In 1999 eDeploy, Inc. created an extensive set of online learning modules for their software. The learners are to complete these modules prior to attending an instructor-led training session, however 90% of the learners were not completing the tutorials. Aside from the time, money and effort put forth by the design and development team for these modules, there were other impacts on eDeploy from the lack of online tutorial completion. The online modules are a prerequisite for an advanced instructor-led hands-on workshop. Without the learners previously completing the introductory information online, the instructor must back track and review the information provided in the online learning modules. This additional information increases the amount of face-to-face training time and oftentimes the advanced content has to be overlooked due to time constraints. The eDeploy audience is varied in technical ability, job function and largely geographically dispersed, which was the initial reasoning for developing the online learning modules. My role with eDeploy, Inc. was to evaluate the existing online learning modules, determine the reasons for the extremely high number of learners that are abandoning these tutorials and redesign the online learning curriculum to increase learner usage and information retention.
Company
Overview
eDeploy, Inc. is a business to business (B2B) software company in Golden,
CO. eDeploy's primary product is eDeploy™, a web-based project collaboration
tool to help project manage and organize large technology implementations.
eDeploy is a subsidiary of Datatec Systems, Inc. and is increasingly being
pulled under the corporate umbrella of it's parent company. During the
course of this project there were approximately 70 employees nationwide
and at that time they were undergoing a change in management and change
in the vision and mission of the company.
eDeploy, Inc. partnered with large corporations, such as IBM and Cisco Systems. These partnerships enable eDeploy to sell more of its software in general, and to a potentially larger audience. There are currently 5000+ users of the eDeploy software worldwide.
Project Overview
No formal analysis
was done on the front end of the eLearning project as a whole, prior to
my employment with eDeploy. The need for the eLearning Series arose from
the Professional Services (sales and implementation) department. Work
began on the first six modules in spring of 2000 and was rolled out to
the customers in August 2000. Modules 7-13 were created and rolled out
to the customers in November 2000. The Professional Services department
drove this need to a requirement, and indicated the various user groups
from an audience analysis conducted for instructor-led classes.
The Web is the primary medium for the eDeploy application, thus the learning medium was decidedly web-based prior to my arrival. eDeploy also had very high technical restrictions that the evaluation and redesign of the online learning did not need to worry about technical needs. eDeploy supported Internet Explorer 4.0 and above only, and the software application was designed for 800x600 resolution.
A third-party vendor, MindRise, developed the original online learning modules. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) developed the content without assistance from an instructional designer. The content was extremely text heavy with limited graphics and hands on practice.
This project spanned seven months. My initial assignment with eDeploy was to evaluate the second release of the eLearning modules and assist the beta test team in obtaining quality results. The evaluation revealed that only 10% of the learners were actually passing the course, the other 90% were not failing, but were not completing the course. The end result was a complete redesign of the eLearning suite including identifying a new Learning Management System (LMS).
This project includes 4 main parts:
- The evaluation of the existing eDeploy eLearning modules
- The redesign of the eDeploy eLearning modules
- Selecting and implementing a Learning Management System
- The development of the eDeploy eLearning modules
