faces a number of unique challenges for training design and delivery. A number of policy documents and strategic frameworks, such as ‘Supporting Best Practice in E-learning across the NHS’ and ‘Modernising healthcare training: E-learning in the healthcare services’ have highlighted e-learning’s potential within the NHS. This Insight investigates the strategic and organisational benefits of e-learning, examines the future role of e-learning within the NHS and highlights the benefits it offers to the NHS and wider healthcare sector.
E-learning – a green issue?
Today, more and more organisations are looking to develop and enhance their green credentials, particularly in light of the Government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment. This scheme puts the onus on large companies to reduce energy usage, with a framework of rewards and penalties. This Epic Insight examines how e-learning can play a key part in driving the environmental agenda, delivering real, auditable reductions in carbon emissions, and helping organisations meet their carbon reduction commitments cost effectively.
E-learning design
E-learning quality assurance – a designer’s perspective
Good e-learning needs more than just a good design solution. Each step of the process requires careful checks and monitoring to make sure that the final programme is delivered on time and to the quality and standards that our clients have come to expect. This Insight looks at quality assurance in e-learning from the point of view of one of Epic’s dedicated design team. From content structuring workshops to script reviews and version releases, this insight outlines all the finely tuned quality assurance processes which make sure our e-learning solutions are delivered on time, to specification and to budget.
A new learning model: skills accumulator
According to the Leitch Review of Skills, ‘skills are the most important lever within our control to create wealth and reduce social deprivation’. Due to the current economic downturn, the Government is now looking not just at upskilling the workforce but offering opportunities for reskilling too. This Epic Insight describes our new ‘skills accumulator’ e-learning model which aims to help our clients meet their current skills challenges. The model delivers three key benefits: greater learning efficiency, greater learning success and greater cost efficiency.
Use of media in e-learning
The expansion of bandwidth has made it easy to create media-rich e-learning solutions. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always make them better, as the inclusion of rich assets can be crude when not based on best practice approaches or recognised learning theory. This Insight examines the use of different media assets, such as text, graphics, audio, animation and video, within e-learning. It suggests when and where they are appropriate and highlights the benefits of each.
Blended learning: Lessons from across the pond – an update
In 2007, one of our Senior Consultants participated in the ‘Beyond e-learning’ Global Watch mission to the US, sponsored by BIS. The mission’s aim was to highlight innovations in e-learning and blended learning, identify best practice, exchange expertise in design/implementation and predict the future UK e-learning and blended learning market. This Epic Insight summarises keys findings from the mission and reviews whether the predictions for a changing learning landscape have indeed come to light.
Writing for e-learning - a practical approach
Web content producers adhere to the maxim that ‘content is king’. This is undoubtedly equally true of e-learning. This Insight explores the challenges of designing e-learning content which is effective, engaging and addresses a range of learning styles. We look at some ‘tricks of the trade’ used by Epic Designers and offer some general guidelines for creating successful content.
Learning design and e-learning
Many factors impact whether e-learning generates improved performance. In a world of few guarantees, you can be sure of one thing: without good learning design your chances of achieving that much-desired performance improvement decrease significantly. Learning design brings order to information chaos. It tailors content to the audience’s needs, maximising the potential for truly effective learning. This Insight provides a brief overview of psychological models for learning, followed by 5 components of ‘good learning’, based on the work of Schank and Gagné.
Implementation of e-learning
How to save money – invest in e-learning
The University of Birmingham commissioned Epic to develop ‘skills4uni’, a highly interactive e-learning programme aimed at giving prospective students a taster of university life. After implementation, the programme was assessed against Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels of evaluation, and the results were surprising. This Epic Insight covers the results of this evaluation, looking among other things at the reduced drop-out rates and financial benefits generated directly by the implementation of the skills4uni e-learning programme.
Getting it right – how to implement e-learning
A successful e-learning roll-out is 40% technology and 60% communication. In other words, it’s not enough to create great e-learning - end users must be aware of the programme, understand its benefits and have a desire to complete it. This Insight looks at overcoming barriers to implementing e-learning and explores how the Kotter 8-step change management model can help embed e-learning within an organisational culture. In addition, a range of proven marketing and launch initiatives are discussed.
Localisation of e-learning
Localisation aims to not only translate and adapt content from the source language, but also to rebuild, test and fix the localised product to ensure it appears as if originally written in that language. But it can be an onerous and expensive process, fraught with difficulties. This Epic Insight highlights important design, technical and cultural points for consideration when developing e-learning for localisation.
Learning theory
Motivation in e-learning
This Insight investigates what motivates us to learn and how incorporating this knowledge into the early stages of e-learning design is the best way to create an effective and engaging e-learning solution. It discusses the importance of personalising content to meet the needs of individual learners with different learning styles.
Knowing your learner
As e-learning designers and writers we put a great deal of time and effort into getting to know our clients and their needs. However, there’s one group of stakeholders whose involvement can be overlooked, despite being central to effective learning - learners. Time pressures can often make it impractical to involve learners throughout a project, but in our experience the more they are integrated into the process the better. This Insight looks at how to involve learners in design and development of e-learning in order to ensure a successful outcome.
Technology and e-learning
Over the past decade, advances in mobile communications have created smartphones which offer the same functionality as a PC - access to the internet, input/transfer of data and access to text, audio and video files. Feature-rich, internet connected smartphones have seemingly limitless potential for information, education and entertainment. This White Paper explores how smartphones can be used for ‘anytime, anyplace, anywhere’ learning. It looks at the massive opportunities they offer individuals and organisations in the context of personal and professional development and shows how smartphone delivered training could be the successor to traditional e-learning.
Adding web 2.0 to the e learning mix
Traditionally, e-learning has been about one learner interacting with one computer. But the advent of Web 2.0 is bringing new opportunities. In this Epic Insight we explore Web 2.0 opportunities such as collaborative learning, through the inclusion of wikis, blogs and social bookmarking. We also explain how to integrate e-learning and Web 2.0 to create best practice, personalised solutions.
Effective online assessment – times are changing
Current thinking around assessment as a one-off, end-of-learning validation is changing, highlighting the drawbacks of traditional assessment. For example, testing has tended to focus on regurgitation of facts rather than a holistic review of social skills, group problem-solving etc. But in education especially, the introduction of functional skills with a focus on relevance, team working, problem solving and creativity is moving the benchmark. This Epic Insight explores how online assessment can make assessment more effective, relevant and motivating and how it fits with current learning theory and practice.
Accessibility in e-learning – a minority issue?
This Insight explores the issue of accessibility and how it impacts everyone who accesses the internet. It examines current legislation and guidelines for usability in the area of e-learning. These include the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) standard and the Royal National Institute for the Blind’s (RNIB) Campaign for Good Web Design. It also shows how everyone can gain from increased accessibility and usability, not just those with visual, hearing and other impairments.
