Trainers Talk Tech

First, you have to make some decisions about your distribution method. In the past, we had to think about Web based, CD-ROM based, server based or downloadable. Now, pretty much all eLearning is built to run in a web browser. Whether you want it to sit on a web server, your company server or be sent in a .zip file, its going to open a browser window and play.

Next, you need to seriously think about how much help you want when building your programs. I'm not talking about contracting with a vendor or developer, but how much help do you want from your software? Buy a bunch of web design software and learn it? Or, do you want to purchase a piece of software that is specifically designed for writing online learning?

Both have their positives and negatives, but ultimately you need to consider three things: time, money and quality. Like every good project, when you begin, you need to weigh these three attributes. If you have a lot of time and lots of cash, then you can make expensive, high end software purchases and spend time learning to use it. If you have no time or money, you have to look at the software you are already using and figure out ways to distribute that content on the web.

You can spend lots of money on the Adobe CS4 Web Suite of software and build anything you like. However, doing so requires you to learn to be a web designer, a web developer, a back end programmer and multimedia expert.

You can also buy a great tool like Lectora and just learn to use the software. You can create really great programs using just the "out of the box" tools from Lectora.

The bottom line is that we are trainers first. The tool we use to distribute our training is second. Think about your existing team: You have facilitators and instructional designers, a project manager and perhaps some follks specialized in leadership development. The strength of this team is their flexibility and specialized skill sets, but ultimately, everyone's goal is to help people learn.

Your choices for development software should enhance your ability to help people learn. Find a tool you like, and then learn to use it.

Easier said than done, I know...As I continue to write these entries and fill these pages with text, I will highlight several of the tools I use to develop online learning (the Adobe suite), several I love but don't use very often (Lectora) and others I've heard about or seen.

My goal will be not to tell you what to use, but to help guide your decision making process to help you rapidly develop your skills, or rapidly churn out online learning with the least amount of stress on you.

That's all for now...check back tomorrow as I begin to talk about specific tools you can use to develop eLearning, as well as topics pertaining to the online learning industry at large.

Thanks for reading.