Choosing the Right Online Learning Technology for Your Organization

Choosing the appropriate online learning technology for your business is no easy task. It starts with asking questions like: Who are my customers? What kind of content do I want to deliver to help them absorb the learning? What is the value add for customers? Then, organizations must ask: Do I have learning content to create or migrate? What kind of support or services might I need?

Once your organization decides exactly which features, tools and level of support are necessary, it’s time to talk to online learning technology providers. This research stage of the decision process is the most critical according to Talented Learning CEO John Leh. Schedule meetings and demos with any providers you are considering to uncover the best fit for your organization. Keep the customer education lifecycle in mind as your wrap your head around how the technology can keep customers engaged throughout their lifecycle.

Choosing the Right Technology for the Job

When you schedule meetings and demos with technology providers, have your unique list of questions, use cases and support needs ready. Below, Thought Industries CEO Barry Kelly outlines some of the most common online learning technology needs:

• Create content and author courses: Ideally, the platforms content creation and course authoring tools will give your organization the ability to create short form and extended learning content efficiently. If needed, it should also allow for video and other engaging learning experiences.
• Learning distribution: Look for an online learning technology that enables your organization to manage and deploy learning content and programs to many constituents. Some platform offerings -- like the Thought Industries Learning Business Platform™ -- give organizations the ability to license content and provide dedicated learning environments for groups, departments, or even other businesses. If your business is going in that direction, make sure your online learning technology is designed to handle these complexities.
• Outcome monitoring: Tracking course engagement is important. Look for an online learning technology offering that gives you real time insights on engagement and outcomes.

In a recent webinar, Kelly shared the list above and the customer learning technology stack below. In addition to creation, delivery and monitoring, it’s important to consider a technology providers’ commerce capabilities, security, integrations, brandability, and responsiveness.