session overview

Thursday 28th January 2010

14:00 - 15:00 Track 1 Session 5

Rapid development in the real world

Rapid development of e-learning content has been a hot topic for a long time, and with good reason. In a few years the control of who creates learning materials has shifted from the hands of the few to the many. But is that necessarily a good thing? Has the discipline of instructional design been completely lost when people regard uploading slides to a shared server as 'creating content'? Join the debate as our panelists share their experiences and opinions.

P1: Good design is possible - and essential

Rob Hubbard, Committee Member, eLearning Network

Rob Hubbard's experience is that rapid development can work, provided it's not just about creating more shoddy content more quickly. Done right, it enables organisations to generate great content as needed, but it requires discipline, thought and sound instructional practice. Oh, and it can be fun, too!

Why rapid does not mean the end of instructional design
Tools that go beyond animated PowerPoint
Using collaborative approaches in rapid development

P2: Today's business demands rapid development

Matt Brewer, Technology Training Consultant, Chubb Insurance Company of Europe SE

For Matt Brewer, delivering vital systems, technical insurance, soft skills and regulatory training to 1100 users in over 12 countries calls for e-learning. And with regulation changing fast, that learning has to be developed rapidly. For Matt, then, rapid is a practical necessity, driven by business need:

Why in-house systems & projects often need in-house creators
The reality of learning projects: little time and money for learning
The final driver for rapid: keeping it current

P3: Rapid: it's about culture as well as content

Margaret Kelsey, Principal, Kelsey+Co

According to Margaret Kelsey's research and practice, rapid development at its best taps into the expertise of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and includes them in cycles of swift content prototyping. Within a truly agile company culture, rapid development generates multiple benefits.