Does your course development method match the schedule and level of complexity your deliverables demand?
If you answer yes to any of the questions below, you should consider an agile development process.
- Are you creating videos, motion graphics, or simulations?
- Will requirements change during the development process?
- Do cross-functional teams need to work together?
- Is it difficult to define all of the course objectives at the beginning of the project?
- Do you schedule progress reviews throughout the project?
- Are you continuously testing the functionality of your courses for xAPI, SCORM, and multi-platform delivery?
In early instructor-led courses, the process for developing student guides and presentation slides was simple. Desktop publishing, text, and graphics were the standard. Although creating these posed its own unique challenges, their assembly and distribution was not as complicated as that of today’s mobile and e-learning solutions. Now, even instructor-led courses need to incorporate audio, visual, and audience-response elements to increase learner engagement.
ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation) has been the primary framework for course development for decades. As advancements in technology-enabled learning become more useful, the sequential design process of ADDIE and similar methods can no longer meet the high demands of course development.
Consequently, corporate learning is moving towards agile development, which includes incremental design and development processes. With the complexity of creating videos, simulations, animations, and motion graphics, we’re becoming more dependent on the collaboration of cross-functional teams who must work seamlessly together to meet both course objectives and project timelines.
SAM (Successive Approximation Model) is an agile process originally used in software development that is becoming popular in corporate learning. The focus on iterative development phases shortens the design and development review cycles and provides a framework for cross-functional teams to collaborate.
Scrum is another agile framework that is growing in use in corporate training. Similar to SAM’s iterations, Scrum uses a sprint method for incremental development. A key Scrum feature is the focus on organizing the cross-functional teams and defining each role and responsibility in the development process.
At PT, we use an agile process that goes beyond these established models to embrace both agility and incrementalism. Each team adds small changes rather than large deliverables. Our teams shift and adapt organically, as the work requires. Our various in-house experts join each group as it needs their expertise and leave when they finish their work.
This approach delivers the strengths of multiple agile development frameworks. I’m looking forward to the next few years as we bring the benefits of this approach to our corporate learning clients.
