If you are exploring elearning, a few minutes invested in reviewing these five tips may pay you a big dividend in time saved.

If you found your way to this page, you're probably in search of information on elearning and possibly how to develop an online training program of your own. What follows are a few words of advice, which may spare you a few headaches, help you avoid long sighs of exasperation, and save you lots of time as you carry on with your investigation of online training.

1. Be sure that elearning is really what you're after. It's not uncommon for people to perform due diligence on elearning practices, technology, and costs under the wrong assumption that elearning is what they need just because their online content is educational. For example, if tracking an individual learner's information such as name, test scores, and courses completed is not needed, then a learning management system may be unnecessary, thereby opening the opportunity for simpler, faster ways to deploy the content at a much lower cost such as straightforward web pages on a server.
2. Don't lose sight of your overall learning objectives. If elearning is definitely what you need and you're currently providing instructor-led training or other forms of learning, don't lose sight of the big picture. Yes, elearning is fast and powerful. Yes, it is different from other methods of delivering training. Unfortunately, elearning has taken on a life of its own in the minds of some people who view it as entirely distinct and separate from their organization's broader vision of learning. Training never experienced TRB (three ring binder) learning, OP (overhead projector) learning, or SP (slide projector) learning, but it definitely has defined computer-based training as a major subset. At the end of the day, the transfer of knowledge is still the goal and elearning is just one way to do it.
3. Objective, comparative information on elearning technology and software is scarce. Those who are new to elearning are often in hopes of finding the ultimate, most comprehensive, up-to-the-minute consumer guide of comparative product information for elearning to make their decision process a snap. Unfortunately, that guide does not exist. The closest you will find is Training Media Review (TMR), which serves as the Consumer Reports of objective, independent product evaluations for the training industry. TMR's information is fairly comprehensive. Evaluations are standalone, however, and not comparative. If you're serious about purchasing products for elearning, TMR may prove to be a valuable first-step resource for you to help you define your short list.
4. Take advantage of readily available resources. To help in making decisions on elearning technology, take advantage of free product demonstrations and trials, which most elearning companies provide. "Test drives" of elearning software products are critical to your final decisions. Beware of companies that do not offer demonstrations and trials, but be certain to make good use of those that do. Also beware of old, abandoned website portals dedicated to online training, which litter the Internet. When visiting an elearning portal that is new to you, determine how current it is, then use your judgment to determine if the information provided has value or not. Also, click the Resources link to the left for a variety of elearning information.
5. Yes, you can do it. If you have any doubts about your ability to develop and launch an elearning program, you can safely put them to rest. The technology used to develop, deploy, and manage elearning has dramatically advanced over the past 15 years to the point that those responsible for developing and managing elearning programs are able to do so independently. Hey, that's one of the things technology is supposed to do! The days of requiring a large IT team to design and launch an elearning program are gone. Thanks to current technology, small training teams of just a few people, which in some cases have little or no technology expertise, are able to successfully build and manage elearning programs. You can, too.

Good luck with your elearning investigation. If you have questions or comments about the advice given here, please feel welcome to contact Start-eLearning Consulting.