Kineo Briefing

Rapid E-Learning: Opportunities and

Pitfalls

By Matthew Fox

Introduction

2006 is the year of Rapid E-learning. Whether you are user, author or
manager of e-learning, you can’t have failed to notice its arrival and be
wondering about its impact on learning in your organisation.

Our recent survey showed the market place for tools to develop rapid e-
learning is hotting up, but remains highly fragmented. Differentiation remains
low and pricing is increasingly competitive.

Like many emerging market places, there is a bandwagon forming around

rapid e-learning. Everyone is ‘doing’ rapid e-learning – but what is it they are
creating? Does it work? What are the limitations and opportunities?

In this Kineo Briefing, we set out to answer these questions:

• What rapid e-learning is and isn’t
• How it can be used
• How it is developed
• Rapid E-learning Tools (open source and commercial)
• Blended learning using rapid authoring

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 And we conclude with:
• Opportunities and pitfalls

What is rapid e-learning?

You’ll hear a number of definitions of Rapid E-learning in the market place.

According to Josh Bersin in his article for CLO magazine in July 2005 "Rapid
e-learning is emerging as the fastest-growing category of online training. It is
generally defined as Web-based training that can be created in weeks and is
typically authored by subject-matter experts (SMEs)."

He estimates it’s a market place that grew 80% in 2005 and will reach a value
of $410 million in 2006. In our own assessment of reports, definitions and
practice in the market place, we have identified seven key elements to rapid
e-learning which we think will stick:

• Can be developed in 21 days or less

• Doesn’t require specialist knowledge and skills or 3rd party support
• Can use SMEs to author directly
• Requires a low level of investment to create it
• May have only a short shelf-life
• May involve an element of virtual classroom delivery or be completely
standalone
• Will be short

Speed to development and deployment is clearly a key factor in rapid e-

learning. With sales cycles shortening, tactical responses to changes in the
market place required today not tomorrow and rapid staff turn-over, the need
to produce support and develop higher performance in shorter time scale
increases.

A major disincentive to producing e-learning in the past has been the need to
master complex tools or specialist programming languages. A new
generation of tools have taken away this barrier and provided either
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straightforward web-based / windows-based interfaces or even more simple
integration with common tools like PowerPoint.

A third important feature is reducing the need for direct intervention from 3rd
party or internal learning specialists and putting the power and responsibility
for development back in the hands of precious subject matter resources. This
is not without its challenges as will discuss later.

Rapid e-learning also brings with opportunities for reducing the direct
development costs of bespoke learning which can range from £4500- £25000
per hour to virtually nothing, depending on what content or assets are
commissioned externally.

Traditionally, the paradigm in e-learning has been to extend the shelf life as
long as possible to maximize return on investment. This approach was
necessary to justify the large up front direct development costs. With rapid e-
learning reducing these to nearly nothing in some cases in pure cash
investment terms, there is no need to preserve learning for a long time to
maximize return. It is now possible to develop e-learning which is truly
throwaway; which deals just in time with issues and has a limited shelf life.

As we know, the term e-learning encompasses a multitude of different

approaches. So does Rapid E-learning. Increasingly we are seeing it as fit for
purpose content, developed just in time (and quickly) and deployed in a
variety of settings which can include standalone, via a learning management
system or increasingly in a virtual classroom setting where it can be facilitated
and supported in a ‘one to many’ distribution model.

Finally, brevity. Rapid e-learning should be quick to consume as well as to

produce. Meaningful units of learning can be generated of between 10 and 15
minutes. Who has time or appetite to do more? It’s unrealistic and can be
unproductive to remove people from their workflow for any longer.

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How can rapid e-learning be used?

While rapid e-learning can probably be effectively used in many different

contexts, we see five content areas as having the best fit for Rapid E-
learning:
• Sales and channel readiness
• Just in time learning reinforcement
• Capturing niche expertise
• Knowledge protection
• Customer learning

Sales and channel readiness

In any industry where product cycles are short and there is a large or highly
distributed audience such as in retail, rapid e-learning makes compelling
sense. If product experts can rapidly put together positioning information and
updates for circulation or top sales performers can send round their tips for
selling the product, you have a powerful way of keeping the sales force up to
date and performing strongly.

In industries which depend heavily on sales channel partners for revenue, the
costs of having their sales forces kept up to date (or conversely the costs of
not doing so) can be significant. Rapid e-learning delivered through a secure
and exclusive channel portal gives an ideal route of ensuring channel sales
teams are on top of the latest product and positioning information.

Just in time learning reinforcement

One of the great pitfalls of the corporate training world is lack of learning
reinforcement. Rapid e-learning provides a great opportunity to follow up
core training with quick refresher learning objects, reinforcement quizzes,
drop-in sessions online for question and answers etc.

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Niche expertise
In many organisations, there are specialists whose knowledge and expertise
is crucial in a specific area. If others need to be trained in part of that
specialism, it can put real pressure on the expert’s capacity to do the ‘day job’
as well as being costly and inefficient.

