Starting an eLearning Development Team

It may not be as easy as pressing a button, but with proper support any organization can start its own online learning team. First, you’ll need to understand the roles that are required for building this group and the skills needed to fulfill each role.

Team Member Roles and Responsibilities

Ideally, your new eLearning team will have at least three people, though it is possible for one or two multifaceted individuals to fulfill all the roles. If some roles are only needed part-time, consider using staff from other departments or contracting the work to freelancers. For example, a new team might need editing and testing work on a part-time basis so these roles could be outsourced. Below are the major roles needed for an eLearning team followed by the responsibilities of each role.

• Project Manager: Oversees the full life cycle of the project, interfaces between internal client and eLearning team, schedules deliverables, ensures the team has the information it needs to get the job done
• Instructional Designer/Writer: Uses instructional systems design and adult learning theory to organize, design and write the course
• Editor: Improves writing, proofreading
• Graphic Designer: Creates graphics and animations, designs the look and feel of the course, enhances stock photos to fit project needs
• Media Specialist: Produces and edits audio and video (audio and video are not needed for all proejcts)
• Authoring specialist: Assembles all the elements into a running course, adds interactivity, ensures the course can interface with a Learning Management System if required
• Tester: Runs Quality Assurance checks by testing the course from a technical perspective and ensuring it matches the storyboard

Working with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

A common misunderstanding is that the eLearning group must have expertise in all the subjects they teach. Not so. Instead, the instructional designer works with subject matter experts to develop the content. When the subject is new within the organization, the instructional designer may research the subject via books and journals or interview experts in the field.

Development Process for Self-paced eLearning

Other articles on this site will take you through the development process in more detail. For now, you should be aware of the general work flow. This will vary according to the project and how things work in your organization. For example, this work flow can be simplified by using rapid development approaches, which are discussed in the Rapid eLearning Development article on this site.

• Kickoff Meeting: Meet with internal client to discuss the course’s audience, content, prerequisites, technical constraints, schedule
• Team Meeting: Assemble team to discuss and brainstorm
• Scheduling: Project manager creates a schedule of deliverables
• Analysis and Design: Instructional designer analyzes content/audience and writes design document which is submitted to client
• Development: Upon client approval, instructional designer writes storyboards or slides (these show all the text, audio script, graphics/video that will be in the course)
• Production: Upon approval of each storyboard, create graphics, animations, interactions, video, and audio and assembled into a running course
• Testing/Quality Assurance (QA): Test the course and revise as needed
• System Test: Test again when the course is integrated with other courses or imported to a Learning Management System

Conclusion

Don’t be afraid to take the plunge. Start with a small course to build your confidence, your skills and your team. Then enjoy the ride. It’s an exciting field and an ideal time to jump in.