Comments on: The Value of Good eLearning Developers http://www.equixotic.com/2008/08/25/the-value-of-good-elearning-developers/ A starry-eyed quest for beautiful eLearning and presentations. Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:26:01 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Barry Johansen http://www.equixotic.com/2008/08/25/the-value-of-good-elearning-developers/comment-page-1/#comment-212 Barry Johansen Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:58:32 +0000 http://www.equixotic.com/2008/08/25/the-value-of-good-elearning-developers/#comment-212 It's funny though.... those who dismiss developers with the "finger wiggle" have no problems paying the big bucks to the IT gurus who type all day, the finance people who sit at the keyboard all day, or the people in the C-level offices who can't even do their own email! [What DO those people do all day?] The fact is that there is dignity in ALL the work done in the organization, if the person doing it does it well, with integrity, and pride. My concern is not with the ignorant; it's with those who accept such a dismissive attitude and take it as truth. I've worked in a variety of settings doing work analysis and with some exceptional SMEs who didn't really appreciate their value simply because some "suit" treated them in a dismissive manner. I can recall way too many times when I've been dealing 1:1 with a talented person and heard them say something like "I'm just a .....(fill in the blank)." Whenever I hear that phrase, I know there person is discounting their value. If the job was not valuable, you wouldn't have the job. One of the most exciting things I've done when working with such folks is to help them recognize the depth and breadth of their own expertise! You know the hallmarks of an expert: they do it fast, they do it almost automatically, they skip steps and can't always explain how they decided what to do next, they think it's easy, and they think anyone can do it. Same holds true for eLearning developers. A good one makes it look effortless -- it's a sign of expertise. Sometimes it's useful to let the dismissive finger wiggler try to do it, just to get a taste of our reality. [dismissive finger wiggler is the technical term! ] It’s funny though…. those who dismiss developers with the “finger wiggle” have no problems paying the big bucks to the IT gurus who type all day, the finance people who sit at the keyboard all day, or the people in the C-level offices who can’t even do their own email! [What DO those people do all day?]
The fact is that there is dignity in ALL the work done in the organization, if the person doing it does it well, with integrity, and pride. My concern is not with the ignorant; it’s with those who accept such a dismissive attitude and take it as truth. I’ve worked in a variety of settings doing work analysis and with some exceptional SMEs who didn’t really appreciate their value simply because some “suit” treated them in a dismissive manner. I can recall way too many times when I’ve been dealing 1:1 with a talented person and heard them say something like “I’m just a …..(fill in the blank).” Whenever I hear that phrase, I know there person is discounting their value. If the job was not valuable, you wouldn’t have the job. One of the most exciting things I’ve done when working with such folks is to help them recognize the depth and breadth of their own expertise! You know the hallmarks of an expert: they do it fast, they do it almost automatically, they skip steps and can’t always explain how they decided what to do next, they think it’s easy, and they think anyone can do it. Same holds true for eLearning developers. A good one makes it look effortless — it’s a sign of expertise. Sometimes it’s useful to let the dismissive finger wiggler try to do it, just to get a taste of our reality. [dismissive finger wiggler is the technical term! ]

]]> By: A designer/developer http://www.equixotic.com/2008/08/25/the-value-of-good-elearning-developers/comment-page-1/#comment-209 A designer/developer Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:21:13 +0000 http://www.equixotic.com/2008/08/25/the-value-of-good-elearning-developers/#comment-209 THANK YOU !!!! Seriously...! THANK
YOU
!!!!

Seriously…!

]]> By: Richard http://www.equixotic.com/2008/08/25/the-value-of-good-elearning-developers/comment-page-1/#comment-206 Richard Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:41:04 +0000 http://www.equixotic.com/2008/08/25/the-value-of-good-elearning-developers/#comment-206 Spot on Chris! The organization that most needs a talented e-learning designer/developer (or whatever we wish to call ourselves), is usually the one that doesn't think there's much value in training, let alone e-learning. It's ironic. But if they knew they needed an effective e-learning solution for their problems, they would have already put it in place and have solved many of their problems. That's what our job really is: solve business problems via the medium of e-learning. If we do our job well, e-learning designers should not have difficulty keeping our positions in our organizations, and in fact, we should be climbing higher because of the value we bring to the organization. Good corporate training, which will include e-learning, solves business problems from front-line job training / job aids, to soft skills, to leadership development, to disaster planning, etc., the list goes on. Don't sweat the e-learning ignorant! Let them remain ignorant, while you help solve real business problems and provide value and make your organization better. (Tomorrow I'm meeting with a C-level Admin to cast a vision for my organization to adopt an "Educational Strategic Plan" - why? Because no one has suggested it before now! We have 1600 users in our system!) Spot on Chris! The organization that most needs a talented e-learning designer/developer (or whatever we wish to call ourselves), is usually the one that doesn’t think there’s much value in training, let alone e-learning. It’s ironic. But if they knew they needed an effective e-learning solution for their problems, they would have already put it in place and have solved many of their problems. That’s what our job really is: solve business problems via the medium of e-learning.

If we do our job well, e-learning designers should not have difficulty keeping our positions in our organizations, and in fact, we should be climbing higher because of the value we bring to the organization. Good corporate training, which will include e-learning, solves business problems from front-line job training / job aids, to soft skills, to leadership development, to disaster planning, etc., the list goes on.

Don’t sweat the e-learning ignorant! Let them remain ignorant, while you help solve real business problems and provide value and make your organization better. (Tomorrow I’m meeting with a C-level Admin to cast a vision for my organization to adopt an “Educational Strategic Plan” – why? Because no one has suggested it before now! We have 1600 users in our system!)

]]>