Old dog, new tricks

June 14, 2012 9:28 AM

Looking for advice on getting experience as an e-learning professional.

In the never-ending quest for professional development, I'd like to branch out from my core competency of english-language online course development and into e-learning in general. Ideally I'd be a consultant offering corporate training / e-learning development.

I was hoping the hivemind could give me some advice on getting started with e-learning. Is there a recommended training course? How would someone like me (who works in digital publishing, constructing learning experiences for English language learners) get started in e-learning?

From what I understand, a lot of people work with Adobe Creative Suite (Captivate and such). My current skillset involves Moodle and other LMSs, plus Python scripting skills.

I'm approaching this as a complete outsider, so any advice would be helpful. I understand there are degree programs for this, so I'd be interested in advice about what sorts of degree programs are available and also whether it's possible to get started without a Master's.

Thanks in advance!

posted by mammary16 to Work & Money (1 answer total)

Best answer: I know lots of people might disagree, but to me the term "e-learning" is still pretty ill-defined. When you say "English-language online course development", I'd call that a form of e-learning for sure. It sounds like you mostly want to move away from course/curriculum development and into skills/product training, or "corporate" e-learning. Either way, it's important to define what you want up-front before you go looking for work.

Unfortunately, the vagueness of the term also makes it difficult to point you in the right direction. I get that you want to be a consultant or independent developer, but it becomes a tall order when a company wants one person to fit all of their criteria.

For example, I got my degree in journalism, worked for 2 years as a content developer with a corporate training company (everything from web courses for KFC to seminar presentations/handouts for Allstate, writing, editing, LMS stuff, code, audio recording, the whole shebang), then hopped to a company that worked with universities to put their brick-and-mortar courses online. Totally different animal, but I learned a lot. My resume listed every major LMS, recording/training program and adult learning theory you could think of. When it came time to move on, I figured I was a shoo-in for any job I could find, especially with my mix of corporate and higher-ed training. But both of the companies I had been with had independent multimedia teams, so when I struck out on my own I was hampered by my lack of knowledge of Flash. Or Fireworks. Or Python. Or mobile app development. Or an ability to draw anything other than stick robots.

If you want to offer your services as a contractor, you have to be sure you're the total package, but that package will change depending on the company and at times it will be completely unreasonable. The industry is still new enough that people post an ad thinking "All I need to find is a world-class writer who can self-edit, make no mistakes, and build a meaningful learning scenario that teaches what I'd like to teach. Oh, and then they have to illustrate it / design a UI / code it from scratch / make sure it's mobile-ready / have it on my desk by Monday".

Not to discourage, by any means. It's a great industry and there are lots of opportunities, but I think as time goes on they are more likely going to come as part of a team. In the meantime, here's a handy bulleted to-do list of things that might help:

• Expand your skillset to include anything tangentially related to training development. Start with the obvious ones (Captivate, Articulate, Lectora, super-great PowerPoint / Keynote skills, etc.) and move on from there. Learn / be able to demonstrate a knowledge of HTML and CSS.
• Bone up on your learning theory. Most people have no idea what an e-learning professional does, or why they might need an Instructional Designer or Content Developer or Learning Management Consultant or whatever you end up calling yourself. But someome told them they do, and so they put out an ad or created a position. Also, they totally do need one. Be ready to explain why you're going to do more than take their printed employee handbook and make it into an animated PowerPoint presentation. I've found lots of people like it if you've read Understanding by Design.
• If you want to continue to try going the consultant route, leverage your existing contacts. Ask everyone you know if they know someone who could benefit from a training overhaul. Depending on where you're at in your career, I've heard of people who have had great success doing pro-bono work to beef up their resume, like revamping a local restaurant's employee handbook or "jazzing up" a company's otherwise boring PowerPoints. One friend was so fed up with the crappy online courses he took at a community college that he mocked up new designs and sent them directly to the professor, landing a small but resume-friendly contract.
• Keep your expectations realistic. You're probably not going to be able to send an unsolicited email to a huge company and say "Yo, do you guys need some help with your training?" and they respond with "Yes here are the keys to your new solid gold office". Look for places that are likely to have a team in place, like education companies, software companies, or consulting firms, and ask them about their needs.

This is already a superlong post, but I'll try to think of anything else I may have missed. In the meantime, let me know if you can think of anything I might be able to answer! I've since moved back to the corporate world of product and systems training, but I've done big and small, corporate and education, and currently a mix of both (software training for a program used by schools) so I should at least have an opinion on most things.
posted by PipeRifle at 10:55 AM on June 14, 2012 [6 favorites]