Quick Tips: Designing Performance Based E-Learning

Performance Improvement is a systematic approach to improving productivity and competence that can be applied to individuals, small groups, and large organizations. The performance improvement model starts with a rigorous analysis of current and desired levels of performance to identify the causes for the performance gap so a solution can be determined, designed, developed, and implemented.

Without the up front analysis and an understanding of the client’s business goals, e learning is likely to fail to improve individual performance. Such failure may negatively impact the work, the workplace, and beyond. Innovative Learning Group partners with clients to perform such up-front analyses.

TIPS ON DESIGNING PERFORMANCE BASED E LEARNING

• Analyze the organization: its vision, mission, values, goals, and strategies.
• Analyze the organizational environment: four levels of analysis worker, work, workplace, and world (the industry, community, culture, etc.).
• Document the current state of performance against the desired state to identify the gap to be addressed.
• Analyze environmental factors to identify cause(s) contributing to the gap (expectations and feedback, tools and resources, and consequences and incentives).
• Analyze individual/employee factors to identify cause(s) contributing to the gap (skills and knowledge, capacity, motives, and preferences).
• Based on the analyses, identify appropriate performance improvement solution(s) to align with the organization’s business needs.
• If e-learning is identified as the solution, begin designing the course by creating a design document.

Once you begin designing your course, here are tips to ensure the e-learning is relevant, meaningful, and challenging for learners.

• Present information and skills that contribute to the learner’s ability to improve his/her performance, and present it in the context of how it applies to the job (e.g., demonstrations, scenarios, etc.). In other words, make it relevant to the learner.
• Add graphics, animations, simulations, gaming, and other interactivity techniques if they, too, are relevant to the learner’s experience and allow him/her to do something useful. Interactivity must require the learner to do something challenging that leads to improved performance. Make it meaningful/interesting so its worth the learner’s time and effort.
• Include content that mirrors the work environment and allows learners opportunities to practice and use their analytical, decision-making, and evaluation skills. Create activities that challenge learners on multiple levels physical, mental, and emotional and encourage exploration to build knowledge.