Test Your Consumer Knowledge
By Saul Carliner

Before you can sell e-learning to management, you must make sure your organization is ready. This interactive exercise asks you to respond to a number of purchasing scenarios, then score your responses. Explanations of the responses will help you build your knowledge of the e-learning market, including basic terminology, standards, technologies, and service options.

"An educated consumer is the best consumer," advised clothing retailer Marcy Syms in a series of television advertisements.

She’s right. But the risk associated with purchasing a $350 suit pales in comparison to the risk associated with purchasing $10,000 worth of software for developing e-learning programs or the $250,000 that might be spent on a learning management system.

If you're a first-time buyer of e-learning products and services, ask yourself what your level of consumer knowledge is. To find out, take this test intended to assess your basic understanding of key e-learning products and services.

Questions

1. You're a sales representative for a company that provides training content. You need to offer a performance support system to ensure safety in the food processing industry, which includes tutorials on cleanliness, use of equipment, and use of chemicals in food processing. The system also tracks learner completions.

Is this really a performance support system?

1. Yes
2. No

2. You've been asked to choose management software for your corporate university. Most of your courses are 90-minute workshops that are taught by other corporate staff members. Currently, your organization schedules the rooms, enrolls learners, tracks attendance, and reports information manually to the human resource information system. What type of software might automate these tasks?

1. LMS (learning management system)
2. LCMS (learning content management system)

3. You're developing a tutorial for a software application. In the tutorial, you plan to do the following: present an overview of the software; simulate the software, so that learners can try it out in a safe environment; and test learners’ competence with the software. What type(s) of software do you need to purchase (indicate all that apply)?

1. Macromedia Flash
2. Macromedia Dreamweaver
3. authoring tool
4. simulation tool
5. testing software

4. You work for a university. Several faculty members teach courses using PowerPoint. The professors also prepare class notes and assignments that they want to make available to students, and they want to encourage communication outside of class. What type of software should you purchase?

1. learning management system
2. learning content management system
3. Macromedia Authorware
4. Macromedia Dreamweaver
5. hybrid collaboration system, such as Blackboard or WebCT

5. You've decided to use a learning management system in your training organization. But your IS department doesn't have the staff to support the software. What should you do?

1. Hire a systems analyst or programmer to support the software.
2. Hire an outside organization to implement the software.
3. Contract with the supplier to provide technical support.
4. Contract with the supplier to host and support the software.
5. Give up, this is too much work.

6. You're developing courseware about a proprietary process within your organization for which employees must be certified. Certification occurs as a result of passing the post-course test. Records are kept in electronic employee files. What standard should your courseware adhere to?

1. none; information is proprietary
2. Sharable Content Object Reuse Model (SCORM)
3. IMS
4. Section 508

7. You're moving your product training courses online. One of the instructional designers in the training department suggests that you break them down into learning objects and reuse the content. What’s needed to make learning objects happen in your organization (indicate all that apply)?

1. Conform to the SCORM specifications.
2. Consider all of the possible uses of content.
3. Reorganize your processes so content can be shared and reused.

8. You're considering three potential firms to develop e-learning courses. The first is experienced at Web design and has produced award-winning Websites for dot.com companies. The second firm is experienced in instructional design for self-study materials but has limited experience in designing learning materials intended to be used online. The third firm has developed a variety of online learning products. The quotes from the first two firms are identical. The quote from the third firm is 30 percent higher. Which firm do you choose?

