1. Building an eLearning program
from the ground up
Lance Whitworth – Organisational Development Consultant

2. Seven Billion Stories and counting

3. Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)
- Multiplatform network comprising TV, Online and
Radio
- SBS 1, SBS 2, SBS HD and NITV
- Go to air in over 60 languages, service
unparalleled anywhere in the world
- 70 / 30 government and commercial revenue
funding split
- Employ over 1000 people across three sites:
Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra

4. Respect – the background
- Instructor led session – 3.5 hours
- Poor attendance
- Tedious administration process: manual reporting
out of HRIS, spreadsheets and email
- No existing platform for learning or exposure to
compliance eLearning
- Funding committed in principle, but with significant
shortfalls in projected revenue, all project budgets
were subject to review

5. Custom or off-the-shelf?
- Budget generally drives organisational decision
making
- Respect content matter is not organisational specific
- Custom content is complex, prone to budget creep
and often takes longer to finalise than anticipated
- Consider on-going cost of maintaining custom
content e.g. video, audio, imagery etc
- Outright purchase or annual licence?

6. LMS/LCMS
- Learning module slated for implementation; an
interim solution required
- Vendor offered an alternative method of
deployment and tracking
- Minimal investment – low entry costs
- A great option if unsure about the technology
- Low risk provided the module is SCORM compliant
- Host on-site or in the cloud?

7. Selling it into the business
- Flexibility around where and when the learning
takes place; critical for a 24x7 operation
- Significant long-term cost savings
- Reduced training time/minimise work disruptions
- Bookmarking feature allows the learner to exit at
any point and resume from their last point of
activity
- Streamlined/automated administration

8. Cost comparison
based on a single year current proposed
Instructor-led training $14,777 $0
Training duration 210 minutes 90 minutes
Participant time in $ $39,130 $16,770
Online training $0 *$6,749
Total annual cost $53,907 $23,519
Assumptions
Learning Management System purchased
* Module in place for 5-years

9. Scan and evaluate the market
- Identify reputable vendors
- Distribute a Request for Proposal (RFP); request an
itemised pricing schedule & trial access
- Assemble a small panel to assist with evaluations;
ensure SME’s are engaged at this point
- Display vendor responses in an easy to read format
that allows for comparison
- Work out the cost p/head for year one and repeat
the process for successive years. Does the ‘value’
equation improve or diminish over time?

10. Evaluation matrix
Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Vendor 3 Vendor 4 Vendor 5 Vendor 6
LW EG CP LW EG CP LW EG CP LW EG CP LW EG CP LW EG CP
Suitability(e.g. cultural
diversity) 7 4 6 6.5 4 6 4 4 5 4 4 1 6 4 8 5 3 1
Look andfeel 7 5 7 8 5 6 4 3 6 6 5 1 5.5 4 9 5.5 3 1
Ease of use/navigation 8 5 8 7 6 7 6 6 7 7 6 6 6 5 9 6.5 4 3
Engagement
/interactivity 8 6 7 7 5 6 4 4 6 6 6 2 4 5 9 4 3 1
Value for money 7 5 6 3 2 1 6 5 8 5 6 1 9 6 10 4 2 1
TOTAL (max score of
50): 37 25 34 31.5 22 26 24 22 32 28 27 11 30.5 24 45 25 15 7
Content
satisfiescompliance
requirements 6 5 6 8 5 3 8 5 7 5 5 2 8 4 8 7 4 1
Degree of module
customisation required 7 5 5 7 5 5 4 5 6 4 5 8 5 5 2 5 5 8
TOTAL (max score of
20): 13 10 11 15 10 8 12 10 13 9 10 10 13 9 10 12 9 9
Overall TOTAL (max
score of 70) 50 35 45 46.5 32 34 36 32 45 37 37 21 43.5 33 55 37 24 16
Combined Average
Score 43.3 37.5 37.7 31.7 43.8 25.7

11. The selection process
- Narrow the field down to two finalists
- Engage a focus group to pilot, evaluate and select
the final solution
- Group composition important, consider: age,
ethnicity, gender, IT literacy, degree of support for
the mode of learning etc…
- Facilitate a trial period of the two modules and
follow up with 1-1 evaluation
- Re-convene focus group and present evaluation
data. Bring group to a decision

12. Contextualising the module
- Engage SME/s to review, validate and/or identify
potential script changes
- Ensure your organisational procedures are
reflected correctly; attach relevant policies
- Provide imagery relevant to your workforce to
increase engagement
- Assessment: how many attempts and pass mark?
- Set a module completion deadline

13. Implementation
- Test the system regularly and only sign-off once
you’re fully satisfied with the solution
- Consider a limited implementation or phased
approach
- Include HR Advisors and/or Business Partners in
the rollout so they’re able to provide support
- Consider assigning the module to new employees
prior to day one. Leverage their enthusiasm
- Communicate expectations to line managers;
include them in correspondence

14. Change Management
- Involve key stakeholders in the journey. Let those
affected feel they have some control and influence
- Don’t consult for the sake of consultation – this will
diminish your credibility and frustrate stakeholders
- Take on board any constructive criticism and offer
employees a forum to suggest improvements
- Sell in the benefits to managers/leadership team
- Use multiple forms of communication including
good old fashioned face-to-face
- Don’t rely on the Intranet and ‘All Staff’ emails

15. NITV – a case study
- July 1, 2012 – NITV merge with SBS
- Indigenous Australians make up two thirds of its
staff
- Respect assigned to approx. 50 employees with full
participation recorded
- Healthy banter employed to motivate staff
- Don’t use ‘you must’ or ‘you have to’ try ‘I invite you
to do better!’
- Success dependent on NITV leadership team
Walking the Talk

16. Lessons Learned
- Don’t assume everyone shares your eLearning
preferences and biases – you’ll be surprised!
- Make decisions based on objective criteria
- Shop around, the market is competitive
- Cheapest is not often the best; be careful where
you choose to save money
- Don’t add multimedia for the sake of it