Time to Develop

[Rachele]

Hi:

I am volunteering to help an international organization put together an online training program. The course is probably a one hour online course and it will be developed in Articulate. Although I haven't created on-line learning, I have managed on-line learning projects (for work we use an outside vendor to develop our customized modules) and I have created hundreds of classroom modules.

I can figure out software pretty easily so I am not worried about using Articulate.

The Director at the organization wants an idea of how long it takes to develop an online course using a rapid development course such as Articulate. I told her since I have never used one before, I couldn't even guesstimate how long it would take me but I figured you all might know since you use Articulate already. I told her that in order to figure out if I can volunteer for the project, I need to know her due date for the project as well as an idea of how many hours it takes to create an hour of e-learning using Articulate.

Is there a general rule of thumb for figuring out how long development takes in Articulate?

Thanks,

Rachel

[GlynC]

Dear Rachel

Well the industry standard says around 30 hours of development for every hour of courseware for rapid development tools, however as it is your first project I would at least double that.

My development team takes about 40 hours development per hour of courseware and they have alot of experience of online courses and Articulate.

Best regards
Glyn

[doofdaddy]

It really depends. If you do a simple PowerPoint to Flash conversion, that takes about 45 seconds.

The key is what state will the content be in and how much you have to do to make it publishable. In essence, a good program generally takes the same amount of time as a traditional course, minus the flash development since the software does that for you.

I've done courses that have only take a few hours to a couple of weeks. I think the 40:1 ratio is probably a good starting point and then it changes based on the complexity of the content and how much you have to do to make a viable online product.

[trondk]

I just came across this via OLDaily:
How long does it take to create learning? | Bryan Chapman

Ratio for each Type of learning
34:1 Instructor-Led Training (ILT), including design, lesson plans, handouts, PowerPoint slides, etc.
33:1 PowerPoint to E-Learning Conversion. Not sure why it takes less time then creating ILT, but that’s what we discovered when surveying 200 companies about this practice
220:1 Standard e-learning which includes presentation, audio, some video, test questions, and 20% interactivity
345:1 Time it takes for online learning publishers to design, create, test and package 3rd party courseware
750:1 Simulations from scratch. Creating highly interactive content

Do you have any ratios for Articulate Studio? I am especially interested in the 220:1 ratio. My own experience says this should be max 50% (110) when using AP Studio. Anyone have the same numbers as me for similar projects?

/trondk

[GerryWaz]

Well, for us, it often depends.

• If the developer is new to learning and needs to acquire some instructional design basics that could potentially lengthen things.

• If the course is also going to put in an LMS, and the developer is to do that also, and has little or no experience with the LMS, that could also lengthen the project as they need to learn the LMS and the admin roles/duties/processes in setting up an e-learning course.

• If the developer is new to any technical/organizational infrastructure "rules" and other organizational standards/requirements, there are things they need to learn and apply there also.

• If the developer needs to acquire approvals on the course or content from others in an organization, this could be a huge project extender--often the biggest.

For such folks on a first-time project, there's a "special place in hell" for them if such projects are under a short deadline to deliver.

[beeneeb]

Originally Posted by GerryWaz

For such folks on a first-time project, there's a "special place in hell" for them if such projects are under a short deadline to deliver.

Wow! I can tell Gerry is in a great mood today....

[GerryWaz]

Originally Posted by beeneeb

Wow! I can tell Gerry is in a great mood today....

! Actually I'm feeling pretty good today . Looking forward to hearing doofdaddy (aka Tom) speak today at the e-Learning Guild online conference.

Well, it's more that we often see people in that situation and know what he$^%%$^%^ll they are going through . . .

Newbies often think "it's easy to develop e-learning" and don't have a clue of what they speak (especially for a LMS) . . . and then they get in way over their head and come to us to rescue them, and we often just don't have the resources and time to pull them through.

[Barry Johansen]

When asked this question, I give the consultant's answer..."it depends..." Here's a short list of some of the things I consider (and I haven't even started with the political and philosophical concerns!

1. How much content do you want to convert to Articulate?
. How many chapters or content units?
Length of each chapter or unit already developed?
2. Do you have the PowerPoint already developed?
a. Does it have transitions or special effects? If not, do you want some?
b. Do you have the script already written?
c. Will you want to include music?
a. Need video? Is it developed or does it need to be shot? While this is possible, it does slow down the learning modules if done online. You can often get the same effect with still photos and a good recorded audio track – like a role play.
4. Do you want me to do the narration, Will someone at your organization do it?
5. Tell me about the level of interactivity you’d like.
a. Do you want non-scored learning “games” included? (Articulate Engage)
6. Do you want graded tests/quizzes at the end of each module?
a. How many questions?
b. What score is needed to “pass?”
c. What type of questions? (T/F, Multiple choice, fill in the blank, drag and drop sequence, click on a diagram/picture, etc) Are they developed? (asking good questions is a skill in itself.
7. How will you be delivering the training content?
a. Will you be publishing it on-line?
i. Do you have an LMS?
ii. Use Articulate On-line? (if so, do you have an account with AO?)
1. If so, will you put it online or will you give me access to do so?
iii. Burn CDs for distribution?

and on and on. I'd support the 30-40 to 1 hour estimate for an uncomplicated module. I think my best advice is to be sure your really understand the customer/clients expectations (in excruciating detail) so as not to go off in the wrong direction leading to wasted time, energy, and a damaged relationship.

Just my views of course......
bj

[Barry Johansen]

Originally Posted by GerryWaz

! Actually I'm feeling pretty good today . ......

Newbies often think "it's easy to develop e-learning" and don't have a clue of what they speak (especially for a LMS) . . . and then they get in way over their head and come to us to rescue them, and we often just don't have the resources and time to pull them through.

Yup! This week I was working with a "newbie" who thought that being able to create animated bullet lists meant she could be an effective educator using Articulate. There's a lot more to effective design than just using the tools and a lot more to using Articulate than just converting a PowerPoint file. You're not a writer just because you can type!