Rapid e-learning gives an opportunity for those individual to capture their

knowledge in simple commented or narrated e-learning. It is particularly
productive if they have a stock of PowerPoint presentations which they have
already built up.

Knowledge protection
In organisations where specialist knowledge is vital to its operation and
future, having that knowledge limited to individuals’ heads can be a risk. If
that person leaves or is ill, a lot of intellectual property can be lost. By
encouraging or mandating the capture of specialist knowledge in rapid e-
learning some of the risk of losing key knowledge can be mitigated.

Customer learning
Customer learning offers opportunities (and risks) in terms of rapid e-learning.

On the opportunity side, rapid e-learning offers an additional communications

channel and way of adding value to customers by providing specialist
learning which will help them get more from products and services. The
benefit can be increased reputation and loyalty.

The downside is that if your organisation has a high value brand, it may be at
odds with fit for purpose rapid e-learning. In this case, you should tread
carefully and ensure that anything produced remains appropriate to the tone,
quality and style of customer communications which is in keeping with the
brand.

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How Rapid E-learning is developed
This section isn’t about the mechanics of developing rapid e-learning, but
more the process of assembling programmes for standalone use or use in a
virtual classroom session.

Rapid e-learning may follow some the same elements of the critical path for
standard e-learning development, but in reality there is no time or resource to
go through all the standard hoops for e-learning development. We suggest
the following stages are essential as a guideline for anyone producing or
commissioning rapid e-learning:
Stage Purpose
Rapid objective setting Define key learning requirements
Confirm audience and requirements with
sponsor or stakeholders
Can be done by e-mail or phone or face to face
Rapid storyboarding Present the key learning in PowerPoint format –
ensure it is structured and chunked as a final
script and includes all instructional elements to
save time
Rapid asset development If audio or specialist graphics are required this is
the time to record it / commission them

Use either freelancer or internal resource who

can understand and turn around briefs quickly
Rapid testing Any e-learning should be tested for content and
interoperability, even if this is a quick exercise
Use a checklist of key criteria for testing
functionality and content
Rapid deployment Make learning quickly available via e-mail,
intranet, extranet or LMS.

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There is a risk and temptation, with the simplicity of some tools like Breeze
and Articulate just to take a PowerPoint, add a little audio and click publish. In
no time at all you have your e-learning ready.
But does this type of content work? Time and time again we have seen rapid
‘non’ e-learning: a hastily converted PowerPoint probably doesn’t do the job,
turns off the audience and is a waste of time.

We believe strongly that ‘rapid’ doesn’t mean ‘no instructional design

principles’ required. On the contrary, for rapid e-learning to be effective (i.e.
more than just an annotated presentation) there must be some design
principles applied. As a minimum, we would expect to see:

Instructional Design Principle Purpose

Effective information design Work to the limitations of PowerPoint
presentation screens but present
information in digestible chunks.

Use clear layering; if detail is required

embed it in supporting documents.

Give an overview before going into

detail.
Clear information flow and sign Number slides; explain linkages
posting between sections and individual
learning points.

Write for adult learners. Use Invite an emotional response to the

emotional engagement and make it content by asking questions,
relevant illustrating or exemplifying in way
which will be meaningful to the
audience.
Effective questioning Use reflective / formative questioning
(depending on the limitations of the

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 tool you are using) to question every
four or five slides
Multiple media Go beyond text. Offer, where
possible visual and audio illustration
of points.
Exemplification Illustrate and explain points through
example or case study
Summarisation Summarise key learning at the end of
sections
Remediation / support / follow up Indicate, where follow-up support
could be found for the learning (eg
FAQs, access to the expert, intranet,
peer group, discussion forum)

Flag if there is any linked learning or

resources such as virtual classroom
sessions or workshops.

Tools (Commercial and Open source)

Look out for our series of reviews on authoring tools at www.kineo.co.uk

Our recent survey showed a great deal of fragmentation in the market place
for authoring tools. Our intent is not to go into detail at this stage, but to offer
some indications of what the tools are and how they can be used.

Tool Recommended usages

Entry level tools Simple linear presentations from
Macromedia Breeze PowerPoint; end of section quizzes;
Articulate suitable for product knowledge or
technical briefings

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 Can embed video and flash
animations in sequences

Can be tracked in SCORM compliant

LMS

Some issues with embedding

formative questions and the
configuration of inbuild navigation
controls

No specific templates or interactions

designed for e-learning are included
in the presentation component
Intermediate tools Interactive learning sequences with
Atlantic Link ContentPoint more sophisticated screen
Trivantis Lectora interactions designed specially for e-
learning

Can embed PowerPoint and screen

capture tool content

More robust on formative questions

and quizzes

Suitable for product knowledge,

technical training, soft-skills and
fully interoperable with SCORM
compliant LMSs
Open source tools
Open office Impress PowerPoint clone from Open Office
org. Remarkably similar feature set –
but not compatible with Breeze and
Articulate. Good for simple

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 presentations – no LMS
interoperability offered but can be
distributed by exporting it as a PDF
or html file
Atutor An open source LCMS allows simple
course content creation, all managed
through a web front end

Suitable for simple knowledge

presentation and quiz generation

Packages content as SCORM

objects and can also run SCORM
objects

Also offers virtual classroom, chat,

wiki and blog modules which can be
used to support rapid e-learning

Moodle Allows static content, rapid e-learning

developed in 3rd party tools and
quizzes to be uploaded and tracked
via a website

Good for managing large groups

automatically
Wink An open source screen capture tool
that allows rapid software simulations
to be created

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Blended learning using rapid e-learning

Kineo’s Blended Learning Matrix shows how various tools can be used to
produce blended solutions incorporating rapid e-learning.

