Training Portals

• Depending on your lesson, how often you are teaching and where you get your students from, you may decide either to create your own website that allows a creative learning environment or to use many of the online portals that already exist, such as Online Training Systems or even SKYPE. When looking at a portal design, you want to review the number of students you can have online, what the audio and visual abilities of your online classroom are and whether or not your students have the ability to interact with you. Determine if students are able to post at forums and get downloads of the class lesson on demand.
  
  

Publications

• There are many journals and publications that help you to stay on top of the trends in online training methods and the demand of organizations to produce different kinds of content. Chief Learning Officer is a monthly periodical that discusses the corporate training industry and is read by experts and executives alike. The Journal of Interactive Learning Research reviews design, technical theory and implementation of web-based learning environments. Distance Learning reviews trends in practical application of web-based learning. All of these publications can help you improve your learning environment to be more effective and gain more clients.
  
  

Technology

• There are many software programs that allow you to create a customized learning platform. CourseWriter, Dreamweaver and ATutor are all excellent choices depending on your web expertise. CourseWriter helps to produce training modules on Windows platforms at a faster pace. Dreamweaver is a fully integrated development platform that can integrate many types of web elements. ATutor is easy to install and use, and you can design lessons from templates very quickly.
  
  

Development Process

• Of course you will need to consider the technical issues when developing a web-based learning environment. But you also need to consider your audience. To provide the right lesson plans presented in an effective manner, start by doing a client needs analysis, then follow up with surveys and feedback, then tweak your design so that it's more conducive to learning. Your original design may be solid with visuals, but does not allow live student interaction. If you add this update, students will be able to engage in the class and learn more. Always work to make the site easier to use. Students should be able to navigate from the class to the forums and easily post questions. There should be a lesson plan area with pdf outlines or Power Point presentations that students can download and print to make notes on. Development continues well beyond getting your initial platform up and running.
  
  

E-Learning Standards

• This is a new area and is obviously one that is difficult to monitor with the vast amount of online learning content available. The World Wide Web Consortium is an international organization that is working to create higher standards in web-based learning content. As government agencies use e-learning more for education and training, certain content providers will need to demonstrate confidentiality, limited accessibility and standardized evaluation procedures. This standard will be imperative in aviation, financial services and government learning environments. Standards for accredited education must maintain the integrity of individual student accomplishment. Other learning environments don't need such high security or assessment measures.