I have thought about the Massive question of the month (July) and I think as with anything, moderation is key. I agree with Andrew's comment that it is important for us as professional's to keep up with the most important development tools. I personally think that there will be a natural 'shake out' of tools and that a few (maybe 10-20) will predominate over time. It is not realistic or feasible for developers to be familiar with a large number of tools as most of the 'major' tools can be used to replicate the functionality of smaller tools. This is pretty major generalization, I know. Please give me some examples of where this doesn't hold true.
Let's look at the points to consider:
How does the eLearning design process need to change to accommodate such a wide variety of tools?
I don't subscribe to an 'eLearning design process'. We have a specific design process that is a modification of the most predominant approaches to eLearning development. Our approach is based on modular rapid prototyping. This approach is larger than the set of tools that are used. In a sense the process is independent of the tools.
How does the tool selection process need to change?
I think vendors will naturally gravitate to what works for them. Having said that, tool selection may be influenced by the customer's experience with tools that they have either used internally or that they have heard other people use either successfully or unsuccessfully. Customers are more informed about tools and this is a major change from 10 years ago.
What should learning professionals do to stay up-to-speed?
Read, research and ideally develop materials using different tools.
Do they need to learn new tools constantly?
Again, I think vendors will for the most part stay with what works for them, BUT and this is a big but they will be pushed by vendors to adapt internal tools or tools that are widely used within the organization. There is a cost associated with adopting new tools so most vendors will not change unless there is a long term benefit.
Can they stick with a few tools?
See all the thoughts above.
Will this trend continue? If so, then what does that imply for us?
It seems like we are at a watershed with what many experts refer to as Web 2.0 or eLearning 2.0. Will this trend continue? I think that if these tools are able to influence and change the way that work is done, then yes the trend will continue. If blogging continues to be as big as it is at the moment then people will continue to use it as a resource. I'm sure I will regret making this prediction, but I see the hype around blogging decreasing over the next 5 years. What about the other web 2.0 tools?
Let me grab my crystal ball real quick, hang on........
Showing posts with label custom e-Learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label custom e-Learning. Show all posts
6/11/2007
Where are the Examples of eLearning?
This month's Learning Circuits Big Question really hits close to home.
The b?g question is:
Where are the Examples of eLearning?
Unfortunately most custom development vendors like Cyber Media Creations are bound by NDA with our customers. This means that we can't post any of our demos on our website, so potential customers can't see the type of work that we've done in the past. You can read through our project fact sheets, but this doesn't give you a sense of the interesting work that we've done.
Even if we could post some examples we would be limited by the internet. Some of the high quality video work that we've done has been deployed on CD at full screen video quality. We really couldn't demo that on the web without redeveloping the interface and dropping the video quality which would defeat the purpose.
I do show/demo potential customers some of our recently completed projects as long as they are not direct competitors or in the same industry as the customer that the project was developed for. In the case of eLearning; where the product offering and quality is so diverse; it is important to show your products, but unfortunately most customers are not willing to let you demo their custom built product on the web. That's our reason for not showcasing our eLearning projects. In my opinion it is a competitive disadvantage but a reality of custom eLearning development.
Where are the Examples of eLearning?
Unfortunately most custom development vendors like Cyber Media Creations are bound by NDA with our customers. This means that we can't post any of our demos on our website, so potential customers can't see the type of work that we've done in the past. You can read through our project fact sheets, but this doesn't give you a sense of the interesting work that we've done.
Even if we could post some examples we would be limited by the internet. Some of the high quality video work that we've done has been deployed on CD at full screen video quality. We really couldn't demo that on the web without redeveloping the interface and dropping the video quality which would defeat the purpose.
I do show/demo potential customers some of our recently completed projects as long as they are not direct competitors or in the same industry as the customer that the project was developed for. In the case of eLearning; where the product offering and quality is so diverse; it is important to show your products, but unfortunately most customers are not willing to let you demo their custom built product on the web. That's our reason for not showcasing our eLearning projects. In my opinion it is a competitive disadvantage but a reality of custom eLearning development.
5/29/2007
Offshore eLearning development
As you can tell I have also been a little tardy in posting new entries in my blog. Although I wish I had more time to post entries I am also grateful that work has been keeping me busy. I am lucky that each project and each client’s needs are unique, so boredom is not an issue.
The uniqueness of custom development is actually the reason for this post. I was recently informed by a potential client that they have decided to use an eLearning vendor that has extensive resources available offshore. In fact the primarily development would be done offshore with project management on the US side. The primary driver is naturally the development cost/price per man hour.
Offshore development has been around for some time now and I’m sure you heard of this and maybe your company has tried it. What has your experience been? In my past life I actually worked for a software development company that used Indian offshore resources. Our experience was mixed. The price was great, but project management was very difficult. I suspect the main reason for the negative experience with project management was due to cultural differences and a lack of quality testing on the Indian side. Although the projects were a little cheaper than doing it locally we battled to meet deadlines and the project inevitable cost more than we initially scoped both in terms of offshore time/cost as well as US project management time/cost. I have heard similar stories from other folks and especially from smaller eLearning vendors that have outsourced segments of a project.
Don’t get me wrong I think that offshore development outsourcing can and is successful, but it requires a lot of thought, planning and process management to ensure a successful outcome. It is also A LOT easier if you have a blue print of what you want and you simply want the offshore company to develop based on that blueprint/storyboard/use case. The potential customer that I mentioned is actually entering the eLearning space for the first time and developing a new product. They are not 100% sure what the end product will look like and what the features and functionalities will be. This will surely add more pressure on the eLearning development company managing the offshore team.
What are your thoughts? Would you/have you tried using offshore resources for custom eLearning development? How would you rate the experience?
The uniqueness of custom development is actually the reason for this post. I was recently informed by a potential client that they have decided to use an eLearning vendor that has extensive resources available offshore. In fact the primarily development would be done offshore with project management on the US side. The primary driver is naturally the development cost/price per man hour.
Offshore development has been around for some time now and I’m sure you heard of this and maybe your company has tried it. What has your experience been? In my past life I actually worked for a software development company that used Indian offshore resources. Our experience was mixed. The price was great, but project management was very difficult. I suspect the main reason for the negative experience with project management was due to cultural differences and a lack of quality testing on the Indian side. Although the projects were a little cheaper than doing it locally we battled to meet deadlines and the project inevitable cost more than we initially scoped both in terms of offshore time/cost as well as US project management time/cost. I have heard similar stories from other folks and especially from smaller eLearning vendors that have outsourced segments of a project.
Don’t get me wrong I think that offshore development outsourcing can and is successful, but it requires a lot of thought, planning and process management to ensure a successful outcome. It is also A LOT easier if you have a blue print of what you want and you simply want the offshore company to develop based on that blueprint/storyboard/use case. The potential customer that I mentioned is actually entering the eLearning space for the first time and developing a new product. They are not 100% sure what the end product will look like and what the features and functionalities will be. This will surely add more pressure on the eLearning development company managing the offshore team.
What are your thoughts? Would you/have you tried using offshore resources for custom eLearning development? How would you rate the experience?
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