What Fast Studying Is And What It’s Not
What is Rapid eLearning and what is not
What is Rapid eLearning? The multitude of definitions and explanations that exist for this question will make you believe that the answer is in the eyes of the beholder. For some, this means speeding up the design and development process of eLearning by streamlining certain processes like storyboarding and prototyping. For others, it means a quick introduction of training, and for some others, quick eLearning means creating tools.
What do you think is Rapid eLearning?
A. Convert PowerPoint to eLearning using an authoring tool
B. Design and develop eLearning courses very quickly
C. Designing and developing e-learning courses really cheap
D. Courses with minimal or no teaching design
Let’s examine why it’s not A, C, or D. You can also download our eBook to learn all about quick eLearning.
eBook release
Unveiling of Rapid eLearning Design and Development – A Guide for Corporate Training Managers
Discover what fast eLearning is, how to align it with your business goals, and what tools you need for the task!
What is Rapid eLearning?
The wait is over … Let’s find out what, exactly, fast eLearning is.
1. A faster and more effective avatar for custom eLearning
Rapid eLearning is custom eLearning that saves time and money.
Rapid eLearning offers these savings through:
- Follow the guidelines for designing instructions to avoid unnecessary bells and whistles
- Use of available content – training materials in the classroom, legacy courses,
Media elements, audio recordings or videos - Use authoring tools and templates
- Compliance with agile, iterative project management
All of this makes the design and development process of eLearning faster and leaner. Not only is Rapid eLearning a faster version of custom eLearning, it can also be your best friend when you need to:
- Offer training to a large group of employees within strict deadlines
- Translate training courses into multiple languages to ensure consistent and consistent training across the enterprise
- Create training on content that has a low shelf life or needs to be updated regularly
2. Fully aligned with business goals
Rapid eLearning courses are based on performance-based learning objectives, which in turn are aligned with business objectives. The learning objectives are already set in the planning phase and checked by subject matter experts (SMEs) so that the stakeholders and the L&D team are on the same page. This avoids confusion and errors later in the process. It also sets the foundation for the design of the entire course in terms of content, teaching design, interactivity, and ratings.
3. A time-saving option for SMEs
Involving SMEs in the design and development of eLearning is always a challenge as training is not their primary responsibility and it can be nearly impossible to get time for reviews.
With Rapid ELearning, however, SMEs are involved right from the start of the project, so you can get all the relevant information from them. You can also familiarize them with the process and agree on where and when they can be approached for reviews. This way, you can plan your time in advance according to your convenience.
You can also use online course review apps with quick creation tools to give SMBs access to storyboards, prototypes, and courses on a digital platform and make the review process hassle-free.
What is not fast eLearning?
Now that we’ve more or less understood the truth behind fast eLearning, let’s get into what it isn’t. Because there is a lot of confusion and misinformation there.
1. A shortcut that compromises quality
It is widely believed that having all three is impossible – tight schedules, cost effectiveness, and quality. Because fast eLearning promises to reduce the time and cost of developing eLearning, it automatically assumes that there will be a compromise on quality in terms of engagement and interactivity. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Rapid eLearning does not compromise on the quality of eLearning as it is based on solid principles for teaching design.
In fact, you need to be very careful to ensure that fast eLearning courses are teachable.
- The primary content is carefully analyzed by the L&D team with the help of SMEs to set clear performance-based learning objectives that align with the business objectives.
- Instructional design strategies are determined based on the content and type of audience.
- A prototype is made available to stakeholders to get a feel for the course and provide feedback.
- The content, design and ratings are determined based on the principles of adult education.
In addition, these so-called time-saving “shortcuts” are miles away from “rough edges”. They shorten the process of designing and developing eLearning by streamlining the planning and design processes. For example from:
- Inclusion of SMEs in the initial phase and as much information as possible right at the beginning in order to reduce the error rate later.
- Following an agile course development process in which planning, design and development take place at the same time.
- Use built-in interactivities and templates in authoring tools that reduce the time and effort required to develop them from scratch using coding and programming.
2. Monotonous courses without creativity or commitment
Another common misconception about fast eLearning is that the courses are glorified PPT decks with little or no interactivity. Well … it’s true that fast eLearning often avoids complex interactivities, but that’s just because complex interactivities take more time and cost to develop.
However, this does not mean that courses developed with fast eLearning are just clickable slides and videos. The problem is, most people equate creativity and engagement with complex interactivity. In fact, engagement depends on new age learning strategies, for which fast eLearning offers a lot of leeway.
Here’s how to do that.
- Use scenarios, case studies, and comics to motivate learners through storytelling.
- Use icebreakers at the start of the course to get learners’ attention.
- Personalize courses by asking learners to: give their names at the start of the course and address them by name throughout the course. Choose from different avatars / roles depending on the job
- Use gamified formative assessments to increase learner motivation.
Conclusion
Understanding what fast eLearning is or isn’t is not as complicated as it sounds. Simply put, fast eLearning is an approach that focuses solely on the learning objectives (after all, it strictly follows the principles of instructional design) and eliminates all the irrelevant and irrelevant things that normally confuse eLearning.
Download the eBook Introducing Quick eLearning Design and Development – An Enterprise Training Manager’s Guide to Finding the Right Tools and Techniques to Bring Quick eLearning to Your Business. You can also attend the webinar to learn the basics of effective learning.
References:
The WHY, WHAT AND HOW from Rapid eLearning Solutions
10 tips to save time for SMBs (and your health!)
Scenario-based eLearning
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