How to organize distance learning from scratch. Review of services for corporate training

The organization of any project begins with a clear understanding of the development goal and identification of tasks, the solution of which ensures the achievement of the goal. So in our case, distance learning cannot in itself be an end in itself. The actual goals of introducing distance components into the educational process should be formulated first. Let's try, based on experience, to formulate some of them, considering them objective, independent of the point of view of the administration of a particular educational institution.

1. Individualization of training. A commonly found goal in the literature (i.e., theory). Sometimes people talk about adaptive learning. Ultimately, this goal comes down to the potential to improve the quality of learning by taking into account individual characteristics students in relation to the statistical average. And the components of remote technologies act as a tool for individualization. The characteristics of students include: level of initial training, speed of information perception, preferred forms of presenting information, volume and depth of material, motivation to learn, subject area, propensity for group work and a number of others.

2. Personalization of the educational process. The most common goal in practice. The essence is training not within the framework of a study group, where the learning process is somehow synchronized between students (everyone works according to the same schedule), but training students according to an individual schedule. Moreover, this schedule can be quickly changed in accordance with the current employment of the student and his pace of perception of information.

3. Intensification or change in the nature of the teaching resource. Today in Russia, most likely, this is the most realistic motive for introducing distance learning. And, indeed, it has long been no secret that the average age of the teaching staff of higher education, constantly decreasing qualifications (for various reasons), and increasing hourly workload. How can a teacher save his time? How to attract teachers from other universities by providing them with preferential working conditions? With this formulation of the issue, distance learning is perhaps the only way out of the situation, which, unfortunately, runs into the natural conservatism of both administrative and teaching staff.

4. Increasing the quality of training. The first thing that comes to mind when these words are uttered is new learning technologies. Perhaps this goal is the most vague and controversial. There are many emotional arguments for and many concrete ones against. Moreover, the main argument against is historical experience in the form of a countless series of conferences over decades, a whole “army” of professors, associate professors and programmers who believe that their technologies are best suited for this purpose. But, nevertheless, the use of new principles, techniques and technical means, which include access to non-traditional educational materials via CD, the Internet, etc., being a manifestation of technical progress, should ultimately, if used correctly, bring their fruits.

5. Capturing new market segments educational services(for example, in remote areas). This goal is perhaps the most pragmatic of all. Indeed, if we consider training as one of the types of business (paid training), then business goals should be set. In this case, distance learning, as one of the means that does not recognize boundaries, saves time for all parties and, due to this, certainly brings more money into the piggy bank educational process, acquires special meaning. For example, the provision of educational services in those market segments where previously access to the demand segment was difficult due to distance, cost, or an unacceptable mode of service delivery (on-the-job training or on a fixed schedule).

6. Preservation and replication of pedagogical experience, knowledge and teaching methods. Indeed, unique copyright training courses, the carriers of which are teachers, disappear over time into nowhere only because they are not recorded or archived. Couldn't that serve a purpose? Maybe it should.

7. Reducing the cost of components of the educational process. One of the most pragmatically possible goals. It can be achieved, for example, through electronic rather than printed publication of educational materials. This is economically justified, since printing often cannot be carried out for financial reasons, which, in turn, is determined by both direct costs and relatively small circulations, and short time"life" of such materials. This goal can be easily and easily achieved with existing services such as email.

8. Mobilization of administrative resources. In our conditions, this goal can be formulated differently - the creation of the right administrative resource. Often, the historically established administrative system is cumbersome, inconvenient, or does not meet today's requirements. Creating based on computer technology alternative to it, you additionally stimulate the increase in the efficiency of the old administration, exposing it to the inevitability of competition with new technologies.

Objectives of distance learning

Tasks, unlike goals, are solved as they are implemented. The priority of solving problems is determined by the purpose of implementation, existing infrastructure, equipment and budget. Let's look at them briefly.

Compliance with traditional forms of education adopted in the educational institution, in other words, to what extent changes will affect the existing organization of the educational process and the activities of teachers. The distance learning system, for example, can be considered not as an independent alternative learning system, but as complementary to the traditional one, allowing to optimize the educational process in terms of the teacher’s workload. In this case such integral components educational process, such as the academic unit or the dean’s office, will turn out to be secondary in relation to information resources, communication tools and testing system.

If the distance learning system is considered as a new component, an alternative to traditional education, then, of course, the requirements for the created system must include an electronic dean’s office, synchronization of courses with each other, collection of statistics on the educational process and other traditional functions of the dean’s office.

Organization of delivery of educational material to students. How to properly, quickly and cheaply organize students’ receipt of educational literature required to study materials, tests, etc. when students are remote from the teacher and, possibly, from the educational institution? To a large extent, the solution to this problem correlates with various technologies delivery of information and related media - Internet, intranet, ADSL, CD-ROM, video cassettes, case technologies, mailing printed products, etc. and aspects of their application. At first glance, the choice of technical means is not so great (if you do not take exotic solutions, which are usually extremely expensive), but, on the other hand, even the Internet, which has become traditional, integrates more and more different subtechnologies, the consideration of which is necessary for the right choice solutions. When solving the problem of delivering educational materials, it is necessary to pay attention to what type of information predominates - textual, graphic or other, as well as the amount of information necessary to adequately support the educational process.

Certification of knowledge, which exists in the traditional educational process in the form of tests and exams, is implemented in distance learning systems in almost the only way - interactive tests, the results of which are most often processed automatically. There are other types of organization of control and certification of knowledge, such as tests and exams performed by students offline. In this case, we are talking about organizing the return delivery of material from the student to the teacher. Here, the main critical point is not so much the organization of delivery itself (there are a sufficient number of technical means and proven solutions in this area), but rather ensuring the reliability of the fact that the materials received by the teacher from the student were actually prepared by these students without outside help. Today, none of the remote tools provides a 100% guarantee of this. Solving this problem is the main problem faced when implementing a distance learning system. Two standard solutions can be proposed:

a special allocated place (classroom), the staff of which guarantees the identification of students, their regime individual work at the time of certification and knowledge testing;
personal interest of the student himself, motivated, for example, by payment for learning results.
By correctly redistributing the certification load between the system of self-assessment of knowledge, correspondence assessment and full-time certification, it is possible to build a reliable educational process.

