Is 2024 a Good Year to Build a Digital Learning Course?
The rapid advancements in digital learning and e-learning technologies present exciting opportunities and challenges for course creators. This blog post aims to list some of the things you need to consider before embarking on the journey of digital learning course development.
First, let's hear your thoughts on this topic.
There are many exciting developments in the digital learning space recently, but does this make it easier or more worthwhile to create online courses?
Yes.
No.
It depends...
Let's explore the answers:
A) Yes
Speed: AI technologies have significantly sped up tasks in curriculum development, instructional design, and e-learning. Designers can now create course outlines, quizzes, and scenario activities faster.
Variety: Developers can access and create a wider range of interactions and assets with new tools, such as video tools with speaking avatars.
Personalisation: New technology allows for more personalized learning experiences, offering tailored feedback and customized learning pathways. The possibility of creating customised and personalised learning pathways has become much more of a reality than a future hope.
B) No
Noise
Also due to the new technology, there’s a lot of noise in the digital learning industry. New tools and solutions come out on a daily basis which means every day can bring something „better” or „shinier”. This may create anxiety for decision-makers, who might worry that the tool they select could be surpassed by another in just a few months.
Quality
Sometimes less is more. The speed of working with content has increased which means more can be created in less time. However, let’s not forget the quote “with great power comes great responsibility” – in our case meaning that just due to the fact that we can create more doesn’t necessarily mean that we will create better quality courses. In fact, it can often mean the opposite. We can wrongly assume that we “just” need to use an AI tool to massage the content into a digestible form and we are ready launch the course. On the contrary, the fundamental principles of pedagogy, adult learning, learning, instructional / user experience design and accessibility will still need to be applied which need to be based on a good understanding of the learners and often subjective elements which are more difficult to be defined by a machine.
Source: https://www.td.org/insights/how-long-does-it-take-to-develop-training-new-question-new-answers
C) It depends
Whether 2024 is a good year to embark on the course creating journey is subject to a variety of factors.
Goals
What do you want to achieve by launching your online course? Would you like to use it for skill development or other purposes?
Complexity
Do you want to use the course(s) as part of a complex learning programme with multiple paths, data analysis and personalisation or you would like to create a course that has a simpler delivery plan?
Impact
How much emphasis would you like to place on understanding and measuring the your courses’ impact?
Tools
What kind of tools do you want to use? Are you okay with the “traditional” digital learning development or are you keen to make your courses as “modern” as possible? Do you have a clear vision and access to necessary resources?
Having a clear picture of your goals and the learner's journey will help you benefit from the latest technology and industry advancements.
Conclusion
Is 2024 a good year to build a digital learning course? The answer lies between "yes" and "it depends." While there are challenges, the opportunities brought by the AI revolution make 2024 an exciting year for L&D and digital learning.
If you need guidance navigating the digital learning landscape, feel free to reach out for assistance!
Sources: AI in L&D: from Talk to Action (Taylor, Vinauskaite) https://donaldhtaylor.co.uk/research_base/focus02-talk-to-action/ 110+ Elearning Statistics that Will Blow Your Mind (Cloke) https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/elearning-statistics/ Global Market Insights
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