10 Damaging E-learning Myths
Make no mistake about it, the e-learning industry is going through troubled times. The current economic climate isn’t conducive to providing top quality e-learning and there are mixed opinions about the success of this type of training. We can argue about the causes of this phenomenon forever. However, this article presents 10 damaging myths that we feel are contributing to the problems facing our industry. These myths seem to be spreading at an infectious pace. This list isn’t intended as a criticism of any existing e-learning company – we have tremendous admiration for anyone who works in this difficult industry. Rather, this list gives us an opportunity to look again at the assumptions and beliefs that have come to define our dealings with customers.

Posted on: March 3,2003 | Read more...

Fortunately, these guys are in the UK. I'm in Australia. They have a lot of good ideas.

A couple of excerpts:
1. Volume = value
E-learning tends to be priced in terms of hours of learning content produced. Customers ask, "How much will it cost to produce a one hour e-learning programme?" Suppliers also talk in those terms: "we currently charge ?10,000 per hour of e-learning, with reductions for volume". Here lies the danger: value is becoming equated with volume of content rather than the degree to which a solution meets the training need. This is generally leading to conformity within the industry and a reduction in quality.

Currently, it would be difficult for a supplier to make the following argument:
"If we spend more time in the analysis and learning design of the project we can probably think of a way of meeting your training need in half an hour instead of an hour. However, because we need to spend budget on the extra thinking time, we still need to charge you for an hour. You still get a better solution though: your trainees will spend less time away from work and will probably get a more focused learning experience. You are paying for value or service, not volume."

We’re waiting for the day we can make that argument.

2. We are producing content
Many customers still approach suppliers with the question, "How much will it cost to turn this content into e-learning?" They think they are in the content delivery business instead of the 'improving user performance' business. The language that customers use also betrays this bias. They talk about ‘content producers’ and ‘scriptwriters’ rather than learning designers or instructional designers.

We wish clients would come to us and say, "How can we use e-learning to solve this performance issue?" This would set the focus firmly on people and performance rather than content. It doesn’t matter how much quality content I produce if it doesn’t lead to a change in learner knowledge, attitudes or behaviour.