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InfoPro MODERNIZE eBook
- 4. TRAININGISANINVESTMENT
01
Thevalueofoutdatedtrainingprogramscanbemaximizedbyreducingtheamountofunnecessaryorredundantcontent,
reusinginstructionallysoundcontent,andrecyclingcontentwithaneyetowardsimprovingandmodernizingitsdesign.
ThiswhitepaperexploresbestpracticesinmaximizingcorporatetrainingROIthroughthemodernizationofoutdatedcon-
Aportfoliooftrainingprogramsrepresentsasignificantinvestmentincompanyresources,includingtheannualtraining
budgetsofyearspastandthetimeandeffortoftrainingpersonnel,subjectmatterexperts,andtrainingvendors.
Companieshaveanaveragetrainingexpenditureofabout
$1,200peremployeeperyear,1andovertheyears,the
timeandbudgetspentoncurriculardesignandthecre-
ationoflearningassetsrepresentsasignificantinvest-
mentincompanyresources.
TheaverageGlobal1000companyhasover1,000hours
oflearningcontentwithinitstrainingportfolio.
Thedevelopmentofthisportfoliorequiresanaverage
investmentof$18million,including$8.1millionand
100,000hoursoflaborfrominstructionaldesigners,
$4.5millionand34,000hoursoflaborfrommanagers,
$2.7millionand67,000hoursoflaborfrominstructors,
and$2.7millionand18,000hoursoflaborfrom
subjectmatterexperts.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
- 6. REDUCEREUSERECYCLEOVERVIEW
03
Companieshaveanaveragetrainingexpenditureofabout$1,200peremployeeperyear,1andover
theyears,thetimeandbudgetspentoncurriculardesignandthecreationoflearningassetsrep-
resentsasignificantinvestmentincompanyresources.TheaverageGlobal1000companyhas
over1,000hoursoflearningcontentwithinitstrainingportfolio.
Thedevelopmentofthisportfoliorequiresanaverageinvestmentof$18million,including$8.1
millionand100,000hoursoflaborfrominstructionaldesigners,$4.5millionand34,000hoursoflabor
frommanagers,$2.7millionand67,000hoursoflaborfrominstructors,and$2.7millionand18,000
hoursoflaborfromsubjectmatterexperts.
REDUCE
Reducingtheamountofextraneoustrainingcontent
improvestheimpactoftrainingandincreases
learnerengagement.
REUSE
Reusinginstructionallysoundtrainingcontentwhere
possiblesavestimeandmoney,andispreferableto
developingnewcontentfromscratch.
RECYCLE
Recyclingcontentwithaneyetowardsimprovingits
effectivenessanddesignrequirestheapplicationof
moderninstructionaldesigntechniquestoselect
reusablepiecesofcontent.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
- 7. REDUCE
04
Reducingtheamountofextraneoustrainingcontentimprovestheimpactoftrainingandincreaseslearnerengagement.A
commonissuewitholdertrainingprogramsisthattheyareoverlylong,containtoomuchinformationforemployeesto
rememberonthejob,4andrehashsomeofthesameconceptsmultipletimesthroughouttheprogram.
Afterauditingoldertrainingprograms,learningprofessionalscanstrategicallypruneawayextraneoustrainingcontentto
ensurethatwhatevercontentremainsismoresuccinctandimpactful.5
Aslongasthecontentisinstructionallysoundand
containsusefulinformation,itcanbeleveragedforthedevelopmentofnewtrainingprogramsinthefutureaswell.
Fore-learningcontentinparticular,oldercontentpublishedinlegacyformatscanbecomeinaccessibleonmodern
Internetbrowsers,learningmanagementsystems,andmobiledevices.
Aretheprogramstootimeconsuming?
Trainingworkshopsthatpullemployeesawayfromtheirjobsdaysatatimeandhourlonge-learning
coursesaregoodcandidatesforconsolidation.
Willlearnerssufferfrominformationoverload?
Learnerscanonlyretainsomuchinformationatatimefromformaltrainingprograms.Contentthatistoo
information-richandreliesonworkerstomemorizelotsofinformationbecomesunwieldyandshouldbe
condensed.
Aretherelearningassetsthathavegottennegativefeedbackfromworkers?
Unpopulartrainingcontentshouldberemovedfromyourcompany’strainingportfolio.However,ifsomeof
thebasecontentisstilluseful,itshouldbepartitionedawayfromtheprogramasawholeinsteadofdelet-
ingit.
Aretherelearningobjectsthatarenolongeraccessibleduetotechnologicallimitations?
