Custom eLearning Development: What You Should Expect

Custom eLearning development opens a gateway to tailored learning experiences that align with specific organizational needs. It spans a spectrum from off-the-shelf courses, providing general knowledge with minimal customization, to fully custom courses that unleash creative potential by deeply embedding a company's content and brand. This approach ensures that learning materials speak to the organization’s values and strategic goals, optimizing training to meet unique requirements. Entrusting this process to experienced training providers, rather than solely relying on in-house resources, can amplify the benefits, offering nuanced solutions supporting specific training goals and business objectives.

The realm of custom course development is expansive, ranging from gamification for enhanced engagement with traditional online courses to mobile augmented reality, ensuring accessibility anytime, anywhere. Incorporating instructional design is a critical aspect that includes conducting a thorough training needs analysis and mapping learning journeys. Organizations should expect custom eLearning solutions to exceed training expectations by providing a robust structure for delivering personalized training experiences that cater to different audiences, yielding a higher training ROI and fostering a learning culture.

This article outlines what to expect from outsourcing a custom training project.

Understanding Your Needs

Understanding your organization's learning needs and objectives is a foundational step in custom training development. Make sure to consider the following before you engage with a training development partner:

Define Your Objectives and Training Needs

• Clearly outline your company's learning objectives, considering the type of training required, the target audience, and the desired learning outcomes.
• Identify potential challenges and constraints, such as budget, timing, and scheduling, to set realistic program objectives.

Identify Appropriate Methods and Tools

• Audit your training delivery system. Does your Learning Management System (LMS) meet the growing needs of your business for managing, delivering, and tracking training effectively?
• Explore new interactive methods like mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR), for a more immersive learning experience, particularly technical training and people-skills development.

Evaluate Your Training

• Conduct a thorough evaluation of your current training programs to set a benchmark against new training investments. Consider employee behavior, incidents, and resources like time and budget. You want to ensure that your custom training project delivers value for the investment.
• Assess the alignment of eLearning programs with organizational goals and support for learners.
• Review training feedback mechanisms that help motivate learners and guide their expectations. Ensure they include recognizing efforts and providing meaningful feedback, ensuring continuous improvement and innovation.

By taking these steps, your organization can better anticipate your custom training needs, leading to more effective and engaging training partnerships with the vendor you select.

Choosing the Right Development Partner

Selecting the right vendor for a custom training project involves a comprehensive evaluation of development capabilities and alignment with your business needs. Here are vital factors to consider:

Technical Expertise and Instructional Design

• Prioritize vendors with proven instructional design experience, including knowledge of the ADDIE methodology, to learn how they structure content, incorporate storytelling, adhere to accessibility standards, design mobile-friendly experiences, and leverage technology and interactive techniques to deliver training engagement.
• Find out more about their tech stack if you are considering a long-term partnership. A vendor’s toolset can give you insight into their ability to adapt to changing technology.

Past Work and Client Feedback

• Review client work, preferably in the same industry as your business, to gain insight into the vendor’s level of creativity and production quality.
• Ask for client testimonials and references to allow you to ask questions directly to business leaders who have gone through the process and can share their experiences. Listen to how the vendor met challenges and delivered on deadlines.

Work Ethics and Company Values

• Take the time to learn about the vendor’s company values. Do they align with your business? Make sure the vendor values strong communication and collaboration.
• Verify process transparency, avoid hidden costs, and clearly understand the project handling process.

Selecting a development partner with these qualifications can significantly enhance the success of your custom training projects, ensuring they efficiently meet your learning needs and business objectives.

The Custom Development Process

The custom eLearning development process is comprehensive, ensuring the learning solutions delivered meet the needs of learners, the company’s training goals, and business needs. The process encompasses defining the project's scope, designing the solution, and building the product. In more detail, it should include:

Training Needs Analysis:

• Understand the learner population, including demographics, technical ability, experience, and motivation.
• Identify content delivery preferences to cater to diverse learning styles.