Organization feedback with students during training. If the previous task was clearly related to testing knowledge at a particular point in time during the learning process, then in this case we are talking about accompanying (helping) students during the educational process. The essence of such support is prompt adjustment of the educational process and its individualization.

Therefore, it is important to have constant and prompt communication associated with natural and necessary discussions during the learning process, and with the help of the teacher when analyzing material that requires additional individual comments. To solve this problem, you can use face-to-face meetings, traditional telephone communications, IP telephony, and email, and bulletin boards, and chats, and conferences.

Conducting the educational process. In this case, we should talk about solving the problem of flexibility of the distance learning system, both as a whole and its individual components in relation to the participants (subjects) of the educational process - students, teachers, administration. Each of them makes its own, often conflicting, demands on the distance learning system.

Students may make (perhaps implicitly) demands on the form of presentation and nature of the material, on the depth of elaboration and speed of learning the material, on the frequency and nature of interaction with the teacher.

The teacher would like to modify certain parts of the training course in accordance with his own, author’s ideas about the nature of the material, its relevance, etc.

The administration requires the availability of up-to-date statistics on the educational process, tracking progress, and the quality of teaching and learning.

This does not exhaust the tasks that arise during the educational process. One of the most difficult tasks in establishing a distance learning system is managing the educational process (dean’s office), which includes recruiting study groups, organizing individual training courses, recording progress, synchronizing the educational process, distributing the workload of teachers, drawing up final reports, issuing certificates, diplomas, etc. At its core, the task is close to the task of document flow and can be successfully implemented using existing specialized systems.

Components of distance learning

The main components when introducing distance learning are:

subject of implementation;
form of training;
training mode;
technological means;
budget.
As a rule, when introducing distance learning systems of one level or another, they are based on an already existing infrastructure, including the presence of one or another technical base and a traditional training scheme for the educational institution. After all, most people intuitively see mechanical transfer behind the introduction of new technologies traditional ways organizing the educational process on a new technological basis. This point of view cannot be ignored when organizing distance learning, since the subjects of the educational process, both in the role of teachers and administrators, are people who consider distance learning as a continuation of full-time education and who know their subject from the point of view of conducting the traditional educational process. Therefore, it is extremely important to determine what is the subject of implementation from a training point of view. Let's consider possible options:

a separate training course;
many offline training courses;
interrelated courses within the educational trajectory;
the entire distance education system as a whole.
A lot depends on the choice of one option or another.

If a separate educational course is chosen as the subject of implementation, the costs will be minimal; the implementation itself is motivated by a specific teacher and aspects of his work with his students.

In the case of deploying a distance education system, it is necessary to establish the entire technological chain of training, starting with the support of a separate distance course and ending with components related to the preparation and optimization of the class schedule, taking into account various forms training, all typical and atypical situations, taking into account academic performance, the relationship of training courses, etc. In general, this task is enormous and cannot be solved without the will and material support of management.

The next parameter is the forms of training. Traditionally, these include: full-time, evening and outside full-time education. Distance learning has its own forms of learning. The student and the teacher exist in the educational process both in parallel, using means of communication, and, accordingly, can simultaneously interact with each other (online), and sequentially, when the student performs any independent work(offline). A distance learning system can use either both forms of interaction (parallel and sequential), or can be built according to one principle or another. The choice of form will be determined by the specific types of classes, the scope of the course and the role of the teacher in it.

The third parameter is training modes. These should include modes of interaction between students both within the study group and within the framework of performing work in small groups.

Should students be grouped into study groups, as is traditionally done, for example, in higher education? Or should I maintain an individual training schedule? Both modes are not excluded in computer distance learning systems. The most common modes associated with study groups. However, there are successful examples of training on individual schedules. In addition, individual learning is possible both in a mode based on a rigid schedule (schedule) and on constant synchronization of acquired knowledge and the curriculum (“until it is learned”).

Technological tools should include those solutions that affect the delivery of educational material to students, the organization of feedback and certification, communication between teachers and students, and management of the educational process. Strictly speaking, technical means exist in almost all components of distance learning.

The budget for a distance learning system can be divided into two parts. The first determines the initial investment in the deployment of a distance learning system (including costs for the technical part, software, development of the training courses themselves). The second is the costs of maintaining courses (equipment depreciation, channel rental, teachers’ salaries, etc.). Naturally, depending on the complexity of the task, which is determined by the subject of implementation, the ordinal values ​​of budgets for initial investments will vary significantly.

TO important aspects related to the budget should include not so much the implementation of the distance learning system itself, but rather the specific “filling” of the system with training courses. In this case, you should consider the question of who will be the authors of the courses - your own teachers (in which case you should additionally pay for the work to create high-quality content of the training course) or external teachers (in this case we're talking about actually about purchasing courses).

Another aspect is related to the work schedule of teachers involved in providing and maintaining training courses. Is the teacher permanent? Is it necessary to support the learning process? Does one teacher need to support the course or does he need assistants? How many? Is the support of a distance course constant or carried out at certain time intervals (at the beginning and end of the semester)? These are the questions that need to be answered when considering a particular distance learning option.

Typical problems of distance learning

In conclusion, I would like to note the problems that will be encountered when introducing distance courses or a distance learning system. These include the need for course authors to independently structure educational material, inevitably adapting it to the requirements of a personal computer. For many (especially humanists) this process is not obvious and is extremely painful.

Conservatism of the teaching staff is an equally difficult problem. It is one of the organizational ones and can lead to fatal consequences for the implementation of a distance learning system within an educational institution.

Laziness of the technical staff whose responsibilities include the deployment of the distance learning system. We have found that people with technology responsibilities spend an unreasonable amount of time discussing options rather than taking a proactive approach. Therefore, a competent person is required to deploy a distance learning system.