Fore-learningcontentinparticular,oldercontentpublishedinlegacyformatscanbecomeinaccessibleon
modernInternetbrowsers,learningmanagementsystems,andmobiledevices.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
- 8. REUSE
05
Reusinginstructionallysoundtrainingcontentwherepossiblesavestimeandmoney,andispreferabletodevelopingnew
contentfromscratch.Asaresultofatrainingportfolioaudit,youwillidentifycontentthatshouldbereducedorremoved
aswellascontentthatshouldbereusedforfutureprograms.Inparticular,instructionallysound,informativetrainingcon-
tentdevelopedwiththehelpofacompany’ssubjectmatterexpertsisvaluableenoughtobeconsideredforreuseinthe
futureratherthanneglectingitorthrowingitaway.
Oncereusablelearningassetshavebeenidentified,theyshouldbesequesteredawayfromcontentthatwillbereducedor
thrownout.Asageneralbestpractice,thebestwaytomanagelearningassetsisthroughtheuseofarobustlearningcon-
tentmanagementsystem(LCMS).6
ProperusageofanLCMSwillensurethatusefullearningcontentisstoredinasafe
placeandcanbereusedandrecycledinthefutureasnecessary.
Reusablelearningassetscomeinmanyforms.Herearesomeofthemostcommontypesofreusablelearningassets:
TrainingSlideDecks
Slidedecksfromolderinstructor-ledtrainingprogramscanbeatreasuretroveofpowerfulcontent,includ-
ingstatistics,infographics,andillustrations.
InstructionalVideos
Instructionalvideoscanservedifferentpurposesintrainingprograms:onboardingvideosfornewhires,
productinformationvideos,videosinterspersedthroughoute-learningcourses,etc.Trytothinkofwaysin
whichinstructionalvideoscanbereused,sincevideoproductioninandofitselfisasignificant
investment.
JobAids
Jobaidsaremeanttoserveasareferencetoworkersonthejob–andtothatend,theyareoftentimes
highlysuccinctandinformationrichlearningobjectsthatcanbereusedforavarietyofdifferent
purposes.
Instructor-LedTrainingManuals
Breakoutsessions,role-plays,homeworkassignments,andhands-onworkshops
helplearnerstostrugglethroughthematerialandlearndynamically.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
- 9. RECYCLE
06
Recyclingcontentwithaneyetowardsimprovingitseffectivenessanddesignrequirestheapplicationofmodern
instructionaldesigntechniquestoselectreusablepiecesofcontent.Byrecyclingexistingcontent,time,effort,andbudget
areallconservedduringthedevelopmentprocesswhencomparedtonewprogramdevelopment.Thethreekeysuccess
criteriaforrecyclingtrainingcontentarefuturereusability,contentmodularization,andcontentsearchability.7,8
Reusablelearningassetscomeinmanyforms.Herearesomeofthemostcommontypesofreusablelearningassets:
FUTUREREUSABILITY
Trainingcontentthatcanbereusedandcontinuallyofferedtolearnersforyearsintothefutureisanexcellent
investment.Tofuture-prooftrainingcontent,itshouldcontainbroadstatisticaltrendsratherthanspecificannual
statistics,bepublishedininteroperableformats,andcontaintimelesscasestudiesandexamplesratherthancurrent
eventsandtopicalstories.
BroadStatistics>SpecificData
Usingcurrentannualstatistics,figures,andreportsintrainingcontentleadsinevitablytofuture
datainaccuraciesandlearnerperceptionsthattrainingprogramsareoutdatedandirrelevant.
Usingmeanstatisticaltrendsoveraperiodofyearspaintsabroaderfactualpictureforlearners,
andwillbemuchmoreusefulasareferenceforthefuture.
Interoperability>Compartmentalization
Properlyrecycledtrainingcontentcanbeusedinmultiplecontextsandplatforms.Can
instructor-ledtrainingmanualsbeusedbytrainersbothin-personandvirtually?Cane-learning
coursesbeaccessedfromdesktopcomputersandmobiledevicesalike?Ensurethatrecycled
contentcanlivewherelearnershaveaneedtoaccessit.
TimelessExamples>CurrentEvents
Fiveyearsfromnow,whichleadershipdevelopmentexamplewillhavemoreculturalrelevancy:
Odysseus’epicstruggletoovercomeaCyclops,sirens,andGodsalongwithhisown
shortcomingsasamanintheOdyssey,orthecrudeandMachiavellianriseofSnapchatCEOEvan
Spiegel?Illustratetrainingconceptswithtimelessexamplesratherthancurrenteventswhichmay
ormaynotberecognizabletolearnersyearsfromnow.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
- 12. ABOUTTHECUSTOMER
09
ThecustomerisaFortune50telecomcompanywithover178,500employeesandoperatesinover150countries.The
clienteleconsistsofhundredsofmillionsofcustomersfortheirwireless,internet,andentertainmentneeds.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
TheCustomer’sNeedandChallenges
In2013,ourclientpurchased40,000tabletstobeusedby
theirremoteemployees.Byreplacinglaptop
computerswithtabletdevices,theyfacedcompatibility
issuesastheyattemptedtodeploylegacytraining
content.
