• Google Analytics 
• Google Trends
• eLMS Products
• KMi Business Development

eLMS Training Tools:

• Training Calendar
• Training Scheduler
• Course Comments
• Assessment Images
• KMi eLearning Content

If your audience is a marketing target, consider free offers to entice them to take your training. If the training is required, something like point system is often good at motivating folks to complete their eLearning. When you're ready to identify your audience and give them the best training available, contact me and we'll setup an eLMS and/or content demo!

Email me at pshannon@kmionline.com

So you have a custom eLearning project ready for kick-off. After careful evaluation of eLearning development companies, you have identified the best eLearning content developer and you are eager to start the development process. The problem is you don't know exactly where to find the content for this particular custom eLearning solution. Is it in the classroom materials you previously used for this course? Or does it reside within the mind of one of your colleagues? Will you provide a high level and/or a detailed course outline and script?
Frequently,  clients have just such a challenge: where and in what form will the raw content be provided to the eLearning company? Identifying those sources is essential to accurately scope any custom eLearning solution. As we discussed in previous blogs, the instructional design and related storyboarding effort is dependent on the raw content. And, the effort required is in turn dependent on the source of that content. Raw content can be provided in many ways and may or may not require the active participation of the selected vendor:

1. Written: this may be in many forms, electronic files or hard copy only and from a variety of sources, such as:

• Courseware from a classroom course
• PPT presentations
• Marketing materials
• Technical product, system or application tutorials
• Design document and outline

2. Oral:

• Interviews and collaboration with internal subject matter experts
  
• Interviews with external subject matter experts

3.Research

4.Topic specific training or product use

5. Combination of resources

Whatever, the source for your raw content, it should be openly discussed at the scoping phase. This will enable your custom content development company to more effectively scope the project for time and cost as well as to identify the best internal resources for the project.  The more detailed and specific the raw content, the simpler the instructional design and storyboarding effort.

For example, we created a highly successful course for an application training course. Since this content was for a new product for which no technical documentation had yet been written, the course raw content was provided as actual training of the instructional designer in the use of the application, an entirely hands -on process. Since no written content was provided, the instructional design and storyboarding effort required was a high level. 

So, an experienced custom eLearning development company will work with you and the content you provide, no matter where that content may be found. But, it is critical that the client and the vendor understand what the source of that content is so that both can adequately assess the effort required to translate that into outstanding custom eLearning courseware.

KMi has 10 years of custom content development experience. Let us put that experience in action for you. Contact Margie Herron at mherron@kmionline.com for more information.

• eLearning is usually less expensive to produce: of course, this may be dependent on the production value and tools you use and the particular content, but, once developed, an eLearning course can be leveraged for years without additional costs.
• The user determines the pace: As a self-paced learner from way back, this is one of its most attractive benefits for me. I can move through any online training solution at my own pace and access it just when I need it. Cool! 
• The learner can move through the learning faster -- As a user, I can bypass information I already know and focus on the information that I need to know. Beats sitting in a classroom and listening to repetitive material every time!
• eLearning provides a consistent message : Many of our clients are global organizations. They need their messaging to be the same whether it is delivered in Singapore, Paris or San Francisco. And, they need it to reflect just that global diversity as well. We just produced an online customer service course. One of the key learning objectives was to establish a consistent and repeatable process for customer support across their global platform. Providing the training as web based eLearning was exactly the right format for this project.
• Implementing eLearning can provide training from any location, any time, and just in time: One of the most obvious applications of this benefit was a sales training series we did for a health system hardware provider. They recognized that their sales people had little advance time to prepare for sales calls because they had such a broad range of services and products. So we created a custom series that reps could access just prior to their sales meetings to educate and update them on products and services. It was a resounding success. 
• eLearning can be updated easily and quickly: I recall developing a series of product training courses, which were updated monthly. The course were template based and allowed for easy updating of product spec changes. This meant that the field always had the most current product information. Imagine doing that through classroom training!
• eLearning leads to increased retention and a stronger grasp on the subject: This is because of the many elements that can be combined in custom eLearning to reinforce the message, such as video, audio, quizzes, interaction, animations, virtual role plays, scenario-based decision-making. Users can also revisit material as they need. Online soft skills training is usually a content area that seems challenging, however, we have produced many highly effective manager skills training courses such as Coaching in this format. Taking advantage of the tools available can produce outstanding learning! 
• eLearning can be managed and delivered for large or small groups of students: Using a SCORM Learning Management System such as KMi's, eLMS, allows the administrators to market courses, provide pre-assessments, evaluations, surveys, reporting, success tracking, blogs and all kinds of other features to enhance the learning experience.