Opposition from those tasked with implementing distance learning. If a teacher implements individual components of distance learning, he may be told that this should be done within the framework of the corporate standard of the educational institution (and no one knows when this standard will appear!), or that it is methodologically controversial. If you are solving a problem within an educational institution, then there will probably be people (as a rule, not really doing anything, but who love to talk) who will say that all this is nonsense and should be done differently.

The need for constant course support. There is an opinion that, after the implementation of the distance learning system, its support will not be required. This is far from true. You will have to convince others of the need for constant costs in order to maintain and develop the direction of distance learning.

No matter how pessimistic various statements may be, nevertheless, today there are already a sufficient number of implemented distance learning systems. How did you manage to implement them? We think that it is a successful and harmonious combination of potential, opportunities and correct understanding of the role and place of distance learning in the traditional educational process. Not least of all here is the enthusiasm of the “pioneers” who, having once tasted the originality and promise of modern teaching methods, will continue to develop this progressive form of teaching.

We all know that a training course should captivate with its plot and turn sometimes dry theory into fascinating educational material. The science of instructional design deals with the intricacies of creating effective and efficient learning, which is aimed at maximizing student involvement from the beginning of the course to its completion. Proper use of instructional design will help motivate the user to remember key information and apply new knowledge in practice. Next, we'll take a closer look at how to create a course using instructional design methodology.

"You'll never get a second chance
make a first impression!”
Allan Pease

You begin to make the first impression on a potential student literally from the first introductory words, and perhaps from the first image on your website home page. And it depends on what this first impression is whether he will be involved in the learning process or will be lost to you forever. Very often, in order to maximize the involvement of a potential listener in training, it is proposed to use a free test module. And how well it is compiled and what information is presented in it will determine whether the listener will stay with you or not. But oh modular system I'll tell you a little about the training below.

There are many points to consider when developing training online course A. In addition to taking care of the core content and developing an effective strategy e-learning, you also need to take into account the architecture of the course, which will correspond to the topic of training and its audience.

In this post, I'll help you navigate the pitfalls of course design and development. online learning. So, I offer you a methodology for developing a training course, which consists of FIVE recommendations that you need to take into account in your work.

1. Study and analyze your target audience in detail.

The main goal will be to achieve emotional attachment from the user. Emotional reactions help students better learn new information and skills. Videos or images that can evoke an emotional response remain in the memory for a long time and make you think about yourself even after the end of training.

Here, perhaps, the most powerful and accessible tool for you will be the integration of examples from real life, which the student can apply in his individual case. This will demonstrate to students first-hand how the knowledge acquired can be applied outside of the classroom environment, thereby demonstrating the benefit of your course of study.

It is very important to organize group interaction during the learning process. Provide students with interaction with each other. Start with group discussions on online forums and encourage them to solve problems collectively online.

A very powerful tool, in my opinion, is social media. I recommend integrating social media into your eLearning strategies. Collaboration in groups allows you to include the human element in the training course, despite some limitations of virtual communication. Live communication will give your audience the opportunity to learn from each other, and thereby study the topic deeper, exchanging experiences and their impressions in specially created groups.

With these tips in mind, you can successfully create an online course, even if you are new to the world of e-learning. For more experienced readers who already have some experience in organizing online learning, these recommendations will allow you to fine-tune the final results and avoid mistakes.
Over time, you will receive a course that will satisfy the needs of the most demanding clients and will give you real pleasure from the e-learning business, and will give your audience high-quality training in a convenient format!

(eLearning) in a company, like launching a rocket, requires investment, careful design, teamwork and more.
In this article, together with experts from the eLearning field, we will analyze the entire cycle of launching distance learning and tell you step by step how to bring eLearning into “orbit”.

Step 1. Determine the goals for launching distance learning

The rocket is sent into space by various reasons: research new planet, launch a satellite into orbit or, for example, deliver payload to astronauts. There is always a goal. It’s the same with distance learning - there is no point in introducing it simply because it is fashionable.

If you opened this article, then you already have an idea why your company needs online training. If not, a little advice: it’s easier to find the goal by starting from the “pain point”. What problem are you hoping to solve with eLearning?

For example, the Skyeng company had a need to quickly train 120 new employees to teach English online and work on the Vimbox platform. Now, with the help of eLearning, the company trains 200 professionals per month.

Permenergosbyt wanted to develop staff on-the-job and quickly conduct testing. With the help of eLearning, the company automated the certification system in six months and took control of knowledge in 74 branches of the Perm region.
→

What do you want to achieve? The more specifically the goal is formulated, the easier it is to hit the bull's eye.

MW-LIGHT company produces and sells decorative lamps Worldwide. The range includes 300 collections, each with from 10 to 100 models. At the same time, the assortment is updated by 35% per year. It was difficult for salespeople to remember the features of each model. Sometimes a sale fell through simply because an employee could not properly talk about a new product.

MW-LIGHT set a goal: to increase customer loyalty in six months by training salespeople in the company’s products. Now there are electronic courses for employees for each collection. Result: the number of grateful customers has doubled, as has the number of successful transactions.

Video fragment of the course on the assortment of the MW-LIGHT company

Head of the MW-LIGHT distance learning project

“Think ahead about how to measure eLearning success. The number of employees trained and the number of tests passed are only the basis of the overall performance picture. You can “pump” hundreds and thousands - it’s of little use. You need to look at the business result.

For example: employees immediately learn about product innovations, after training managers, additional sales doubled, costs for training staff in the regions were halved (there is no longer any need to pay travel allowances for a trainer, plane tickets and a hotel room), and so on.”

Summary of step 1: you know the purpose of distance learning and key indicators, by which you will measure the success of the project.

Step 2. Choose tools for distance learning

How do spaceships work? Experienced rocket scientists will answer something like this: "Every rocket different design. It all depends on the task.” For example, the American Shuttle includes launch boosters, a fuel tank and an orbital ship. This is enough to reach low Earth orbit. But you won’t get to Mars - you’ll need other components.

The eLearning arsenal also directly depends on the goals. As a rule, for distance learning, companies use one of three types of tools or the entire set at once:

1. webinars;
2. distance learning system;
3. editor of electronic courses.

Let's look at each of them in detail.