AdditionallAdditionally,thelargeportfolioofeLearningmaterials
containedcontentinaccuracies,outdatedgraphicsand
images,andmostofthecontentwasnotalignedto
moderndayinstructionaldesignbestpractices.
Asalong-timepartnerofInfoProLearningandwith
knowledgeofInfoPro’sforwardlookingapproachto
ModernizationandMobility,thiscompanylookedto
InfoPInfoProforanapproachformodernizingtheirtraining
portfolio.
TheInfoProSolution
AsInfoProinvestigatedthelegacycontentand
discussedthedesiredfuturestate,itbecame
apparenttooursolutionsteamthatInfoPro’s
MODERNIZEsolutionwouldbethebestapproach.
ThissolutionwouldensuThissolutionwouldensurethatwewouldbeableto
properlyleveragelegacycontent,improvethedesign,
correctcontentinaccuracies,refreshtheinstructional
strategy,anddeployinaplatformagnosticformat.
REMEMBER
Reduce Reuse Recycle
- 14. 11
MODERNIZEDEVELOPMENT
UponcompletionofthestrategyconsultingthatInfoProconducted,wemovedintotheMODERNIZEDevelopmentphaseof
theproject.Largely,InfoProfollowsan“ADDIE”typemodelfordeliveryonModernizationprojectshowevertherearesome
proprietaryelementswhichareuniquewithregardstoourprojectmanagementmethodologyandprocesses.
OnesignificantdifferenceintheMODERNIZEdevelopmentprocessistheemphasisonagileand
paralleldevelopment.Inthisproject,wewereabletobreakthe100coursesintosmallerbatches
andstaggerthedevelopmentwithparallelteams.Thisplanallowedustoreleasestoryboards,
betas,andgoldreleasesinamanageablevolumeforSMEreviews.Whilethecompany
wasreviewingtherelease,wewouldkeepworkingonotherbatches.
WithMODERNIZEdevelopmentprojects,thekeytoimprovingthequality,reducingtheTAT,and
reducingthecost,liesinoptimizingthedeliveryprocessandevolvingthechecklistswhich
accompanyeachstepoftheprocess.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
KEYSUCCESSESOFTHISPROJECT
InfoProkickedofftheMODERNIZEprojectinearly2014withananticipatedturnaroundtimeof8months.Duetoexternal
pressuresandourclient’scircumstances,thedeadlinewasshortenedwithahardcut-offdateat4months.InfoPro
successfullyadjustedtheprojectplanandresourcingtoaccommodateaccelerateddelivery.
Attheconclusionofthe4monthproject,InfoProachievedthefollowingkeyobjectives:
Closeto100coursesmodernizedfromFlash->HTML5
RedesignedUI,Graphics,andimages
RevisedInstructionalDesignApproachfocusedonmodulardesignandmobilecompatibleinteractivity
Leveragedlegacycontent/assetstoreducecostofmodernizationby60%
Achieveddefectratiooflessthan.01%
ProcessOptimizationledtoshortenedTATandanadditional10%costreduction
- 16. 13
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
OurcustomerisaleadinguniversityintheUnitedStatesandofferson-campusandonlinedegreeprogramsinbusiness
administration,computerinformationsystems,engineeringtechnology,networkandcommunicationsmanagement,and
management.Italsoproffersprofessionalgraduatecertificatesinbusiness,officemanagementandhealthinformation
technology.Theuniversityhasmorethan90campusesthroughoutNorthAmericaandenrollsover80,000under-graduate
andgraduatestudents.Theuniversityoffersflexibleoptionsofon-campusandonlineprogramsthatallowstudentstotake
coursesaspertheirneeds.coursesaspertheirneeds.Toachievethis,theuniversityusesmoderntechnologytoolstodeliverandmanagecourses.
Traditionally,theuniversityusedaproprietaryonlinelearningmanagementplatformtodeliveronlinecoursesandmanage
completiontracking.Theonlinelearningmanagementplatformalsoallowededucatorsoftheuniversitytoauthorandpub-
lishacourseusinganinbuiltcourseauthoringtool.Thisofferedaneasyandintegratedwayforthe
universityeducatorstocreate,distributeandmanageonlinecourses.
Withtheadventofnewertechnologies,smartphoneshavebecomeoneofthepreferredchoicesofstudentstoaccess
onlinecourses.Tomeetthedemandsofthestudents,theuniversitywantedtoupgradeitscoursesformobile
compatibility.Furthermore,thecustomerwantedtodelivercoursesindependentlyoftheonlinelearningmanagementplat-
form.Throughthisapproach,theuniversitywantedtohostthemigratednewformatofcoursesonadifferent
contentmanagementsystemandlinkthecoursesthroughtheircurrentlearningmanagementplatforms.
