Q. Are the courses AICC or SCORM compliant?
A. Necessary for integration with all Learning Management Systems, regardless of vendor.
Q. Are the courses developed using Adult Learning Theory principals?
A. There are thousands of PowerPoint presentations and basic eLearning courses available that will allow you to point and click your way through. Ask yourself, “Does this material promote real behavioral change in my environment?
Q. Does the courseware include scenario based multimedia? (Videos, Vignettes, Audio, etc…)
A. Anybody can read a policy and sign off that they agree to abide by the document. Next time a superstar like Britney Spears shows up at your facility followed by the paparazzi and local media all asking for information… Ask yourself this: “If they had been through a multimedia rich course with the aforementioned scenario, how much more likely is it that they will remember what to do?” Multimedia rich content also insures the highest content retention rate, increased learner satisfaction and peak completion rates.
Q. Are the courses interactive?
A. Adult learning theory says that if a learner only reads the material, they are likely to retain only 20% of the content. When a learner reads, sees, hears and interacts with a course they retain over 80%!
Q. Are the courses tailored specifically to my industry?
A. There are thousands of vendors in the eLearning space that create content for the masses. Look for providers that have an expertise specific to your industry. (Healthcare, Banking, Manufacturing, etc…)
Q. Which courses are best delivered online vs. instructor led training (ILT)?
A. Although eLearning is the wave of the future and has been proven to streamline and reduce the costs of education, there are still some topics that are better received in an ILT setting. Why do you think it takes so many years of schooling to become a doctor? Some things require that one-on-one interaction with an instructor.
Q. What will I need to do to update this course with new regulations?
A. Government regulations are updated on a very frequent basis. Highly regulated industries are constantly faced with the struggles of making sure that the learners are compliant with all of the rules and mandates that can be released in varying regularity. How much time will my team have to spend researching, monitoring and updating the material? More importantly, how do I make sure that the learner does not have to complete an entire course every time that a new regulation is implemented? Would you rather your learner spend 15 minutes covering the new material that is specific to their role or an hour retaking the entire course?
Q. Are there stop gaps in place to prevent learners from completing a course in less time than it should?
A. Premium courseware vendors will usually include tracking to determine how long an employee spends on each page, within a specific module or how long the learner spent to complete the entire course. If Sally Smith completed your 3 hour online course on Sexual Harassment in just 15 minutes you should probably want to know this!
Q. Can the course include policies that are specific to my organization?
A. Every organization has their own policies and procedures for their employees to follow. What is involved in incorporating organization specific material within the course? Is there a repository for me to store my related documents? (Code of Conduct, Computer Usage Agreement, Privacy Policy, etc…)
Q. Does the courseware have the ability for a learner to sign an electronic signature?
A. Many courseware providers can require that employees electronically “Sign” that they have read the policies and procedures and agree to abide by them. Date of “electronic signature” is captured and reported for every employee and is just as good as a physically signed piece of paper. You can feel good knowing that you’ve saved quite a few trees in a world that is still filled with paper.