ELearning has completely revolutionized the way people learn and teach. Education is no longer confined to take place within the walls of a classroom… because through eLearning, learners have the ability to access information and knowledge any place, any time. And why wouldn’t an organization want to offer eLearning courses? According to eLearning Industry, 77% of US Corporations used online learning in 2017. Not to mention, eLearning is said to increase learning retention rates by 25% to 60% (techjury.net).
But, behind every successful eLearning course is the instructional design/designer. It is the critical job of instructional designers to create content relevant enough to keep the learners engaged and motivated (designingdigitally.com). Organizations looking to incorporate eLearning courses into their training must choose credible companies with solid instructional design. HWNY offers a multitude of services aiding in workforce development, some specifically for online learning.
HWNY currently provides workforce development solutions to more than 50 organizations across New York State, consisting in part of hospitals, long-term care facilities, federally qualified health centers, hospital ambulatory care departments, and private practices. Clients also include numerous mission-aligned organizations and associations, and thirteen of the twenty-five DSRIP Performing Provider Systems (PPSs). Of note, PPS clients utilize HWNY’s solutions to deliver enhanced services to hundreds of partnering healthcare organizations.
HWNY provides a full range of integrated workforce development services, that include: 1) research and analysis of problems, trends and best-practices; 2) education and awareness of high impact topics; 3) development of technology-based workforce development tools; 4) design and implementation of outreach and engagement campaigns; 5) boots-on-the-ground programming, and; 6) community engagement and partner connections.
Example projects specific to developing content for health care providers and staff include:
1) Leadership Development Workshops – HWNY uses its expertise in research and curriculum development to consult with health care organizations. HWNY emphasizes the engagement of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and facilitation of targeted focus groups throughout the process to assess professional culture, identify specific priority areas requiring improvement and to design, develop, and deliver exciting, experiential, highly-tailored, in-person leadership trainings. Each workshop provides clients with position-specific performance evaluations and continuous, on-going support.
2) InService Solutions Compliance Training – HWNY works in partnership with Central New York AHEC (CNYAHEC) to deploy a comprehensive compliance training package that includes set-up and implementation of a Learning Management System, as well as customization of 16 mandatory compliance eLearning modules.
3) eLearning Development – Using a variety of eLearning authoring tools, HWNY provides partners and clients with the skills and expertise to: 1) convert static PowerPoints and PDFs into interactive training content; 2) record in-person trainings and convert them into webinars, and; 3) host live webinars and record them asynchronous viewing.
4) Instructional Training Guides – HWNY works with partners and clients to develop detailed documentation, instructional guides, how-to videos, job-aids, and “cheat sheets” for internal staff and end-user to learn and utilize HWNY’s technology-based solutions to its fullest potential.
5) Education and Awareness Video Production – HWNY works with partners and clients to transform comprehensive, information heavy, research-based projects into short, engaging, and informative video content for ease of distribution, increased viewing, and larger impact.
To-date, HWNY solutions have allowed partners to:
- Deliver, track, and report participant data on more than 1,200 continuing education, professional development, and compliance trainings
- Train and advance the careers of more than 160,000 health professionals
- Introduce health careers to over 60,000 students and adult career seekers Mentor, guide, and support more than 500 high-school students as they pursue a health career
- Provide more than 1,600 postsecondary students with hands-on, experiential health professional trainings
- Significantly increase membership rates, including a campaign in 2018 to increase an Association Student Membership by more than 200%
To help your team design, develop, and deliver a highly-effective virtual/online course, HWNY will work with Subject Matter Experts to: 1) design compelling learning experiences that are not only interesting, relevant, and easy to fit into the busy work life of the learner, but most importantly, lead to genuine knowledge transfer and deliver performance improvement results; 2) identify and recommend the best authoring tools for the desired learning experiences; 3) develop interactive online activities, tools, and resources that are visually world-class, provide an excellent user experience, and feel authentic to the learners, and; 4) provide expert training and guidance on instructional design principles, process, best practices, and eLearning authoring tool trainings.
To achieve all of the above, HWNY uses these must-have best practices:
Step 1: Needs Assessment Phase
HWNY will meet in-person with SMEs to conduct an initial needs assessment to identify/refine topic-specific business goals, learning actions (objectives) required to achieve the goal, and knowledge required to successfully perform the action. HWNY will also discuss the learning environment and target audiences’ capabilities.
Step 2: Research and Design Phase
Using research-driven adult learning best-practices, HWNY will identify and recommend the necessary amount and type of training to support the desired learning actions. HWNY will then design instructional activities that are most effective at teaching the desired performance outcome, such as: Scenario-based Learning, or Micro-learning activities. HWNY will then work with SMEs to create scenario scripts, stories, and storyboards.
Step 3: Development Phase
HWNY will work with your organization to discuss the most effective authoring tool(s) for creating the desired instructional activities within the selected hosting environment. HWNY will then use the selected tool(s) to develop each learning activity ensuring it immediately, fully, and favorably seizes the user’s attention. The learning activities will then be bundled into lessons/topics within a single eLearning module/course and branded to your desired look and feel.
Step 4: Pilot and Refine
HWNY will work with your team to pilot each instructional activity in their final module/course format. Advisors and/or partner health care practices will be asked to complete a specific set of pilot instructions and give feedback on their experience. For the pilot, HWNY will develop testing instructions with specific tasks, a feedback survey to collect qualitative and quantitative data, and where possible, use technology to track pass/fail of key functionality. HWNY then will analyze the data, identify necessary changes, and refine the instructional experience to address any issues identified.
Step 5: Implementation and On-going Support
HWNY will work with your team to ensure a successful launch of the online course by creating a launch plan with effective communication and outreach strategies. HWNY will then provide two in-person trainings designed to give your administrator the skills and knowledge to maintain and update the instructional activities/modules created for the specific course(s).
At HWNY, our experts use strong instructional design concepts to create customized learning content to successfully meet your training needs. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can create custom learning solutions for your company.