Webinars

This is a face-to-face seminar in an online format: you give a lecture to employees from several branches at once, only while sitting at a computer in the company’s central office, in a cafe or at home in a comfortable chair and soft slippers.

A webinar is similar to a conversation on Skype: you can speak into a microphone, write in a chat, show your desktop on a PC or a presentation. The lecture can be immediately recorded on video and sent to employees so that they can refresh their knowledge later.

Webinars are usually used in business when they want to reduce costs and the number of face-to-face trainings. For example, the insurance company Centras Insurance regularly trains heads of sales departments and salespeople from 17 branches of Kazakhstan through webinars. A program for personnel selection and adaptation was developed for the first group, and a course on sales techniques for the second group. The company saved on travel, hotel rooms and travel expenses for trainers who previously traveled across the regions. At the same time, the quality of education did not suffer.

Head of Personnel Development Department of JSC Insurance Company Centras Insurance

“When choosing a webinar platform, find out how often technical glitches occur. There's nothing worse than a connection that's broken in key moment lectures.

It is desirable that the platform supports testing, surveys and interactivity: the ability to “raise your hand”, emoticons to indicate mood, etc. All this is good for engaging in learning. Listeners are not tempted to switch browser tabs and check social media.

Important point: before renting the platform, make sure that the branches have a good Internet connection. Otherwise, you will waste your money - none of the employees will be able to contact you.”

Distance learning system (DLS)

SDO is virtual school, where you can train staff from anywhere in the world: assign courses, tests, track progress and analyze results.

In the distance learning system you can:

1. Create a knowledge base. Store electronic courses, tests, videos and other educational content in one place, rather than on hundreds of CDs and flash drives. At any convenient time employees can go to the portal and repeat the material they have covered.
2. Upgrade staff from a distance. In a few clicks, assign a course to a specific employee, company department or branch.
3. Monitor the quality of training. For each material in the LMS, you can collect detailed statistics. You will always know how the material was learned and tests passed, and you will be able to evaluate the progress of employees.
4. Keep in touch with students. An internal chat or forum is a place where employees can exchange ideas, write about what material was useful, what could be improved, and what other topics would be useful for e-courses.

“When choosing a distance learning system, decide on the type: LMS with installation on the company’s server or a cloud solution.

In the first case, you actually blindly implement a system into the company’s server that your employees will be forced to use for a very long time. And if for some reason it turns out to be inconvenient, the company is unlikely to agree to change it: after all, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of rubles have been invested in the purchase. You will have to purchase a system taking into account the number of employees you plan to train. In addition, it is difficult to maintain a “stationary” LMS - the help of IT specialists is needed. Launch period: 3-4 months.

To quickly implement an LMS, it is better to use cloud technologies. They do not require installation on a server, you only need Internet access. You can start training immediately after registration. At the same time, the system is often not inferior in functionality to a “stationary” LMS, and it can be managed by one person - an HR specialist or an employee of the training department. IT skills are not required. Launch time: 1-2 days.”
Test the demo version of the cloud LMS →

Course Editor

In addition to the distance learning system, you will need a tool for creating electronic courses, tests and interactive simulators.
In the editor you can create slides with text and graphics, add animation, narration, and record a video. Depending on the tool, the possibilities can be very different.

To create an online course, you don't have to be a programmer or designer - you just need to know PowerPoint. For example, this course is made from a simple presentation:

The course was created in the iSpring Suite program. How it works: Once you install Suite on your computer, a separate tab will appear in PowerPoint.

Come in, add pictures, animation, audio, video, tests to the presentation - the course is ready. Now it can be loaded into the LMS and assigned to staff.

Employees will be able to study the material at any time and from any device: computer, tablet, smartphone.

Training Specialist Inventive Retail Group

“With iSpring, our company produces three courses per week for re:Store, Samsung, Sony Center, LEGO, Nike, Street Beat, Rookie, UNOde50 and kid rocks.

Creating e-training in iSpring is as easy as putting together a presentation. Big plus: content library. There is no need to draw up technical specifications for the designer or rummage through photo stocks. iSpring offers hundreds ready-made templates, backgrounds, characters, pictures. You simply select content from ready-made materials, modify it to suit the company’s objectives, and create the e-training.

In just six months, our company has developed more than a hundred online courses.”

Result of step 2: you have determined which eLearning tools are most suitable for the company, analyzed the distance learning market, and selected suitable offers.

Step 3. Calculate your budget and draw up an action plan

How much does a rocket cost? For the ship to fly to the ISS, it will take 2.589 billion rubles, and to Mars - 10 billion dollars. The price directly depends on the goals and resources you use.

Once the goal is defined and the tools are selected, it becomes easier to estimate how much distance learning will cost.

You should budget for more than just the cost of eLearning tools. Add to the list the salary for the distance learning team, money for the development of electronic courses, the purchase of computers for employees - everything without which eLearning will not take off.

Vladimir Radzhapov,
Managing Manager for Business Development at eQueo

“Once the goal has been determined, the tools have been selected, and the budget has been calculated, create a work plan. It needs to describe in detail the entire sequence of actions. Estimate the exact deadlines for each item.

Example: the supplier promised to set up the LMS in 2 days, 5 days will be spent on developing the course, 5 days on the pilot launch and additional configuration of the LMS. The project will take 12 days in total.

The next step is to present the plan to management. Information should be brief and well-reasoned. What to show:

• Project goals from a business point of view. Example: reduce the share of full-time training by 40%, increase the speed of adaptation of a new employee in the company (for example, from 30 working days to 20), and so on.
• The company's benefit is how much it will save or earn. Example: the Sweet Life company is introducing a new Slastun bar to the market. You need to tell 3,000 sales representatives about the features of the product. Full-time training will require 2 months and xxx rubles. For remote - 5 days and xxx rubles less.
• What resources will you need: LMS, course editor, webinar platform, computers for employees in branches, e-course developer.
• Project budget: the project will require N rubles.
• When to expect results: the project will be launched in xxx days.

Also present the project to top managers and heads of key departments. If they don’t know what eLearning is, they can get in the way.”

