. Stakeholders in this model are clients who become participants, administrators including IT, accounting, and general administration staff, and training staff.

The first phase requires development of curricula, marketing, instructional, and other materials, and system design and development. Central to the stage are mechanisms for clients to enquire about courses being offere

In another article I discuss some of the Many Challenges of Online Learning. As I believe in the dictum, "Let he who has the heart to criticise have the heart to help", this time I thought I’d unfold what I believe are the components of an Internet/intranet Online Learning System (OLS). (I’ve produced a model OLS as a cross-functional flow chart too large to include here, but if you’d like a copy, please email me).

Methods of online learning (OLL) have been used for at least 20 years. However, OLL delivered via Internet is relatively new, thinly researched (because it's so new), and flagged as the way of the future. It certainly has heaps of potential among the pitfalls. Two of which are:

1. It isn't as easy as it sounds
2. It requires considerable resources

It is possible for firms to adopt a minimalist approach and simply hire someone else to handle the whole process from start to finish. This is the cheapest approach and makes sense, but means that they lack total control. Nevertheless, it’s a good place to start and there is an increasing number of application service providers (ASPs) willing to contract OLL services.

Those firms that are well resourced, or for whom confidentiality is an issue, may take a whole system, in-house approach. It is this approach on which I focus.

My model identifies five distinct phases that are: preparation –enrolment – delivery – assessment/reporting – evaluation. These are linear and similar to the traditional training model. Stakeholders in this model are clients who become participants, administrators including IT, accounting, and general administration staff, and training staff.

The first phase requires development of curricula, marketing, instructional, and other materials, and system design and development. Central to the stage are mechanisms for clients to enquire about courses being offered

’d like a copy, please email me).

Methods of online learning (OLL) have been used for at least 20 years. However, OLL delivered via Internet is relatively new, thinly researched (because it's so new), and flagged as the way of the future. It certainly has heaps of potential among the pitfalls. Two of which are:

1. It isn't as easy as it sounds
2. It requires considerable resources

It is possible for firms to adopt a minimalist approach and simply hire someone else to handle the whole process from start to finish. This is the cheapest approach and makes sense, but means that they lack total control. Nevertheless, it’s a good place to start and there is an increasing number of application service providers (ASPs) willing to contract OLL services.

Those firms that are well resourced, or for whom confidentiality is an issue, may take a whole system, in-house approach. It is this approach on which I focus.

My model identifies five distinct phases that are: preparation –enrolment – delivery – assessment/reporting – evaluation. These are linear and similar to the traditional training model. Stakeholders in this model are clients who become participants, administrators including IT, accounting, and general administration staff, and training staff.

The first phase requires development of curricula, marketing, instructional, and other materials, and system design and development. Central to the stage are mechanisms for clients to enquire about courses being offere

s considerable resources

It is possible for firms to adopt a minimalist approach and simply hire someone else to handle the whole process from start to finish. This is the cheapest approach and makes sense, but means that they lack total control. Nevertheless, it’s a good place to start and there is an increasing number of application service providers (ASPs) willing to contract OLL services.

Those firms that are well resourced, or for whom confidentiality is an issue, may take a whole system, in-house approach. It is this approach on which I focus.

My model identifies five distinct phases that are: preparation –enrolment – delivery – assessment/reporting – evaluation. These are linear and similar to the traditional training model. Stakeholders in this model are clients who become participants, administrators including IT, accounting, and general administration staff, and training staff.

The first phase requires development of curricula, marketing, instructional, and other materials, and system design and development. Central to the stage are mechanisms for clients to enquire about courses being offere

ng to contract OLL services.

Those firms that are well resourced, or for whom confidentiality is an issue, may take a whole system, in-house approach. It is this approach on which I focus.

My model identifies five distinct phases that are: preparation –enrolment – delivery – assessment/reporting – evaluation. These are linear and similar to the traditional training model. Stakeholders in this model are clients who become participants, administrators including IT, accounting, and general administration staff, and training staff.

The first phase requires development of curricula, marketing, instructional, and other materials, and system design and development. Central to the stage are mechanisms for clients to enquire about courses being offere

. Stakeholders in this model are clients who become participants, administrators including IT, accounting, and general administration staff, and training staff.

The first phase requires development of curricula, marketing, instructional, and other materials, and system design and development. Central to the stage are mechanisms for clients to enquire about courses being offered. This necessitates multiple methods of responding eg, email autoresponder, fax-on-demand, static HTML files on the Internet, post, or telephone enquiry handling.

Whichever ways you choose to inform your prospective clients, the material needs to be faultless, comprehensive and delivered quickly. People expect instant information and will go elsewhere if they can’t get what they want.

Phase two occurs when prospective clients, having read what you have to offer, decide to purchase your program (or perhaps enroll if in an industry training environment). This needs to be quick, painless, and efficient also.

Aside: How many times have you completed an online registration form, clicked the submit button and waited, and waited, only to receive a message telling you that the username you provided already exists? So you try again … and again … and again … and eventually move on. Frustrating isn’t it?

There are numerous software packages, third-party Merchants and others who provide an online purchasing and payment system for you. Clickbank, whom I use charges a flat percentage per transaction and $1 and absolutely no other fees. You can set your site up to accept credit cards within 30 minutes, perhaps less. Once the credit card transaction is authorized, an email message is sent to your client advising of password and access details to the program purchased. Make sure instant access is available or your clients will begin emailing you.

The most critical phase, phase three is next. Hav