I have hundreds of folders on my computer desktop all containing various Course Materials all stored within individual PowerPoint presentations and videos all stored within various cloud based storage locations such as DropBox, Google Drive or OneDrive etc. Also all of the questions for the student quizzes are stored within individual Word documents – this would make changing any policy a massive task as well as having to search through all of the work of the individual team members for any updates.
The problems of all organizations are basically the same. All the material that was meant to save so much time in the long run in fact causes the greatest problems when it has to be updated or reworked.
The foundation: authoring platforms
As more learning content is created by an organization it can quickly turn into a maintenance problem as the amount of content increases. This maintenance problem starts at the point where the learning content is developed and the best place to start is by choosing an authoring platform for the learning content that is to be developed. The created learning content can then be maintained after it has been published.
Most learning content is created in simple authoring platforms such as PowerPoint, Google Slides, and others. The key here is that they are simple to use but lack functionality to create more complex learning objects and the ability to update content in one place that is scattered throughout a program. For example, updating a single item of information within a PowerPoint presentation can be problematic and often time-consuming and prone to error.
E-learning authoring tools that enable the creation of very high quality learning content are abound on the market. Most popular e-learning authoring tools are Articulate Storyline and Adobe Captivate. These two are leaders on the market for many years already and most of the online courses have been created with these two tools. They allow for very interactive learning content with many different features including for example multimedia.
Authoring is only part of the equation.
Version control becomes critical
A large part of learning content is dynamic in nature. This means that the update process is critical to the learning content’s success. Without a well thought out update process, teams can encounter all sorts of problems. For example, different departments could be using different versions of training content or even learning content that contradicts other pieces of learning content.
But in trying to manage the many different learning objects and their various versions, many rely on non-professional content management practices, such as uploading files to shared drives (like Dropbox or Google Drive) and then using naming conventions to manage different versions (such as Training_Module_1_Final_FINAL_v2). These approaches can manage for a little while, but as the amount of learning content grows, so too does the time required to manage and keep up to date.
Professional content management systems are generally set up to track changes in some form. This may be part of a larger system, or a simple local document management system. Versioning of learning objects can be managed using a Git-based workflow, or using a content management system that stores learning objects as documents or other items within the CMS. The system may also track who accessed a piece of content and when, as well as what updates were made and by whom. This is far superior to the ‘Training_Module_1_Final_FINAL_v2’ approach, where subject matter experts are expected to update content around the limitations of shared folders and training content.
Allow Subject Matter Experts to update procedure content in the system without needing new skills to gain their acceptance for the update.
Collaborative workflows that actually work
The number of individuals that are generally involved in the development of learning content can vary widely. Therefore, the learning content management system must be able to support the process of learning content development for a number of different individuals, including a variety of different roles for the same individual. There are a number of different features that an effective system for the management of learning content would include in order to support the process of collaboration required for the development of learning content. Learning content management systems include the following features to support the process of collaboration between developers of learning content. For example, the system can include the ability to set up a number of different roles for a number of different individuals, and for each of these roles the system can include a number of different functions that can be performed by that individual as that role.
Optimally, a tool for development of learning content will enable a number of different stakeholders to carry out a number of different tasks in order to develop learning content in a number of different ways. For example, in order to develop learning content a subject matter expert may add content to a module or lesson, which has been set up by an instructional designer. The graphic designer then enhances the visual aspects of the newly developed learning content in order to provide an even better learning experience for learners. The learning content developed by a number of different stakeholders may be reviewed by a number of different individuals as well. The comments provided by a number of different individuals who are reviewing the same piece of content, for example, could be displayed as comments that have been provided by reviewers in a number of different ways. The comments provided by each reviewer could, for example, be displayed as notes that have been annotated onto a PDF that had previously been provided to each reviewer for review.
The way a team works is more important than the functions of a collaborative authoring tool. In other words, the biggest barrier to adopting a collaborative authoring tool is the way that a team naturally works and the fact that the tool requires the team to change their workflow in order to get value from the tool. For example, a reviewer who currently uses printed PDFs and hand-written comments to review content will not get enough value from using a collaborative authoring tool to complete their review tasks. In order to get value from a collaborative authoring tool, the team must naturally work in a way that is well supported by the tool.
Integration considerations
In addition to the Learning Content, other applications are typically used by learners as part of the learning process, and are also accessed from within the Learning Management System (LMS) that contains the Learning Content. Therefore, it is also important to test any content creation tool for integration with the other applications within the system, for example: SCORM / xAPI tracking within the LMS, HR system, etc.
SCORM is by far the most supported format for Learning Management Systems but xAPI (Experience API) enables a lot more tracking about the learning experience. If you have learning content that you need to track for compliance reasons, or that you plan to use in a Quality Management System then you will need tools that can generate reports for these systems using the tracking data.
Make sure you know the integration requirements for the learning content creation tools you are going to be using before you begin the selection process for a solution. It will cost much more in the long run to have a system of separate tools that all need to be integrated than it will to find one solution that meets the majority of the learning content creation integration requirements of your organization. So, during the demo of a vendor’s solution for creating learning content, don’t ask the vendor to demo all of the features of the tool. Instead, ask the vendor how the tool will integrate with your existing system for tracking data from the very beginning. For example, during the demo of a new authoring tool for creating learning content, instead of asking the vendor to demo how to use MadCap Create to build a new Training Module in the tool, ask the vendor to demo how the new module will be published to your LMS for SCORM tracking.
Analytics and improvement cycles
The learning content is then put into a Learning Management System and the insights gained from the analytics are used to improve the learning content within a continuous improvement cycle.
A more detailed analysis of learner behavior is needed, i.e. where they stop learning. Such information can be derived from a more detailed analysis of learner interaction with the learning content, for example:
• Where in the learning content do learners stop?
• Which elements of the learning content do learners spend most time on?
• Which questions do learners answer incorrectly most frequently?
Some authoring tools have built in analytics, but most will require you to integrate with your current tracking tools in order to get the type of reporting that you wish to analyze the behavior of your learners. The data collected is only good if it is used for something, so it must be acted upon for it to be worth the time that it took to collect it.
Making the right choice
However, the choice of learning content tools are often very specific to a particular situation or department within an organization. A small training team who only create the odd bit of compliance training here and there could quite happily make do with a number of different tools and authoring systems that are low cost and easy to use and understand. Large global organizations, multi-national organizations with a large number of courses (e.g. hundreds of individual training courses) that are split across many departments, would likely use a number of different authoring tools in order to create and maintain their large collection of learning content. A good example of a large organization like this is Microsoft.
The best tool for you will be one that is based upon the content lifecycle of your training department. In other words, the information in your learning content does not remain static and generally changes on a regular basis. So, there are typically several parties involved in the updating of the learning content and there are typically several approval processes that are needed to be put in place for the updating of the learning content. Also, we must take into consideration your technical environment and how your learning management systems (LMS) fit into your overall IT infrastructure.
The best authoring tool is the one that your teams will use on an ongoing basis. The fact that Sarah’s desktop was littered with scattered files and chaotic organization was because the tools she had were not working in a manner that enabled her to work effectively to support her teams.
