The cost of e-learning needn’t be costly, but don’t just aim for cheap
E-learning is a difficult area to price, because poor e-Learning can be done for next to nothing, and really good quality usually costs.
The challenge for e-Learning providers is how much to spend and figuring out what is sufficient.
Having recently worked on creating over 100 hours of high quality video based e-Learning content that’s aimed at a very sophisticated cohort (audience), the cost per minute or even per module was quite reasonable (one could say even cheap), but when you’re creating 100+ hours of it, the costs do steadily creep up and you have to factor in a number of additional components that require scale (such as sub-titling).
A short e-Learning programme needn’t cost one that much, and there are plenty of off the shelf LMS (learning) platforms that literally start from free to a low monthly retainer that’s affordable to most.
Here a few pointers to bear in mind when considering your e-Learning options:
- When investing in e-Learning, think carefully about the quality of the learning experience, not just the quality of the look. A great look and a poor learning experience is not a desirable combination
- If you have very little budget, do less. Or start with a small amount of material, and test it, so that when you roll it out, you more or less know that it works for your audience
- Think multi-layer, not just a single approach. Even video content should be multi-layer, and encapsulate live presenting, motion graphics, voice and animation where appropriate to create the most immersive and engaging content possible
- Learning is based on engagement, so don’t forget to integrate live components and work out how the learning will be best delivered
- Always review, and allow some budget to keep on making improvements as you develop your e-Learning programme
There are no quick answers for creating good quality e-Learning, and like most things good things come to those who wait and take their time to do it properly.
