Think Your Organization Can't Afford E-Learning? Think Again!

Thanks to intelligent software engineering, almost any organization can now afford to develop and deploy quality e-learning. Most organizations already have 90% of the technology needed. All they lack is the 10% needed to link together what they have.

(PRWEB) December 15, 2002 -learning is here to stay. Its capacity to deliver instruction anytime/anywhere makes it too potentially valuable to ignore. But, in these times of economic uncertainty and tight budgets, can your organization afford it? The answer is likely to surprise you. But first things first.

Two key e-learning terms warrant defining. LMS stands for Learning Management System. It uses computer technology to register and track employee progress through training programs. LCMS stands for Learning Content Management System, which does the same thing as an LMS but includes software for course development.

To say there are at least three dozen of these competing learning systems on the market today is probably an understatement. And, if you believe that you need one of these expensive systems to implement e-learning in your organization, you are probably mistaken.

Most likely, your organization already has a lot of technology. Chances are you already have 90 percent of the technology needed to develop and deploy e-learning. Lacking is the 10 percent needed to link your existing technologies together. Called middleware, it: a.) enables the creation of interactive e-learning, using the easy and familiar MSWord and b.) securely serves resultant courses from a standard folder on any typical desktop or laptop computer.

The bottom line is, virtually any company can now afford to develop and deploy quality e-learning.

This surprising news is likely to arouse skepticism. But there have always been entrepreneurs keen to identify, address and profit from meeting new business needs. Among them is a software engineer from the Boston area who is capitalizing on today's pervasive business need to do more with less

His middleware allowed me, an instructional technology consultant, to develop a 30-minute Internet-use policy course for a major U.S. corporation in two days. The course was up and running one day later. Remarkably the course development cost was a small fraction of what the U.S. market typically commands. Further, the company did not need to buy an LMS or LCMS, of which there exists a confusing array, and whose cost alone puts e-learning beyond the reach of many small to mid-size companies.

If you are an upper-level executive interested in receiving more information about this legitimate breakthrough, write to me at: frank@franktroha.com.

Frank J. Troha is an independent instructional technology consultant, who has specialized in instructional design for the past 20 years. He is also adjunct associate professor of instructional design at Fordham University Graduate School of Education in New York City where he teaches corporate human resource professionals.