10/19/2006

Why focus on eLearning risk?

Why focus on eLearning risk rather than success?

It may seem interesting to many that I have decided to focus my early eLearning blog entries on the topic of risk and more specifically the risk of developing new eLearning projects. You may be asking yourself why I decided to tackle such a controversial topic. Why focus on risk rather than reward? Why not focus on all the positives related to eLearning development?

There are two main reasons for focusing on risk. The first one is a personal objective. I would like to see if I can get you (the readers) to share your experiences with me. Our company (Cyber Media Creations) has an exceedingly good track record with the development of new computer based programs and I will share my thoughts on why this is the case with you over the next couple of months. By focusing on this topic I am hoping to get your thoughts and your stories as I would like to see whether the common pitfalls and challenges that we have identified and remedied hold true across the board. I have written
several white papers on Vendor selection, eLearning development and the implementation of eLearning standards such as SCORM, which I think are important to a successful development process. However, having a blog affords me the opportunity to ask you what your experience with eLearning has been. Was your project successful? Was it delivered on time? What the positives and negatives? I would like to learn from your experiences and hopefully I can share my thoughts with you.

The second reason for focusing on risk is related to the way that many organizations still view eLearning. It is true that many large corporations have existing learning management systems (LMS), but in my experience many large and medium companies are only now moving into the eLearning sphere. One of the reasons for this is probably because eLearning was initially seen by any as the answer to all their training needs. Many companies jumped in and got burnt early and the horror stories related to these experiences are still being told. My second reason for focusing on risk is to discuss the risks related to eLearning development and to demonstrate to the skeptics that eLearning is not the double headed dragon that many make it out to be. On the flip side it is also not the answer to all your training needs. Not to sound too clichéd, but eLearning is what you make of it. If you approach the development of a new eLearning program with caution and realistic objectives in mind you will succeed. To do this, you need insight into some of the most common pitfalls. I hope you will join me as we begin this process of discovery. and I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

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