The Learning Light e-Learning Content Evaluation Tool has been developed to provide an objective means of evaluating elearning and providing buyers with data-driven online course reviews.
The team at Learning Light was often asked by clients “How do I know if an elearning course is any good?”
Learning Light undertook several commissions from clients to evaluate elearning courses, and this led to the development of firstly a methodology and now the e-LCET tool to objectively evaluate online training.
You can view some of our e-LCET reviews here:
Improving a Negative Attitude Course Review
City & Guilds Kineo eLearning Course Review
Greenline Conversations Course Review
Methodology
The initial inspiration was based around elearning guru Michael Allen’s Objectives X Treatment matrix. This simple matrix looks at the learning objectives and the elearning interactions that could be applied to create engaging and effective elearning.
The e-LCET tool focuses firmly on the learner experience of an elearning course and how this relates to the course’s design. We firstly look at the Genres involved in the course, and secondly we evaluate these genres against 129 data points.
e-LCET then presents graphical evaluations of the ‘genre mix’ that makes up the course and a set of objective measurements against the criteria relevant to the course, producing a spider-gram:
and a pie chart:
e-LCET is now a very capable tool that does much much more than the spreadsheet driven process for course reviews that it replaces. It is configurable to allow the evaluation of all genres of elearning materials, videos, games, animations and recognizes accessibility issues as well.
It is also smart and flexible enough to allow the materials to be rated against realistic standards to reflect real world budgets.
Applications
Our mission has been to ensure any buyer that the materials marketed by Learning Light are of an appropriate standard and will deliver effective and engaging elearning.
There are a growing number of e-learning content exchanges but to our knowledge none take the trouble to curate and evaluate the content sold at the level of detail Learning Light does.
We have also used e-LCET to evaluate elearning courses from other vendors and organisations as an independent third party.
If you would like us to review your courses, or to review a vendor’s courses as part of a procurement exercise, please contact us.
Any course which is evaluated by e-LCET and given a good score receives a Learning Light seal of approval:
We believe the use of e-LCET for online course reviews will grow to support the procurement of bespoke elearning content. The ability of organisations to translate requirements into more detailed specifications for vendors to develop content against has proven challenging to many organisations or departments new to procuring elearning.
In addition many developers have been frustrated with customers who are unable to clearly articulate their requirements or continue to make change requests throughout the development process as the e-learning courseware development unfolds. Using e-LCET to understand what makes good elearning and even scope projects will be of great value.
