Staying in


If you’re considering developing your own e-learning content in-house, you should be aware of the wide range of skills you’ll need at your disposal. As a minimum, you’ll be looking for project management, instructional design, interface design, subject matter expertise, writing, media production (graphics and more), authoring (and perhaps a little programming), not to mention online mentoring to support the product when it’s implemented.

If you’re getting a little anxious about the size of the team you’ll need to find room for, then bear in mind that most developers are multi-skilled and can fulfil a number of roles in a project. And, of course, you don’t need to have all the skills in-house. The most specialist technical and creative roles are usually more economically resourced externally, as and when needed. What you need is a versatile team of generalists, able to fill the middle ground.

Unfortunately, history tells us that in-house units tend not to survive in the long term. Media development is not core business, so there is an ever-present threat of the dreaded outsourcing. Donald Clark, Chief Executive of Epic Group, has seen many in-house teams come and go: “Unfortunately, they have to live with the Sword of Damocles hanging over them. They’re not core business and that makes them vulnerable.”

How to avoid this? Well, don’t set up an ostentatious studio, brimming with expensive equipment and talent. Instead, maintain a small, core team of all-rounders, centring on project management and instructional design skills, and concentrate on managing and supplementing the efforts of content publishers and external producers.

start sidebar
Calculating the true costs of in-house development

Work out a daily rate for each person involved in the project – don’t forget to include project managers and administrative support. The daily rate should include all the overheads of the department (space, furniture, equipment, support services - the lot) and take account of time lost through sickness, holidays and training. Then keep timesheets from the inception of the project to its completion and use these, with the daily rates, as a basis for calculating labour costs.

On top of this there will be some direct project-related costs, including travel and other general expenses, and the use of external specialists, such as graphic designers and programmers. Add these to your labour costs and you’ll have a pretty good idea how expensive your project has been.

end sidebar




E-Learning's Greatest Hits
E-learnings Greatest Hits
ISBN: 0954590406
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 198

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net