Addressing Diverse Training Needs with Custom eLearning: Best Practices

Custom eLearning is the perfect solution for your unique and diverse training needs and targets specific business goals. While there might be a higher initial cost in the case of a custom eLearning solution, but maintenance costs are much lower. Another great advantage of custom eLearning course is that they can be updated and enhanced easily in-house.

Your custom eLearning courses don’t just need to be learner-centered or customized for a specific audience but also needs to be aligned with your business objectives and goals. Here are some of the best practices that will ensure that your custom eLearning content development addresses diverse training needs and is aligned with your business goals.

Discover your Training Needs

Start by holding a kickoff meeting with project stakeholders, learning strategists, and subject matter experts. Discuss every possible aspect from learning objectives to delivery methods by asking the right questions:

• Determine the specific business goals that the eLearning project should target.
• Identify and define the nature and scope of your eLearning project.
• Conduct a thorough analysis of learner profiles, learner styles, and preferences.
• Determine the current condition of skills and performance gaps.
• Adjust your learning objectives to your business goals to ensure alignment.
• Define the desired competency level, deliverables, and specifications of the eLearning project.
• Review various delivery methods to maximize learner engagement.
  
  

These are the key aspects that you should discuss in the kickoff meeting that will provide more clarity around the custom eLearning project. Create a design document that features the results of all the discussed aspects in the kickoff meeting.

Choose the Right Delivery Method

A delivery method that is not suitable for your training needs and learning content can marginally limit learner engagement and the efficacy of the eLearning project. Here are some of the most popular eLearning content delivery methods and the training needs they are most suitable for:

Web-Based Training (WBT): WBTs ensure uniform and consistent training and are best suited for learning goals that need to be measured, like training for compliance standards.

Video: Delivering content in video formats will allow you to train employees in a quick and engaging way about a topic. If you’re planning for the competency level of awareness about a topic, then videos are the way to go.

Instructor-Led Training (ILT): ILT is most suitable to deliver training comprising complex concepts. It helps attain mastery levels of competency which demands for detailed instructions provided by a subject-matter expert.

All of these delivery methods prove to be more effective than the other for different training needs. But for catering to a diverse set of training needs, your custom eLearning solution need to package a variety of training methods.

Learning Portal: A learning portal allows you to offer training through various delivery methods for different training areas and topics. It accommodates all your eLearning offerings under a single interface and helps you address diverse training needs.

Appropriate eLearning Strategy Fueled with Relevant Content

Leverage the best instructional and graphic design principles to make your custom eLearning solution more retentive and engaging for the learners. Your eLearning strategy must include a balanced mixture of interactive multimedia, branching scenarios, storytelling, eLearning case studies, branching simulations, and gamification to ensure maximum engagement. Ensure that your eLearning content is relevant and contextual by collaborating with instructional designers and subject matter experts.

Custom eLearning development can be tricky and might not be aligned with your business goals in the pursuit of catering to diverse training needs. These best practices will help you through the development and ensure effective and engaging custom eLearning deliverables.

G-Cube is among the fastest-growing learning-tech organization in the entire Asia-Pacific region with 80+ awards in the last 6 years, and a noteworthy experience of 20+ years in the said domain. Our LMS (Learning Management System) Suite is highly compatible to the current eLearning needs of varied industries. For any queries, please do write to us.