If the idea of training has your learners yawning, it might be time for a radical change in the way your organization addresses learning and development. More than just a way to use up budget money and kill a few afternoons, L&D gives you the opportunity to mold the right type of employee, identify leaders and even keep your best assets in-house and satisfied with growth opportunities.
Custom eLearning solutions reform training and development so learners feel like it’s worth their time and effort. By tailoring modules to suit your organization’s needs exactly, you offer on-point training with maximum results.
Preliminary Considerations
When first meeting with an instructional designer, you have the unique opportunity to dial into exactly what you need and the best way to accomplish your training and development goals. Come ready with a list of questions and suggestions, including:
- What past efforts have you tried?
- Were they successful?
- Do you have a particular style guide in place?
- What is the ultimate goal you need to achieve through training?
- Who is your target learner?
Discussing these preliminary considerations with an instructional designer can help you better uncover exactly why custom eLearning is a necessity. As you hone in on exactly what you want, you’ll realize that traditional methods just won’t cut it anymore.
Custom Learning a la Carte
Once you’ve defined your needs, you’re now free to create a custom program that combines any number of elements of eLearning. For some, that might mean a short-and-sweet interactive program. For others, it might mean a blended or flipped classroom method for the best-rounded experience. That’s the main benefit of a custom eLearning solution: You get to add everything that works for your needs without all of the extras that you don’t.
Much of the “how” of eLearning will depend upon factors like subject matter, learner engagement and training goals. Luckily, a qualified and experienced instructional designer can walk you through your options and offer suggestions for which type of custom learning works best for your organization’s unique needs.
Perpetuating Positive Engagement
If the need for custom eLearning could be summed up in just one word, it would be “engagement.” The purpose of designing custom solutions is to make sure that learners feel engaged, respected and educated all through the same module or program. Unfortunately, heritage programs aren’t always designed with the learner in mind. Therefore, when the learner perceives that the program is of low value, he or she disengages from the material.
Custom solutions create a connection between the learner and the material: Suddenly, what they’re reading, hearing and experiencing has professional (and sometimes even personal) value. With user engagement on the line, you simply can’t afford to rest on the merits of an old-school system. Instead, a custom training module engages learners to make the most of every minute.
