Is your organization behind the times when it comes to incorporating eLearning as a learning mode? While online learning is not always the answer to an organization’s learning challenge, there are certainly plenty of times when it makes perfect sense.

Learning Management System (LMS) – in order to track the learning in your organization, you’re going to need an LMS. Broadly speaking, there are two different types: the ones that come with your purchase of eLearning (such as if you were to purchase courses from an eLearning provider like Element K) and the ones that are a ‘blank slate’ where you can add your own content. The confusing part is that the content providers do let you add your own content (for a fee), not to mention that you can add content that another company makes for you (assuming they provide you with a license to do so).

Innovate Learning is a small business, so we don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on our learning platform. We use Moodle, which is an open source (meaning programmers built it for free, to contribute to a larger sense of mission) LMS. My LMS is hosted by Collaboration Resources (my Dad – a Christmas gift a few years back – we’re a whole family of geeks). Those without a geek for a Dad will need to explore companies that host Moodle, one of which is Moodle Rooms. 

Content Creation Tools – once you have a means for tracking courses, it is time to start building. These tools come in three broad categories: asynchronous rapid eLearning tools, live eLearning delivery platforms and sophisticated eLearning design applications. The most important factor in selecting a tool is whether the content will be able to snap in to your LMS and be trackable. Acronyms like SCORM (shareable content object reference model) and AICC (Aviation Industry Computer-Based Training Committee) are standard ways that courses are put together to allow them to ‘talk to’ an LMS. All our courses are SCORM-compliant and they fit in our Moodle site, but they also can easily be uploaded in a client’s LMS, as SCORM is to trackable eLearning as Kleenex is to tissues.

Here are the applications we use for each of these purposes, but recognize that there are a lot of choices out there and it is always important to choose the right tool for the right job:

• Asynchronous rapid eLearning: Articulate eLearning Suite (create trackable eLearning from PowerPoint, build quizzes, record or import audio, easy to use, gorgeous final product/player template with lots of customization abilities), Camtasia Studio (inexpensive, easy to use, create trackable eLearning from PowerPoint, build quizzes, record audio), Adobe Captivate (build software demonstrations and simulations by ‘recording what you do on your screen,’ makes you feel like you’re using the product, perfect for training on proprietary software)
• Synchronous rapid eLearning: DimDim (free live/scheduled meeting/training software), though you can also check out Mikogo, which is similar.
• Sophisticated eLearning design applications: We actually no longer see a need to use any sophisticated eLearning tools in our business, since the solutions we’ve found do every thing we need them to, without having the barriers of entry of being challenging to learn or having difficulty fitting with our other solutions. One example of a sophisticated design application is Adobe Flash.

Other than the other tools mentioned above, you need your basic office applications, particularly Microsoft PowerPoint to best leverage some of these content creation tools.

Let our community know in the comments what your go-to tools are for getting started with eLearning.