https://www.cobblestonelearning.com/ The answers to eLearning’s most common questions

1. The answers to eLearning’s most
common questions
Is there a definitive or correct spelling of
online learning?
Since the very first online learning course was designed, there
has been a variety of ways to spell what it is that we do. The
most common ways that you will see it spelt are e-learning, e
learning, Elearning or eLearning. Here at Cobblestone we go
with eLearning as standard, but we don’t get too upset if a
client goes with an alternative.
Custom eLearning or Off-the-shelf courses?
There are a number of marketplaces that you can go to for
off-the-shelf eLearning. As these are produced for the mass
market, they are likely to be general programmes and often
very rigid. If you have specific learning objectives for your
employees or team-members you will need some bespoke
or custom eLearning design, created just for you to match your
learning needs.
What is the difference between instructional design and
eLearning development?
Generally speaking, instructional design is the phase where the
core subject matter is taken from the expert and designed into

2. suitable content for an eLearning course. Here it will be broken
into small manageable chunks and the Instructional Designer
(ID) will curate the content and decide what screen type should
be used.
eLearning development or authoring is the next stage. This is
when the storyboard is taken from the instructional designer
and developed into an interactive course (this is usually done
on authoring programmes such as Articulate
Storyline, Rise, Elucidate or Evolve).
Is there such thing as eLearning outsourcing?
Nearly all of the best eLearning content is outsourced. This
allows for the latest trends to be incorporated, the most
advanced software to be used, and of course the best
eLearning experts to work on your project. By going to an
eLearning agency, you are guaranteed to be working
with expert instructional designers as well as other top-class
professionals such as animators, videographers, voice talent,
actors and more.
How to find eLearning agencies?
There are a number of ways to find the best eLearning
agency for you. There are some key factors to keep in mind
during your search for an online learning agency. Firstly, their
design and development expertise and experience. Do they
look suitable to meet your needs? Can they provide the type of
user engagement and interactive features that you require? It
is also a good idea to look at their eLearning case studies. You
should also have a look at what authoring tool an agency
specialises in. Is it Articulate, or Evolve, or something else like
Gomo or Rise.

3. Are there any trends that I should look out
for?
The design and development of microlearning is an area where
we have seen huge growth and very positive results for
companies across sectors in the last few years. This idea of
microlearning can also be called microlessons or bite-sized
learning. Compared to traditional eLearning, companies
implementing bite-sized learning are seeing an even greater
engagement, satisfaction and ROI on their microlearning
design.