ABOUTTHECUSTOMER
- 17. 14
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
TheCustomer’sNeeds&Challenges
Thekeychallengesfacedbytheuniversityincluded:
Theuniversityusedasingleonlinelearning
managementplatformtoauthoranddeliver
onlinecourses.Educatorsusedtheinbuilt‘Visual
Editor’tooltocreatetheonlinecourses.The
‘VisualEditor’withintheonlinelearningmanage-
mentplatformrenderedahuge
redundantcodebasethatwasbecoming
difficulttomanagewiththelatestupdates.
Sincetheonlinelearningmanagementplatform
wasaproprietaryapplicationandahosted
solution,manyothercompetitorsusingthesame
platformcausedaninconveniencetotheuniver-
sityovercontentprivacyissues.
Sincethecourseswereauthoredwithinthe
onlinelearningmanagementplatformandhosted
withinthesameplatform,thecourseswerecom-
pletelydependentontheplatformandwerenot
interoperable.
Theuniversitywantedtoattractthenewagestu-
dentsandhenceitbecameapriorityforthecus-
tomertoenablecoursedeliverytomobiledevic-
es.Thecurrentonlineplatformwasnotableto
offerthisfunctionality.
Theuniversityhadaccumulatedahugevolume
ofcourses,nearly1000coursescontaining
70,000pages,thusmakingitahumungoustask
tomigratethelegacycontentintoanewformat.
Akeyconsiderationtowardsthecontent
migrationwastomakethenewformatmobile
compatible.
ApproachtoSolvetheCustomer’s
Requirements
InfoProwasselectedtoanalyzecustomerneedsandpro-
videanoptimizedsolution.Oursolutionexperts
determinedthattherequirementswereagoodmatchfor
InfoPro’sMODERNIZEsolution.Thissolutionwould
ensurethatwewouldbeabletoproperlyleveragelegacy
content,improvethedesign,correctcontent
inaccuracies,refreshtheinstructionalstrategy,anddeploy
inaplatformagnosticformat.
MODERNIZESolutionOverview
InfoProutilizedtheMODERNIZEsolutionframeworkto
ensurethecomprehensivetreatmentandconversionof
legacycontenttothedesiredstate.
InfoProbeganbyacomprehensivecollection
exercisetogatheralllegacymaterialsina
consolidatedlocation.Thiswascrucialinorder
toproperanalyzeallversionsofthecontentand
capturethecurrentstate.
NextInfoProcompletedtheMODERNIZE
Strategyphasebyconductingthorough
inteinterviewsofstakeholders,carefulauditof
legacycontent,recommendationforafuture
statedesign,instructionalstrategyand
technologyformat.WethenbuiltaPrototypeand
wentthroughroundsofrevisiontoensurecom-
patibilitywiththefutureLMSenvironment.
Finally,wemovedintotheMODERNIZE
Developmentstagewhichconsistedofarobust
deliveryplanandcustomizeddeliveryworkflow.
- 19. ABOUTTHEAUTHOR
KyleMillerisanenterpriselearningconsultantwithInfoProLearningbasedoutof
Princeton,NJ.PriortojoiningInfoPro,Kyleservedasaresearchassociateon
subjectsincludinge-learning,onlineeducation,game-basedlearning,andsocial
mediausageinhighereducationatSt.John'sUniversityinNewYork.
CONCLUSION
16
Corporatetrainingportfoliosareamassiveinvestment,and
mostcompaniesareallowingthedepreciationoftheir
trainingportfoliosbyneglectingtouseoldcontent.
CompaniescanmaximizetheROIontrainingifthey
modernizeoldtrainingprogramsbyreducingextraneous
content,reusinginstructionallysoundcontent,andrecycling
theremnantsintofuture-proof,modularized,andsearchable
trtrainingprograms.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
- 20. INFOPROLEARNING
17
InfoProLearninghelpsorganizationsrapidlytransformtalentbyfocusingonLearningfor
Performance.Aglobal,award-winninglearningandtrainingsolutionscompanyforalmost20years,InfoPro
providesperformanceimprovementstrategies,blendedlearningsolutions,andmanagedtrainingprograms.
AtInfoPro,performanceinnovation,cutting-edgetechnology,andatalentedteamarecombinedtodeliver
successfulworkforcesolutionsandbusinessoutcomes.InfoProLearningisobsessedwithhelping
customersbuildtrainingcapacity,advancetheirpractices,andrespondeffectivelytochanginglearnerneeds.
INFOPROLEARNING
LearningforPerformance
FormoreinformationaboutInfoProLearning,Inc.,
visit:www.infoprolearning.com,call(609)606-9984or
emailusatinfo@infoprolearning.com
