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The Special Challenges for Learning Organizations:
Making the Case for eLearning
By Michael
Grant
Co-Founder and Director of Research
eLearn Campus
Last week, I provided an overview of some of the strategic issues
facing learning organizations as they consider moving their offerings
online. Readers will recall that I defined a “learning organization”
as any organization whose primary mandate or “business” is to provide
students or members with education or training. This includes
many thousands of universities, colleges, professional associations
and even sector associations.
One thing that these organizations have in common is that they
rarely operate in a corporate profit making setting. In fact,
many would take umbrage if you suggested to them that they should
calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) for their learning.
They tend to see their mandate in broader terms. More often
than not, these organizations are some form of not-for-profit organization
with governance structures that are unique to that form of organization.
This presents challenges when making the case for eLearning.
This week I want to discuss how these learning organizations may
face special challenges in making the case for online delivery of
learning.
Non-Profit Doesn’t Mean Non-Management
I have spent at least half my working life in non-profit organizations.
I think there is a growing realization in the non-profit world that
non-profit doesn’t have to mean non-management. So although
the way success is measured may differ, the techniques for making
the case for online learning are very much the same in the non-profit
world as in the for-profit corporate world.
Making the case for eLearning is really about linking the eLearning
initiative to value. The perception of value will vary greatly
from organization to organization. For instance, in one organization
it may be about improving the reach and accessibility of membership
to the learning offerings of the association. In another, it
may be about generating revenue to fund core activities. Each
organization is different, and this difference is reflected in the
way value is perceived by managers. But I always find that it
is important to be explicit about what your value is, and how the
eLearning will relate to value.
Managing Anxiety, Expectations and Success
When we work with non-profit learning organizations, we find that
it makes sense to spend some time up front getting stakeholders onside
with a move to eLearning. At the risk of generalizing, non-profits
tend to prefer a more collegial and consensus-driven process for introducing
innovations like eLearning. Because of this, we usually like
to do Discovery
Sessions with new clients. This is an opportunity for everyone
to get all their concerns and anxieties out on the table. Since
we have many years of experience in eLearning, this process allows
us the opportunity to allay fears about the implications of moving
to online delivery. It also helps the client define their value
model which is the context for the eLearning project.
In the ideal situations, we will also be asked to undertake a
learner needs analysis. This is a good practice in any setting,
but with non-profits we find that it affords an opportunity to both
understand user needs that will influence design and to engage the
learner community in the whole process. This is another mechanism
for defining measures of success that help make the case for eLearning.
This process often uncovers underserved constituencies that
are critical to the mandate of the organization.
This consensus-driven process helps the client work through the
value model that is particular to their organization. And once
this is specified, it makes it a lot easier to make the case and manage
success. Say, for instance, that the most important element
is to improve member accessibility to learning through the organization.
Once this value is made explicit, it makes it easier for all parties
to focus on that value and to manage success.
Making the Case: Getting the Right Metrics
It helps to define about 3 or 4 key metrics that will be used
to judge the success of the initial foray into eLearning. Typically,
these will be some combination of financial and non-financial metrics.
Some learning organizations will have some fee-for-service mechanism
for charging members for online offerings. This makes it easier
to make a standard business case for online learning.
Yet there are many organizations that have a fixed price for membership
and don’t like the idea of charging members more. Even for these
organizations, it may be possible to make a financial case based on
the internal economics of the program. For instance, we may
find that some offerings are being undersubscribed in face-to-face
and that we could save money by moving to online delivery.
More likely, this situation calls for a range of other metrics
to demonstrate full value. Even in corporate settings, eLearning
managers will use metrics such as learner satisfaction and employee
retention to evaluate their online training programs. Similar
metrics can easily be used for non-profit learning organizations.
The important thing is to be fairly disciplined about which metrics
matter and then to design your management system to actually manage
those metrics.
What About You?
At eLearn Campus, we are always pushing ourselves to engage our
subscribers and webinar attendees. We believe in active learning
and we like to apply that in what we do. So I want to extend
to you an opportunity to contact me directly if
you have any questions about what I have written. It will also
help us if you could answer this short
survey about metrics and learning organizations. I will
comment on this survey in next week’s eBrief.
What’s Next?
Next week I will examine how learning organizations can develop
their capacity to deliver eLearning.
Again please take a couple minutes to fill out this short
survey as the responses will be incorporate in next week's eBrief. |
When we talk with organizations that
are having difficulties meeting their eLearning goals, it always seems
to me that they are missing a key indgredient for success: a talented
juggler. By this, I mean there doesn't seem to be someone on hand
who can bring all the disparate elements together - organizational
goals, learning design, program development, learning technologies,
IT support, budgets, project plans, evaluation plans, etc. - to make
it all work. There is no eLearning management generalist, who knows
a little about all aspects of eLearning, and can orchestrate people
and resources toward common objectives. I call this person "the juggler"
- the one who can keep all the eLearning project management "balls"
in the air and ensure they all fall into place when and as needed.
