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A triumph of form over substance.

Standards?

ASTD has issued draft standards on "eLearning quality." The intent is to charge vendors to be certified, sort of a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. The proposed fees are:

$1,500 for up to two hours of instruction
$3,000 for two to six hours of instruction
$5,000 for six to 16 hours of instruction
$8,000 for more than 16 hours of instruction

The Certification program makes no attempt to measure outcomes. It doesn't evaluate the appropriateness of content. It does not assess personalized, flexible courseware. It evaluates only asynchronous, canned programs, disregarding mentoring, live sessions, coaching, and other aspects of "blended" learning. Worse still, recertification is only necessary when a course changes, not when the world changes.

In 2001 ASTD hopes to evaluate 450 courses. Their research finds that there are about 10,000 real courses out there. They'd like to certify 10% of these, a thousand, annually.

After the session, I heard the rumors that ASTD is doing this for cash flow purposes. If so, they'll lose, because 1000 x $1500 = $1.5 million, too small a gain for the aggravation, the blow to ASTD's reputation, setting them back in the eLearning revolution, etc. I talked with Anne Blouin, who's running this project, and believe she is sincere in trying to help ASTD members, not simply selling ASTD indulgences.

Some very bright people support this initiative but I just don't get it.

Nowhere is it written that technology-based training is all or nothing.

eLearning will no more replace instructors than television replaced movies. No organization that we know of -- and that includes the major eLearning vendors -- uses technology for the majority of their in-house learning activities.

This is it.

Chuck Fred was a championship miler in college, and he convincingly argues that in business, the first across the finish line is also the winner. The winning runner breaks the tape. In business, the winning business is the fastest to deliver on the value proposition to the customer. Winning either race takes practice, mental toughness, and the will to win. This is a message top management needs to hear.

The three circles of content, technology, and services don't explain today's eLearning industry

No eLearning companies are vertically integrated, that is, inventing all their technology in-house. It's a world of alliances. The issue isn't whether a vendor writes code but whether its components can seamlessly mesh with others to form a working system.

For a customer, the major issue is who takes responsibility for uptime performance. Can I get things on track with one phone call? Or do I have to jockey among vendors, everyone of whom is pointing a finger at the other guy? Do I pay one bill or many?

Europa beckons.

As 2001 opens, our interests here at Internet Time Group are shifting from marketing for eLearning vendors to helping eLearning customers make sound plans. We've assembled a virtual guild of gray-haired gurus, and our goal is to provide better advice than the Big 5 in less than 5% of the time. Days, not months. Hours, not days. People in the know, not recent grads strong on theory but short on experience.

We will be expanding out of Silicon Valley. We'll design some learning experiences to model our thoughts on visual persuasion, distilled content, metalearning, and low-budget production. We will find ways to make our sexy new videocam tax-deductible.

The Ghosts of eLearning Past and Future

Whoa! Certificates for attending a conference? What's next? CEUs?

last year's eLearning editorials

Through the Eyes of Visionaries

Bryan Chapman asked learning industry thought leaders:

What is the biggest problem we face as an industry?
Where are the greatest opportunities?
Grade the industry, A to F.
What is your vision of the future?

Click to see what was said by David Merrill, Elliott Masie, Wayne Hodgins, Allison Rossett, Judy Brown, Kevin Oakes, and other luminaries.

Bryan Chapman &
Magic Eight-ball