Content Development and Strategy:

• Prioritize topics and subtopics based on importance and relevance.
• Write clear learning objectives using action verbs to ensure measurable outcomes.
• Leverage subject-matter-experts and existing resources to enrich the learning content while maintaining cost-effectiveness.

Storyboarding and Design:

• Design a user journey incorporating real-life scenarios, interactive elements, and multimedia (graphics, animations, video).
• Ensure the storyboard aligns with the learning objectives and enhances learner engagement.

Collaborating with an experienced training provider to navigate through these stages can significantly enhance the effectiveness and impact of your custom training. Such partnerships bring expertise in instructional design, content strategy, and technology integration, ensuring your program is educational, engaging, and aligned with your business goals.

Advantages of Customized Learning Solutions

Custom training development brings many advantages to HR teams looking to meet organizational and employee training needs more efficiently. Here's a breakdown of the benefits:

Tailored Learning Experience

• Custom elearning solutions are designed to align with specific business objectives and strategic goals, ensuring learners acquire skills and knowledge crucial for organizational success.
• These programs can be tailored to industry needs, enhancing job-specific skills and improving performance in specialized sectors like manufacturing, healthcare, technology, and finance.

Cost-Effectiveness and Efficiency

• Significant cost savings are realized by eliminating expenses related to hiring in-house development staff or travel, trainers, materials, and classroom space.
• Custom online training programs are more financially efficient than traditional training methods and offer scalable and secure solutions that can be rapidly developed and easily updated to reflect changes.

Engagement and Accessibility

• Enhancing engagement through ADA-compliant, interactive, and engaging content tailored to a company's specific procedures, policies, and core messages.
• Flexibility and adaptability allow employees to access training from any location, anytime, and on any device, catering to various learning styles and preferences.

Working with an experienced training provider to build custom courses maximizes these benefits. It leverages expert knowledge in instructional design and technology integration, making the development process smoother and the training more impactful.

Technology and Platforms

In custom eLearning development, leveraging the latest technologies and platforms can significantly enhance the learning experience, making the case for partnering with an experienced training provider more compelling. Here's a glimpse into the cutting-edge features you can expect:

Interactive Technologies

• Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): Immersive environments for practical, hands-on learning experiences.
• Gamification: Engaging and motivating learners through game-like elements and rewards.
• Microlearning: Bite-sized learning modules for easier absorption and retention of information.

AI and Machine Learning

• AI-Assisted Content Creation: Streamlining the development of personalized and adaptive learning paths.
• Voice Recognition and Virtual Assistants: Offering 24/7 support and facilitating natural interactions with the learning material.
• AI-Powered Analytics: Analyzing learner data to improve course effectiveness and learner engagement.

Accessibility and Flexibility

• Mobile Learning: Ensuring content is accessible anytime, anywhere, on any device, catering to the modern learner's lifestyle.
• Multilingual Content: Breaking language barriers to reach a global audience.
• Cloud-Based Training: Scalable, secure, and cost-effective solutions for businesses that do not want to maintain servers and IT.

Businesses can leverage these advanced technologies by choosing an experienced training provider to build custom eLearning courses to create more engaging, effective, and accessible learning experiences.

Conclusion

Navigating the intricate landscape of custom training development requires a nuanced understanding of technological advancements and instructional design principles. The journey from defining precise organizational needs to leveraging cutting-edge technologies like AR, VR, and AI in crafting custom courses underscores the vitality of custom eLearning solutions in meeting unique business objectives. Working with an experienced training provider maximizes these benefits and streamlines the development process, ensuring that training solutions are impactful and aligned with strategic goals. This strategic partnership fosters a learning environment that is cost-effective, engaging, and tailored to specific organizational needs, thereby enhancing the overall effectiveness and ROI of training programs.

In closing, the advantages of custom development, coupled with the expertise of a seasoned training provider, bring forth unparalleled efficiency and customization. The choice is clear for organizations looking to elevate their training solutions to new heights. Learn more about Vubiz’s custom eLearning solutions and how they can transform your training strategy, ensuring your workforce has the knowledge and skills to drive your business forward.