Result of step 3: you know the eLearning price tag, management has approved the budget, an action plan is ready, the project launch dates are known. You can buy tools for distance learning and get started.

Step 4. Prepare training content

LMS installed. Now you need to fill it with content. An empty distance learning system is like a rocket that has not been loaded with tools and supplies, and has not been filled with fuel - so early in space.

Upload presentations, books, instructions, videos, electronic courses to the LMS - everything that employees need to learn.

Ideally, at this stage, you should have an eLearning development plan for a year or two ahead and a list of materials needed to study. But at the start, it is enough to release one electronic course to conduct a pilot launch and “test” the system.

If you plan to regularly develop courses for your company, you will need two specialists:

1. Methodologist - collects information, writes a script for an electronic course, comes up with practical tasks, and typesets a draft version of the course. Often in Russian companies this task is performed by an HR specialist or a business coach who previously conducted face-to-face classes.
2. Designer - selects illustrations, characters, designs the course in a corporate style.

Consultant for organizing distance learning

“If a company rarely needs new courses or you don’t want to keep eLearning specialists on staff, there are two options: buy ready-made e-courses on the market or order from experienced developers.

Ready courses. These are template trainings on general topics: time management, personnel management, working with Outlook. Each one looks like a simple PowerPoint presentation: text, picture, video. Any company can download such courses via the Internet.

Advantages:

• Cheap. On the market, such courses cost from 40,000 rubles or more. The price tag depends on the topic, complexity, and interactivity of the course.
• Free test drive. As a rule, sellers allow you to study the course before purchasing.
• Save time. No need to develop content yourself. Optimal solution for a quick start to eLearning.

Courses to order. Experienced developers “tailor” the course to your company, taking into account the tasks and characteristics of the business, corporate style, etc. Such courses become business card educational portal, they are talked about, they are recommended, they cover a wide range of target audience students. Cost: from 120,000 to 5,000,000 rubles. Development time: from a week to two months.

Advantages:

• Teamwork. The course is created by a team of professionals: educational designers, illustrators, developers and testers, experts and methodologists.
• Methodology. The training is collected according to the canons of pedagogical design, making it as interesting and useful as possible for employees.
• Individual approach. The course is developed specifically for your company, taking into account the specifics of the work and the characteristics of the business.”

Results of step 4: you have uploaded one or two electronic courses to the LMS for a pilot launch.

Step 5. Conduct a trial run of distance learning

Before sending a rocket to the stars, engineers conduct a “dry launch” - they launch the ship along a ballistic trajectory, without putting it into orbit. This is a kind of general run-through, which helps to work out mistakes before the real flight.

For distance learning, a “dry start” is also important. Instead of immediately “forging” the pros according to new standards, try out eLearning on a test group first. Its task is to identify difficulties in working with LMS.

Co-founder Corporate
e-Learning Club

“For a pilot launch, it is worth choosing potentially loyal employees. It is best to select people for the testing team together with the heads of the departments for which eLearning is being prepared.

The focus group does not have to be large. It all depends on the size of the company. If it employs 150 people, then 10 will be enough for a trial run.

The first course must necessarily end with a survey: is it easy to use the LMS? did the course open quickly? what difficulties arose?

Instead of a questionnaire, you can collect a survey and put it at the end of the course. People will test the first course and write about their impressions, difficulties, mistakes they noticed, and tell what they learned.”

By collecting this information, you will make the necessary changes to the system and make it “friendlier” for employees.

Results of step 5: conducted a pilot launch of distance learning, received a list of comments from the focus group, and corrected errors. You can start training.

Step 6. Conduct internal PR for distance learning

Like any new project, eLearning needs advertising support. If employees access the training portal only on orders from above, then the implementation has failed. How to increase the authority of distance learning?

Alexander Lopar,
eLearning expert

“First, involve management in distance learning. The top echelons of the company should take a couple of courses and firmly declare: “eLearning is cool!” If the idea of ​​e-learning takes root among managers, then team members will automatically follow. After all, it is the manager who encourages his employees to learn.

To make the project more beneficial, connect eLearning with a project that is critical for the company: you need to train sales representatives from 10 branches in a new product line in a short time or “train” managers in working with a newly installed CRM in a month.

Don’t forget about internal PR: news, announcements, course trailers, video greetings, awards, ratings, congratulations.

Collect feedback from colleagues about the courses completed, record interviews - broadcast what heights those who completed the training have achieved. This will highlight the benefits of the new learning format.

Pay special attention to the motivation of “students”. To help you get involved in learning:

• Focus on benefits. Explain to employees how the course will benefit them. To remain motivated, employees must understand the real benefits of e-learning, and also use the acquired knowledge in the “battle”.
• Certificates. Give out certificates for completed courses: “Junge of the month - completed all courses in the SDO”, “Golden brain of the company - scored 100 points in the test.” Research shows that status at work is just as important to employees as financial rewards. It is important for people to feel that management sees their achievements.
• Virtual board of honor. Make a rating of excellent students. Thanks to public recognition and approval, rating leaders strive to keep the bar, and others receive an incentive to study better.
• Feedback. React to the comments and wishes of employees: make changes to courses, create new content based on requests, correct errors in the LMS.”

Results of step 6: everyone in the company says “eLearning” with respect, employees actively use the LMS, the internal chat is bursting with the number of additional orders for content.

Step 7. Evaluate the effectiveness of distance learning

So, the ship called eLearning left the atmosphere. You are at the helm. Now the main thing is to stay the course.

How to understand that you are “flying” in the right direction:

• collect employee feedback;
• compare the achievements of those studying remotely and in person;
• regularly conduct knowledge snapshots;
• track how your employees’ successes are changing, whether their performance indicators are improving: the number of closed deals, completed projects, etc.

eLearning has reached “orbit” if it solves real business problems, helps employees gain new skills faster, or reduces training costs.

Then you can choose a different route and fly to new stars.

