Free Adobe Photoshop website templates by Colorifer.com. Web design articles
articles.colorifer.com - articles about web design

The Monster Garage of eLearning


Have you seen Jesse James on the Discovery Channel's Monster Garage?
Each week Jesse and his handpicked team create a customized vehicle to dazzle and amaze you. So what does this have to do with eLearning? Read on...

Big boys like big toys

Did you see the episode when the:
* Cadillac Escalade becomes a tailgate party?
* DeLorean is transformed into a hovercraft?, or the
* Scary monster Santa float as it makes it debut in a parade?

WOW they were great... and it got me thinking...Jesse's approach to monster car design is directly related to leading successful eLearning programs. Here's why...

Each episode starts with a sketch of the "dream machine" and Jesse's verbal description of what he expects the machine to do. Just like Jesse's articulated vision, the training project leader has to be able to articulate the program vision and expectations to his boss and the team. If you can't describe the training purpose, it's time to re-think the project!

The Monster Garage rules are simple: 1) When completed, the monster machine must appear to be stock. 2) The team can spend no more than $3,000 cash for parts. 3) Jesse and his crew have only seven days and nights to design, build and race the machine.

So let's relate this to your training team... Have you taken time to create a simple set of rules for your team? Maybe you should take a lesson from the Monster Garage pit crew and make this a priority!

For the record, Jesse doesn't take NO for an answer, and whining is NOT an option. Hmmm... yet another good project managment tip!

Each Monster Garage project starts with a day of planning Even though the team is running on a very short time schedule, the first full day is set aside for PLANNING. Then the construction begins.

How often have you been tasked with developing a huge training project and no one really bothered to schedule time to PLAN? Using the Monster Garage analogy, if you are planning a 5 week development process, a full week should be devoted to planning. This is a good rule of thumb with about 20% of the project time should be spent in planning. Why? Because you can clearly articulate expectations, conduct essential research, collect information from a variety of stakeholders and produce a solid strategy for achieving the stated objectives. Keep in mind if you fail to plan, you plan to fail...

Just like the Monster Garage creations, online learning projects are big beasts and require a team effort. Jesse assembles his "dream team" based upon individual areas of expertise. He has welders, mechanics, fabricators and custom air-brush painters. His team must make the transformed vehicle not only look good, but "deliver on the promise" of functionality.

Likewise, the training project manager sets the scope with clearly defined roles and responsiblities for each team member:

Researchers determine existing content to leverage and competitive information as well. Instructional designers look for ways to create standardized templates that facilitate the learning process. They create the instruction sequence and determine the best way to create meaningful activities for accountable training. Programmers must produce solid error-free code. Developers take raw content and create lessons while the graphic artist adds visual elements with graphics, animations and color cues. The tighter you define roles and keep people on-track, the better. When it all comes together, a training project is truly a work of art.

And finally....the moment of truth and accountability happens...will the monster creation work? Jesse always takes "the dream machine" out for that victory spin. Just like the monster's moment of truth, it is inspirational when the AHA moment (light bulb) happens for your students in your beta test. It is fun to see students demonstrate proficiences from the training you created.

When your training team is successful and your training customer are happy, it's a win-win!! You accomplished what you set out to do. We thank Jesse James and the Monster Garage for his inspiration on project management!

Karen Miller has over twenty years experience in applying instructional systems design principles to create blended training solutions.   She consistently delivers web-based training products on-time, under budget while exceeding customer expectations. She is a national training award winner (ASTD'98, ISPI'02), published author, adjunct college professor and an ISPI-Certified Performance Technologist. Her company, Instructional Design Consortium provides instructional expertise and USA-based outsourcing services for the design, development and delivery of online training.


MORE RESOURCES:

The March 2010 Rankings of the Best Interactive Web Design Companies Released ...
Online PR News (press release)
The independent authority on the best web design companies, bestwebdesignagencies.com, has ranked the best interactive web design company for March 2010. ...
uk.topseos.com Ranks the Best Web Design Companies in the United Kingdom for ...Online PR News (press release)
The Best Ecommerce Site Design Firms Ranked by bestwebdesignagencies.com for ...Online PR News (press release)
The Best User Interface Design Consulting Firms Ranked by ...Online PR News (press release)

all 6 news articles »


Quality Web Programming Launches it's Web Design Templates Section
SBWire (press release)
Different types of Web Design Templates like Flash Templates, Joomla Templates, CSS Templates, Website Templates, Flash Intros, PHP-Nuke Themes,Logo ...



PR-inside.com (press release)

Web Design Company Offers Big Deals for New Clients
PR Web (press release)
Temecula, CA (PRWEB) March 9, 2010 -- Web Editors, Inc. is currently offering discounted web design services for new clients that sign up for its Advanced ...
SEO can Make Your Website More Visible: PTX can HelpI-Newswire.com (press release)
Website Design Company India Launches SEO Services for Small and Big BusinessNewswire Today (press release)

all 53 news articles »


Do you want to learn every aspect of web design from scratch for free?
SitePoint (blog)
by Sarah "HAWK" Taylor All you need is enough spare time to read approximately 4 million threads and you'll be an expert. That is the power of the SitePoint ...



PixelCrayons launches PixelCrayons.in for Indian Web Design & Development Market
Live-PR.com (press release)
11.03.2010 15:53:36 March, 10, 2010- PixelCrayons.com, the leading global provider of web design & development industry, announced their new India website ...

and more »


Tour Resource Center Expands their Web Design and Social Networking Services ...
Newswire Today (press release)
... FL, United States, 03/11/2010 - Tour Resource Center expands services to offer golf industry customized web design and social networking expertise for ...



Newtek Business Services Reports Full Year 2009 Financial Results
MarketWatch (press release)
We believe that we are the better alternative for eCommerce merchants as a one stop shop for the gateway, shopping cart, web design, payment processing ...

and more »


Web Design AND Social Networking Services Now Offered to Golf Professionals ...
Golf Club Business (press release)
JACKSONVILLE, Fl (March 10, 2010) – Many companies and individuals continue to turn to Tour Resource Center for Social Media Marketing needs, ...

and more »


Columbus Area Web Design and Marketing Company to Host “How to Wow! Now ...
PR Web (press release)
Come out for a night of networking to learn how to JUMPSTART, BUILD and GROW an effective and integrated web design, social media, search engine ...

and more »


Professional Web Design Services, Outsource Web Design Company India
BigNews.biz (press release)
Website Programming Development is a leading effective web design company in India. We are offering creative, attractive and professional web design ...

and more »

Google News

2007-2008 © Copyright colorifer.com. All Rights Reserved.
Free Adobe Photoshop templates.
Web Design Articles | Site Map | Terms of Use