ASTD ran an article not too long ago in which the time to develop an hour of training in 2009 was compared to the time to develop the same type of training in 2003. Since I often get asked about how long it takes to develop various types of educational content, I thought the article was well worth mentioning here. You might find it a useful tool as you are determining the resources and corresponding costs associated with creating new educational products.
You can get full details on the ASTD site, but one element of the the article I’d like to highlight is the major leap in self-paced, on demand e-learning that has been made since 2003. The following chart, extracted from the ASTD article, provides data for “E-learning Developed with a Template” –
| Type of Training Per 1 Hour | Low Hours
Per hour of Instruction (2009) | High Hours
Per Hour of Instruction (2009) | Low Hours
Per hour of Instruction (2003) | High Hours
Per Hour of Instruction (2003) |
| Limited interactivity; no animations (using software such as Articulate) | 73 | 116 | NA | NA |
| Moderate interactivity; limited animations (using software such as Articulate) | 97 | 154 | NA | NA |
| High interactivity; multiple animations (using software such as Articulate) | 132 | 214 | NA | NA |
–
There are at least two equally important perspectives on this data:
The first is that an option that really wasn’t even available 6 years ago (look at all those “NAs”) now puts relatively sophisticated, on-demand e-learning within the grasp of organizations that might never have been able to afford it. Tools like Articulate Presenter, Adobe Captivate, and Camtasia Studio, among others, make it possible to develop nice looking, interactive, and trackable on-demand learning starting from the most ubiquitous of all training technologies – PowerPoint. Organizations that are still relying solely on recorded Webinars to leverage PowerPoint for on-demand training are missing an opportunity – and likely boring their learners to death.
But that leads to the second perspective: creating decent e-learning takes time. Even though the tools have gotten quite affordable and easy to use, simply taking the time to slap some audio on top of PowerPoint and generate a Flash file rarely results in a compelling or effective online learning experience. Good e-learning demands good design, and that takes time – more time than most organizations are accustomed to putting into simply recording and archiving a Webinar presentation. If you are trying to create a product that will sell and have some shelf life, however, this is time well spent.
It is clear that many small businesses and entrepreneurs are catching on to the power of the templated, “rapid” e-learning model as a way to educate and engage customers. As our Association E-learning: State of the Sector report makes clear, non-Webinar on-demand content also has a significant foothold in the association market and many of the learning management systems in our recent Association Learning Management Systems report provide good tools for converting PowerPoint content and/or supporting content created in tools like Articulate.
If you haven’t tuned into the rapid, templated approach to e-learning yet, I’d urge you to find out more. One good starting point is The Rapid E-learning Blog and Tom Kuhlman’s excellent free eBook The Insiders Guide to Becoming a Rapid E-learning Pro
Update, May 2010: A post on how long it takes to develop e-learning content using Adobe Captivate – a tool that I have found is increasingly popular with associations. Via Christy Tucker’s blog.
JTC
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