Creating eLearning - How Long Does it Take?

There are many speculative ideas as to the creation hours for eLearning. Creating eLearning. How Long Does It Take? Many corporations believe that an average of 180 hours of creation and development time to 1 hour is extremely high. When in fact, it is very reasonable. Considering the facts of:

• Interviewing Subject Matter Experts (SME’s)

• Gathering existing materials and analyzing them to incorporate

• Putting together a “road map” and outline of training

• Storyboarding

• Meeting with stakeholders

• Programming and authoring in a tool such as Captivate

• Conducting quality assurance with testers

• Testing in a pilot environment

• Evaluating for ROI

It starts to come together that 180 hours can add up very fast when developing eLearning.

According to research conducted by Chapman Alliance, 3,947 instructional designers and developers were interviewed regarding the working time-frame of eLearning. The results showed the following:

Level 1 eLearning – This is basic eLearning which can be viewed at times as a PowerPoint to eLearning approach. This involves creation of text, graphics, simple audio, simple video and quizzing.

1. For simplistic content using PowerPoint to eLearning conversion tools and rapid development, it takes 49 hours of creation to 1 hour of eLearning.

2. For a bit more sophisticated content, it takes 79:1 hours (average for level 1).

3. For more complex information and a higher difficulty in production along with rich media, it takes 125:1 hours.

Level 2 eLearning – This is Level 1 eLearning plus 25% (or more) interactive exercises. It also includes “Try It” activities for learners. There is more animation, audio and video (media rich) content than level 1.

1. For the basic of Level 2, this includes rapid development and simple animation and low-end media production. Development hours are 127:1.

2. This includes typical media and an average amount of content to be taught. This is a typically chosen selection among corporations for elearning, and the eLearning time-frame for this is 184:1 (average for level 2).

3. For a higher level of output, custom simulation, a great amount of media and advanced interactions, the development hours for this is 267:1.

Level 3 eLearning – This is the higher level of eLearning, with complex content and more sophisticated media along with solid interactivity. There’s some possibly of simulation or serious game-based quizzing along with possible use of avatars. These fall into the category of award-winning courses.

1. For average eLearning output, templated interactions, games and simulations that are from templates, adequate rapid development. The time-frame for this is 217:1.

2. For average eLearning output, basic simulations for a level 3, and sophisticated quizzing, this falls into 490:1 development hours (average for level 3).

3. For complex projects, very advanced learning simulations and games, extensive media production, this timeframe is 716:1 (some responses were claimed to be over 2000 hours of development).

References: More information from Chapman Alliance, can be found here.