Volatility of
content

Podcasting
High
SMS, MMS Web phones Rapid authoring
Web Phones Blogs
E-mail learning Search engine
Wiki
E-coaching Informal learning

Virtual classroom
Audience
size

Small Large
PowerPoint
Screen capture tools

Generic e-learning

For volatile content and large audiences, it makes sense to invest in a variety
of content which could include in-house rapid authoring alongside other rapid
e-learning support including e-mail, forums, Wikis, intranet resources, virtual
classroom sessions etc.

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Here’s how, for example, a simple rapid e-learning blend could be put
together for sales / product knowledge training.

Blend Component Rapid E- Role in Blend Cost to

learning content develop
type

1. Pre-learning E-mail Multichannel Low - time

communications Web-phone in communication; only
alert to learning
opportunity; set
expectations

2. Product Rapid e-learning Experience and Low to medium

knowledge presentation by goal based – time to
development SME / high content produce
performer with presentation; multiple
sales case diverse delivery formats. This is
studies channels; self- the key
selection for knowledge for
content the product
Online quiz tool

PDA doc briefing

Podcast with
customer
dialogue
scenarios

3. Follow up and RSS feed with Dynamic content Low to zero for
reinforcement product updates Diverse; personal e-learning.
and selling tips responsibility Time from
participants
and leaders.

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Blend Component Rapid E- Role in Blend Cost to
learning content develop
type

Virtual classroom
clinic for specific
issues

Wiki knowledge
base for
customer
feedback, case
studies,
important
changes

Regular Podcast
/e-mail with
performance
update

Blog from
product lead and
sales lead on
progress and tips

Conclusions: opportunities and pitfalls

Rapid e-learning seems to herald a new dawn for quick response,

performance-focused training and there are some great opportunities:

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 • More content can be developed with less investment, more quickly in
response to genuine need in the organisation
• Specialist knowledge can be captured and reused more efficiently
• Rapid development can be devolved to people who don’t have
specialist authoring knowledge
• Simple blends which exploit multiple delivery channels for just in time
/ at point of need e-learning can be produced at high speed
• Output in SCORM compliant Flash packages means you can
produce browser independent, trackable content without specialist
programming help

However, there are downsides that we see emerging from this trend:
• A focus on speed and output at the expense of developing good
learning
• Poor or no instructional design
• Tool development plans which still tend to be technology driven and
not by the needs of instructional design best practice
• Risks of content and information overload for end-users as the ease
of development may lead to over-development and distribution of
content

Let’s be clear. A PowerPoint presentation with a quiz on the end does not
necessarily make good learning. The chances are it doesn’t do anything at all
in terms of personal performance. By making it easier to produce content, we
shouldn’t lose site of the importance of good instructional design.

There is no reason why developers of rapid e-learning shouldn’t apply the

same principles of sound instruction as standard e-learning developers:
• We should expect to see adult learning approaches applied to rapid
e-learning courses including goal oriented learning; strong links into
personal experience; directly relevant to their job role and how they
do it
• We should see information design applied rigorously, with well
chunked content, layered and signposted with clear headings. There

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 should be less text and more optional links to supporting content;
audio should support the textual learning points not duplicate them

• We should see at least basic instructional design principles adopted

such as stimulating personal interest, clear communication of ‘what’s
in it for me’, formative questioning, exploitation of all the available
media channels for communicating ideas and principles,
summarization and remediation support

• Sound questioning and assessment techniques which reinforce and

confirm learning

A lot of these aspects can be kick-started by clear guidelines and templates

for design which create the containers in which the various required learning
interactions are included by default. Simple placeholders can be replaced
with text. This approach will help assure sound, fit for purpose learning.

As a final thought, we also feel there needs to be more consideration on

distribution and access to rapid e-learning. LMSs and intranets often create
barriers to learning: too many clicks and sometimes an extra log on to get
something which should accessed just in time and quickly.

So, we’ve been doing some thinking about how to get learning at people’s
finger tips, reducing or eliminating the barriers to having to search and launch
through catalogues of content. The answer? You’ll have to wait and see….

In the meantime, if you would like to feedback on this Kineo Briefing or find
out more about how we can help you with Rapid E-learning, please contact
us at:
info@kineo.co.uk or +44 (0)870 3830003

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