Remember

1. Before you start distance learning, decide on the direction: where and why you are flying.
2. LMS, course editor, webinar platform - the configuration of the eLearning rocket depends on the goals and objectives of the stellar campaign.
3. A detailed action plan will help “sell” the idea to management and get a budget for the flight.
4. “Dry start” will help you find errors and debug the eLearning rocket.
5. For a space mission to be beneficial, it must decide real task business.
6. Check the course more often: collect employee feedback, conduct knowledge snapshots, compare training results with business indicators.

Distance learning system(SDO, LMS) is important tool in the work of e-learning specialists. An LMS may be a major expense if you are looking for a reliable, all-in-one eLearning system that will meet all your eLearning development needs.

You can get acquainted with the Top 20 learning management systems (LMS) based on reviews from system users.

Fortunately, there are plenty of LMSs that are open source, that is, distributed for free. You will be able to choose a dynamic, flexible system that will meet all your requirements, within the allocated budget.

The following 11 distance learning systems are free and may be of interest to you.

TOP 11 free distance learning systems for organizing e-learning

1. Moodle

Today, Moodle is undoubtedly one of the most popular open source LMSs. the user has various toolbars, the ability to track student progress and multimedia support. The system makes it possible to create courses adapted to Cell phones, and is quite friendly towards integrating add-ons from third-party developers.

For those who want to make money from their courses, Moodle has integration with payment system PayPal, which makes the process of placing orders and payment simple and clear. One more important advantage Moodle is a user community. Unlike many other free LMSs, here you can almost instantly get answers to most of your questions by accessing the online technical support database.

In addition, the service offers a number of ready-made templates that you can use to save time and not create a course from scratch. Moodle may seem complicated and incomprehensible to you at first, but if you are looking for a program that gives the user the maximum amount of freedom, then do not be lazy and spend a little time studying the Moodle interface.

2. YO-STADI - Electronic educational environment

The online platform for organizing distance learning YO-STADI is a free Russian development by a team of like-minded people in the development of distance education.

To get started, you need to register on the site and create a “workspace” - your company’s personal space in which educational materials and tasks for your students will be placed.

The difference from classic LMS is that the functionality is focused on practical work. Yo-Study, of course, allows you to publish educational materials, but most of the system is designed for all kinds of knowledge assessment and testing.

Yo-Study contains a sufficient number of tools for organizing training and testing:

"Workspace"
IN work area educational materials for the course, announcements and assignments (cases) are published. A workspace is created by a teacher/tutor/learning manager and can span multiple groups or courses. Students gain access to the workspace upon request.

"Test"
Yo-Study has powerful functionality for testing; the test can be created on the website or imported from *.docx, having previously been prepared in accordance with special rules. A detailed report of each test taker's responses is available. It is possible to limit the timing, time, number of attempts, and the ability to switch between browser windows.

"File"
Uploading files/documents, which the teacher can then evaluate and comment on. The progress log is generated in the workspace automatically, based on the created tasks and allows you to generate an Excel file.

"Magazine"
The journal is generated by the system based on assignments created by the teacher. Grades are entered into the journal automatically when testing, this greatly facilitates the teacher’s work, and students always have access to the latest information.

"Forum"
When creating a “forum” as a task, it becomes possible to mark the answer.

"Event Ribbon"
Events are collected on the corresponding page organized in the form of a news feed; you can receive notifications about them by email.

Summary

Yo-Study is a new free electronic educational environment aimed at organizing personnel training.

Advantages:

Does not require installation/configuration;
the system is free;
easy to use;
powerful functionality for testing and evaluation;
does not require preliminary course development;
there is an English version.

Flaws:

Impossibility of independent modification;
lack of SCORM support;
limited but sufficient functionality;

Overall, Yo-Stady deserves an excellent rating and is good decision For small companies those wishing to organize staff training without any costs for the acquisition of LMS.

3. ATutor

This distance learning system has many useful features: from email notifications to file storage. One of the most striking advantages of ATutor is its customer focus and easy and intuitive interface, which makes this system the perfect tool for those who are just starting to explore the world of e-learning.

Atutor also offers the user a number of pre-installed themes to speed up the course creation process. And one cannot fail to note the various assessment tools, backup files, maintaining statistics and the ability to integrate surveys.

4. Eliademy

For teachers and training supervisors this system is completely free, with a small fee charged to users if they want to take advantage of the benefits of a premium account.

Eliademy offers eLearning course catalogs, assessment tools, and even mobile app for Android for those teachers who strive to develop mobile courses and are aimed at people who prefer to learn on the run. E-learning coordinators can easily and easily upload courses and send invitations to students via their email addresses.

5. Forma LMS

From analysis general level knowledge to detailed statistics and reporting - Forma LMS boasts a fairly comprehensive set of available functions. The service also has various certifications, knowledgeable management support, and a wide range of virtual classroom management tools, including various calendars and event managers.

This system is ideal for corporate training programs and offers access to a vibrant online community where you can find a variety of useful tips on how to get the most out of this service.

6. Dokeos

If you're looking for an e-learning system with pre-built course elements, then Dokeos, which is free for groups of up to five users, is for you. This system offers many ready-made e-learning templates and courses and, of course, authoring tools with which you can minimize the time spent creating your course.

On their website, the developers offer the user a lot of useful information, including step by step videos instructions for creating your own courses. The intuitive interface makes Dokeos a great option for those new to eLearning and for those who don't want to spend time going through lengthy instructions.

7. ILIAS

This distance learning system can be called the first open system that complies with such standards of distance learning systems as SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004. This flexible universal system meets all the basic requirements necessary for successful sales of proprietary courses.

It should be noted that ILIAS is one of the few distance learning systems that can be used as a full-fledged platform for e-learning, thanks to the ability to communicate within a team and transfer and store all documents. The system is absolutely free for all organizations involved in e-learning, regardless of the number of users.

If you have hundreds, or even thousands, of people studying, this system will help you significantly reduce costs, since many other LMS charge fees depending on the number of users.

8. Opigno

The opportunities provided by the Opigno system cannot but rejoice. Certificates, class schedules, forums, proprietary e-learning tools, grading systems, and video galleries are just a few of the impressive list of features available to the user.

This distance learning system is written in Drupal, a popular content management system. It gives you control training programs, track student progress, and integrate e-commerce using just one tool.

