Training Industry Magazine - Spring 2024 - 54

working with and how it all fits together.
Let's explore some practical steps to
take your learning content management
to the next level. While walking through
these steps, remember that the reuse
opportunity varies with each piece
of content.
FIND AND ASSESS YOUR CONTENT
Take an inventory of the content you
have. Try to capture all the places it
may live, whether that's a centralized
repository, instructional designers'
desktops or a shared file system.
Once you've gathered the content,
complete an audit of the quality. Is
the content in good shape? Does
it need an update? By determining
what content you have to work with,
you can give yourself an idea of what
needs to be done to get content to
the quality you need it.
DECIDE WHAT YOU'RE DESIGNING
Drawing on the previous example,
maybe for one department you want
to
deliver a training
that
includes
the basics of phishing and password
security, while for the software
engineering department, you include
those two topics, but you also add
a topic on code security. This is
where you can define the reuse
strategy for your organization - how
is the content being reused by the
standard copy/paste method? What
are commonalities across training or
across instructional materials?
DEFINE YOUR REUSABLE
CONTENT MODEL
Think of a reusable content model like
a template. When you're designing
a new training, you follow a certain
template that determines that you
need a student guide, an instructor
guide
and
accompanying
slides.
Within the instructor guide, you know
you need an objective, lesson content
and a section where you apply the
lesson content to the real world.
The reusable content model is a
blueprint for the discrete parts of the
learning content and defines where
they will fit into instructional materials
54
ASSEMBLE YOUR TRAINING
It's time to combine the content
pieces. Bring together the pieces of
reusable content that you defined
earlier according to your reusable
content model to create the collateral
you need. You now have a better
idea of what you have, how it fits
together and is reused and where the
opportunities are to personalize the
content for the learner. With the help
of metadata, you can automate some
of this assembly process so that your
instructional designers can focus on
personalization.
WHAT TECHNOLOGY DO I NEED?
Gone are the days when a single
learning management system (LMS)
was sufficient. The specific tools you'll
need will depend on your learning
strategy. However, regardless of
what tools you select, each product
you buy or build should be critically
evaluated for where it sits on a
spectrum from closed to open. If a
vendor's tools only work within their
own closed ecosystem, be wary. No
learning technology ecosystem can
handle all the complex demands
of learning strategy and enterprise
content management.
BUILD YOUR REUSABLE CONTENT
Make sure your content is consistent:
If you use the same framework in
your student guide, the slideshow
and the instructor guide, but then the
framework in the student guide has
different bullet points, the framework
in the slideshow has a light blue
compared to the dark blue in the other
two versions, etc., you're not actually
using the same piece of reusable
content. You need to standardize
one model that is used across these
different things.
and types of learning. Rather than
copying and pasting the content
between the student guide, the
instructor guide and the slides, the
reusable content model defines that
the relationship exists between these
three and then uses the same piece of
content across.
DESIGNING LEARNER EXPERIENCES
Depending on the specific needs of the
learner, different learner experiences
may be called for. This may require
multiple distribution channels for your
content. Here are a few examples:
* Instructor Led: For some instructional
strategies, learners may need to
interact with a trainer in a classroom
or webinar. In those instances, we
may publish learning assets to be
leveraged by the instructor.
* LMS: This is the optimal learner
experience for formal learning,
management of learner profiles and
building transcripts and certificates.
* Learning and Performance Portals:
Often necessitated by the need for
accessibility by an external audience,
or a way to present discoverable
learning paths that dynamically
assemble learning content from
multiple content repositories.
ASSEMBLING OPTIMAL
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Learning assets are first designed
to align with learning objectives and
the reuse strategy is defined by the
content engineer. After learning assets
are designed, they are created by
content developers and multimedia
specialists. After this, learning
assets are organized by knowledge
management experts who ensure the
right metadata strategy is applied to
correctly map the right learning assets
to the right learners.
INCREASED EFFICIENCY AND
IMPROVED PERFORMANCE
OUTCOMES
Organizational performance improves
when learning assets are contextualized.
With the proper content reuse strategy,
individualized learner needs can be
met without burying your team in an
avalanche of learning assets. This
decreases the cost of maintaining
content, decreases the organizational
risk of presenting incorrect or outdated
information and empowers your
learning team to spend their time
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Training Industry Magazine - Spring 2024

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