1. Firm 1
2. Firm 2
3. Firm 3

9. Have you taken an e-course? Should you?

1. No
2. Yes

Answers

1. Correct answer: No
Although they might include tutorials, such formal training is only a small part of a performance support system. EPSS includes a number of other resources, such as wizards, coaches, and reference material.
Score: A=4, B=1

2. Correct answer: LMS
The service that you need in this instance is an electronic registrar. Learning management systems perform such tasks as enrollment for online and classroom courses, and tracking of progress (including attendance, partial completions, test scores, and grades). In contrast, a learning content management system is primarily used to develop content, mostly for e-learning.
Score: A=4, B=1

3. Correct answers: authoring tool and simulation tool
Authoring tools are software packages that enable you to draft and design content for the Web, prepare interaction, develop quizzes and tests, provide feedback, and track scores. Simulation tools are software packages that capture screens from other application software packages, making it possible for learners to interact with those screens in a safe environment. Admittedly, those tasks can be accomplished with authoring tools, but usually require a programmer.

In contrast, Macromedia Flash and Macromedia Dreamweaver are trademarked names of particular type of products. Flash is an animation and presentation tool. Dreamweaver is a general authoring tool (Dreamweaver Course Builder is intended for authoring e-learning).

Testing software falls into a broad category. Some testing software is intended to assess whether courses under development really work. Other testing software is used to write and administer course tests.
Score: A=0, B=0, C=3, D=2, E=0

4. Correct answer: hybrid collaboration system, such as Blackboard or WebCT
These systems allow instructors to develop course Websites with existing Word and PowerPoint slides. Instructors also can set up chat rooms, administer tests, and track scores. Because this type of software supports classroom instruction without forcing facilitators to recreate existing materials, it has been extremely popular.
Score: A=1, B=1, C=1, D=1, E=4

5. Correct answer: It depends
Hiring a systems analyst or programmer provides you with the skills on staff to handle the assignment, but you might not have enough work after implementation to justify continued employment. Also, it's likely that you will need to provide training on the technology and the training and development industry. Hiring an independent firm to handle implementation and support resolves the concern about keeping the employee occupied, but this solution has the same training issues.

In theory, no one should be more familiar with the complexities of the LMS than the supplier, but it may not have the resources to fully implement and support the system. The other option is to let the supplier host the system for you, which can be a wise decision if the supplier has a strong track record and staying power. In addition, the software is automatically upgraded at the supplier’s end, so you don't have to deal with painful upgrades.

One option that you can reject, however, is giving up.
Score: A=3, B=3, C=3, D=3, A=0

6. Correct answer: SCORM
One of the primary purposes of the SCORM specifications is to ensure interoperability among e-learning tools. In addition to the ability to reuse content, the spec also ensures that test scores can be exchanged among LMSs and human resource information systems.

Although IMS specs attempt to address interoperability, their strength is in helping people find additional courses and course modules.

Section 508 is an addition to the Americans with Disabilities Act, and requires that Web-based materials that are produced for the U.S. government be accessible to people with hearing, visual, physical, and other impairments that affect their use of the computer.
Score A=0, B=4, C=1, D=0

7. Correct answers: consider all of the possible uses of content and reorganize your processes so content can be shared and reused.
While some possible uses of content won't be apparent until after the course is complete, the best way to design reusable content is by identifying the specific pieces of content that can be reused, the contexts in which you will present them, and the way the content differs in the two situations. After identifying the content, however, you also must develop it so that it's easy to reuse. That requires a change to the process.

Although conforming to SCORM promotes reusability, you can reuse content even if it doesn't conform to industry standards.
Score: A=1, B=3, C=3

8. Correct answer: Firm 3
All things being equal, each firm will likely do a good job. But the first two firms will need to learn on the job. Firm 1 needs to learn about the training and adult learning business, Firm 2 needs to learn about Web development. Because it's estimated that an initial e-learning project takes 50 to 100 percent more time than later projects, assume that Firm 3 provided the most accurate estimate. The other two firms haven't factored in learning time, as well as time to address errors that might result from first-time experience. That could make cost estimates nearly equal.
Score: A=1, B=1, C=4

9. Correct answer: Yes
Realistically, you can't empathize with e-learners or effectively design, deliver, or administer e-learning without having experienced it for yourself. Many of the best ideas for developing e-learning come from experiences as a learner.
Score: A=0, B=8

Scoring