Opigno also offers the user online surveys, instant messaging and chat, which makes it possible to quickly provide and receive feedback and effectively collaborate.

9. OLAT

Assessment tools for e-learning, social integration and the learner home page are just a few of the many benefits of OLAT. In this system you will also find a schedule, email notifications, the ability to add bookmarks, file storage and certificates.

With OLAT, you can quickly and easily add new users to your system and develop comprehensive eLearning courses. Another interesting feature is the ability to check browser compatibility. With just a few clicks, you can ensure that your course material displays correctly in all browsers. OLAT is ideal for multi-platform e-learning courses, designed for various devices.

The iSpring Online online training platform is used by both private business trainers and large companies with a developed network of branches: Alfa Capital, Lamoda, PwC, Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network. used by both private business trainers and large companies with a developed network of branches: Alfa Capital, Lamoda, PwC, Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network.

This is an Internet service, which means there is no need to download the program, install it on the server, or configure it. To get started, just register on the site, download training materials and assign to employees. One person can manage the SDO.

Features of iSpring Online:

Unlimited storage. You can upload an unlimited number of educational materials to the LMS: courses, videos, books, presentations.

Course editor in PowerPoint. The company has an editor in which you can create an electronic course from a PowerPoint presentation with videos, tests, and interactive games.
Mobile learning. Courses can be opened on a computer, tablet, smartphone, even offline, for example, on a train or plane.

Detailed statistics. The system collects detailed statistics and helps monitor employee performance. Reports show which courses the user completed, what passing score he scored, and how many mistakes he made in the test.

Webinars. You can demonstrate your desktop, presentation or video, write in general and personal chat. The system automatically sends participants a reminder about the next online meeting and informs about changes in the schedule - there is no need to write to everyone personally. Webinar recordings are saved.

Flaws:

iSpring Online has a free 14-day trial trial version, but in general the system is paid. However, it is unlikely to cost a free LMS less money: you will have to spend money on your technical support, hire programmers to administer it.

In the case of a paid platform, you receive a full service: they will help you deploy and configure a training portal, download materials and start training employees. Technical support staff will resolve any questions over the phone.

Open source eLearning systems give you the ability to create and effectively develop eLearning courses, especially if you are willing to spend some time thoroughly learning all the possible features of the system. In some cases, use similar systems may affect the learning curve, but cost savings and freedom of choice appearance and the completeness of the course, in the end, covers all possible difficulties.

If the distance learning system has its own online community, feel free to check it out before you make a final decision to use a particular product.

11. Teachbase.

The Russian development of the Teachbase distance learning system has received recognition from more than a dozen companies. The service is ideal for solving corporate training problems, but it can also be used by private trainers. Teachbase is a remote access system, which means that you do not need to install it on your computer, maintain or configure it. To create a course (or take it), you will need Internet access and a computer or mobile device.

The key feature is simplicity. Everything is intuitive, thanks to the visual interface. Creating and launching a course on your own will take even a beginner more than an hour. Any issues that arise are promptly resolved by the Internet School staff (the creators of the service). Free technical support is available through a communication channel convenient for the client.

Despite the ease of operation, Teachbase has a wide range of functionality. Available features:

— Personal account – for each of the participants. When you enter the service, the materials assigned for review are immediately visible.

— Testing after passing the material with test parameters settings.

— Statistical reports for the course organizer, for analysis and improvement of the course.

— User base with filtering capabilities.

— Editors – educational materials can be processed directly in the system. By the way, the author is provided with free space on the server for remote storage of materials.

— Communication between users – using webinars and other tools.

To get started with Teachbase, just register. You can start launching your training course right away. The first 14 days from the moment of registration are free - you can fully appreciate the benefits of the service and study it. In the future, the tariff will depend on the number of participants. What is important is that you only pay for active users.

There is also a free option to use Teachbase in the future. What is important is without any functionality limitations. Use the service for free if the number of active listeners is no more than 5 people per month. Few? Perhaps for some, yes, but for small companies, it is often quite enough.

Russian companies have long recognized that distance learning produces tangible results and saves resources. Nowadays, managers and specialists involved in personnel training and development are most interested in how to implement an eLearning system at minimal cost and in the shortest possible time. Professional recommendations shares Yulia Shuvalova, development director at iSpring.

Russian business no longer needs to prove the advantages of eLearning: the remote educational format allows companies to effectively solve many business problems:

• Cover an unlimited number of employees with training, even from geographically remote areas.
• Maintain current knowledge of company products and services.
• Save money on organizing training and traveling to branches.
• Provide ongoing employee training.
• Promptly conduct cross-sections of knowledge.

For employees, distance learning has its advantages:

• Opportunity to study at any time.
• The ability to study anywhere: courses and tests can be taken from your mobile devices.
• Choosing an individual pace of learning.
• Opportunity for self-development and broadening your horizons.
• It's interesting, modern and exciting.

It doesn’t matter whether your company is large or small, you can quickly implement distance learning if you answer three questions:

1) what tools to choose?

2) what company resources need to be used?

3) how to measure effectiveness?

Choosing a Learning Tool

The launch of eLearning in any company is primarily associated with the choice of a distance learning system (DLS). This is a virtual room where you can train and test employees' knowledge, no matter where they are.

When choosing a distance learning system, determine whether it will be a ready-made product “in a box” (installation on the company’s server is required) or a cloud solution (allows you to deploy the LMS on a remote service).

What is the main difference?

By purchasing a “boxed” program, you are actually blindly implementing a system that your employees will be forced to use for a very long time. And if for some reason it turns out to be inconvenient, the company is unlikely to agree to change it: after all, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of rubles have been invested in the purchase. You will have to purchase a system taking into account the number of employees you plan to train. In addition, a “stationary” LMS requires significant technical capabilities, and its maintenance requires the help of IT specialists.

To quickly implement an LMS, it is better to use cloud technologies. They save time and budget and do not require technical expertise to deploy and manage. On Russian market There are many worthy cloud LMS: iSpring Online, Competentum, WebTutor, Mirapolis and others.

