The eLearning Guidelines website

The eLearning Guidelines website
This resource is an excellent tool to use:

1. prior to esablishing an online learning environment
2. as formative assessment regaridng delivery
3. to evaluate an ROI at milestones after delivery
4. enabling good questions to be asked of the right people about the right things

Four of the guidelines discussed:

SO3 Are prospective students made aware of the teaching style
and course delivery approaches inherent to e-learning?

There is a fundamental shift in learner expectations that occurs when a learner moves from a face2face course, traditional delivery... into an online environment. I believe my organisation would benefit from:

• making clear that elearning is new to the organisation and to them
• they will no be penalised for systemic difficulties and in fact their contribution to growing the success of elearning will enhance their career prospects
• the notion of force-fed, hand delivered content has died and a more interactive, self-managing, self-motivated approach will be the norm
• the skills required to access learning opportunities may be new, and an investment of personal time is mandatory

ST6 Are problem solving skills addressed through project and
inquiry-based teaching & learning?

The idea of learning through a scenario, that is work-specific, challenging, where success is measured by completion ... has always been part of my organisation. Now, the new challenge for my organisation is to develop:

• rich online scenarios that have
  
• opportunities for team work,
  
• for peer feedback and
  
• supervisors to correct,
  
• that is as challenging as real life situations,
  
• where life and death could be the outcome.

MO17 How does the institution monitor the impact and
effectiveness of e-learning?

At this stage I am pretty sure my organisation has not considered effectiveness, has not considered what effectiveness actually means. Whether student outcomes, ROI or instructor capability are the measures, I have not seen the precise measures articulated yet. Cost effective (reduced cost and increased operational readiness) has been stated. Learning outcomes - no.
These guidelines provide a good starting point for measurement.

MD2 What guidance is available to staff for the design of student
assessment?

The training development cell has a cadre of qualified, respected staff. Moving to an elearning, blended mode of delivery will require a great deal of discussion and shared learning to ensure we can:

• design assessment ouselves that are reliable and valid,
  
• encompassing the new tools available,
  
• increase collaboration and community strategies...

....thus increasing our own effectiveness when guiding schools to design assessments.