Manifesto Signatories 4/29/2014

Like many I have been frustrated with the state of corporate eLearning and the focus on speed and quantity of production over meaningful content. The inability to produce work I felt to be effective and meaningful was wearing thin on me. Every time I mentioned doing something different or pushed back, I was told there was no time to "do it right." Even more disappointing, it seemed I was the only one at work who was deeply disturbed by this. This movement is refreshing because it lets me, and I hope others like me know, that they are not alone in their frustrations.

I think this document outlines principles that many designers struggle to cling to in an environment where employees are not always valued and compliance (did they attend) is more important than retention and application.

While I feel that many corporations are slowly swinging back to focus more on quality (what is good for learners) than quantity and low cost, I think designers need better ways to have meaningful conversations with department leaders and business partners about learning. I think the manifesto can facilitate conversations within learning organizations that can get everyone on the same page, improve the overall quality of learning solutions, and help them collaborate more with their business partners as opposed to simply taking an order and producing it. Additionally, leaders in a training department may be good business people but may not understand learning and development. They want their people to reach beyond the standard that is currently produced and want to improve the value of their content, however, they may not know how to achieve that or how to coach their people to do that. I believe the manifesto can serve as a good tool for leaders in Learning and Development departments who are not "training people" to better understand the goals of their designers and help them achieve those goals.

It is my sincere hope that this movement reignites the passion and commitment in designers to stand up for what they know to be right and that leaders in training departments read this and back their designers. 

No organisational needs identified, no performance levels ascertained, selecting eLearning as the delivery medium with no justification, extremely restrictive templates, all push and no pull, a very limited range of media … I could go on and on.

Of course I always try to convince suppliers otherwise, by quoting well-known people in the industry, but this usually ends up with bad feelings and me being told that if I want the work then I have to do what they say. What I don’t have until now is an organisation or a group that has considerable weight and to which I can refer suppliers, i.e. my clients, to convince them of the error of their ways.

I have had some opportunities to design what I regard to be ‘fit-for-purpose’ eLearning, letting learners pull what they want, including stories and scenarios, etc., so I do know what serious eLearning looks like. However, these opportunities still remain too few and far between.

It is for all the reasons above that I endorse, totally, the aims of the Serious eLearning Manifesto and wish to become one of its signatories.