As a rule, such systems have a trial period and flexible system payment. You will be able to test the LMS on a group of employees, and then extend this experience to other departments.

What should any DMS be able to do?

Provide a full-fledged learning process similar to full-time. Everything is like at school, only remotely.

1) provide access to the virtual classroom for the student and teacher;

2) unite students into groups based on common characteristics (for example, sales department employees, development department employees);

3) invite users to training, assign training courses and tests to an employee or group of employees;

4) upload materials of any format (lectures, presentations, videos, documents, graphics);

5) support the distance learning standards in which you develop courses (AICC, SCORM, xAPI, BlackBoard);

6) ensure regular monitoring of the learning process using reports;

7) conduct tests with closed and open questions.

But this is only the top layer of problems that the LMS solves. Modern systems provide much more opportunities, the main thing is to correctly identify the selection criteria:

• Will the system allow you to organize mobile learning on tablets and smartphones?
• Will the courses be available if there is no internet connection?
• Is it possible to set up an individual learning path for an employee or group?
• Does the LMS contain the required types of reports?
• Does it allow you to host webinars?

It is best to draw up a wish list and check whether the LMS complies with it. Include in your checklist only the functionality that is really needed to solve your training problems.

Checklist example

Required number of users

• from 100 to 150 people

The need for maintenance by technical specialists

• not required

Differentiation of user roles

• administrators, teachers, students

Ability to divide users into groups

Access to the student’s personal account

• online

Supported Material Formats

• DOC, PDF, MP3, MP4, XLS, SCORM 2004

Ability to take courses from mobile devices

Possibility to take training without internet connection

Possibility of conducting webinars

Ability to customize an individual program for each student

Possibility of feedback from the teacher

• online and offline

Reports

• about the learning progress of each student/group of students
• about courses viewed by the student about tests passed
• about webinars listened to

Possibility to download the report in excel, pdf format

Availability of a certificate upon completion of training

Availability of technical support from the supplier

Remember: if you add hundreds of items to your list, you most likely won’t find a suitable LMS provider. And if you do find it, you will only be wasting the company’s money, because you are unlikely to use all the functionality. For example, some companies ask a large number of reports that are then never opened.

What else?

In addition to the distance learning system itself, you will need a tool for developing electronic lectures, tests and other educational materials.

There are no universal tools, or rather, there are no universal learning rules to follow. Every business is different, so successful companies typically use two or three course development tools.

There are not many providers of such solutions on the domestic market (iSpring Suite and CourseLab are the most famous). Among foreign analogues, Articulate is sometimes chosen, but it is suitable for companies where the budget is not limited. In addition, Articulate technical support is located abroad and is not provided in Russian. This significantly complicates the prompt resolution of emerging issues.

If your goal is to implement distance learning quickly and at minimal cost, choose simple tools for reasonable money. They do not require the involvement of technical experts, they have an intuitive interface, and your HR specialists will be able to create electronic courses themselves.

It’s even easier when a set of modules is integrated with popular applications that every employee knows, for example, the Microsoft Office suite.

It happens that a company has already produced a large amount of educational materials, they just need to be “translated” into electronic format and provide employees with access.

A big plus is the opportunity to test the functionality for free before purchasing. Then you will know for sure that you are purchasing a quality tool that meets your expectations.

Additionally, it is worth finding out whether training from the developer, instructions or video tutorials are provided to quickly get acquainted with the software product.

How to estimate labor costs

Estimation of labor costs depends on the training goals and is directly related to the choice of implementation tools discussed above. If the product is complex, then working with it will require more time and resources.

You must have a clear idea of ​​the distance learning outcome you want to achieve. The more specifically the goal is formulated, the easier it will be to achieve it. For example : by September 1, 80 employees of the production department in 3 branches must complete a course on labor protection.

To measure labor costs, it is important to understand who will create and maintain training materials, as well as estimate the number of courses you plan to create. If you choose a simple option, your employees will handle it, which means the company will save time and money.

Quick scenario (company employees involved)

1) HR specialists think over the content of the course, the form of delivery (presentation, video lecture, game, dialogue simulator, etc.), select materials (text, audio, video, images).

2) The developer (this may be the same HR specialist) compiles the content into an electronic course.

3) The system administrator uploads the course to the LMS, assigns courses, and then collects training statistics.

Pros of this scenario:

Your employees will be able to share their experience with the tool with each other,

Running eLearning does not depend on external contractors.

Long script (involving a team of external developers).

1) Setting a task for an external developer, immersing him in the context of the situation.

2) Coordination of deadlines and conclusion of contracts.

3) Collection and transmission of materials, discussion of the presentation form, course structure.

4) Course development.

5) Coordination, edits.

In this case, the process of launching eLearning may take a year or more.

If the company does not have specialized IT specialists on staff, it will have to turn to external developers every time to update courses, which means again wasting time and money.

How to Measure the Effectiveness of an eLearning System

Even before launching distance learning, answer the question: How accessible and useful was the e-course?

The fact is that distance learning has its own specifics. Employees can take courses at any convenient time and place. At this moment, the teacher may not be in touch, it will not be possible to clarify the details. Therefore, the educational material should be clear, structured, visual and, most importantly, close to practice.

Give employees applied knowledge: how to behave in a situation with a dissatisfied customer, what you need to know to correctly answer a customer’s question, etc.

As practice shows, to monitor training you need to know only two things: how each individual employee studies, which courses (topics) arouse the greatest and least interest.

After training, evaluate the effectiveness comprehensively:

• Collect employee feedback.
• Compare the achievements of those studying remotely and in person.
• Conduct knowledge snapshots regularly.
• Estimate the proportion of successful completion of training relative to the total number of course participants.
• Track how your employees' successes are changing, whether their performance indicators are improving (number of closed deals, completed projects, etc.).

In fact, the formula for success is simple: comfortable and quality tools development, adequate assessment of learning goals and results, availability minimum budget and resources to get started. Competition is increasing and the company whose staff has up-to-date knowledge and is constantly developing will win. Start implementing the eLearning system and soon you will be able to appreciate the first fruits of distance learning.

Yulia Shuvalova, company development directoriSpring