Tony Karrer's eLearning Blog on e-Learning Trends eLearning 2.0 Personal Learning Informal Learning eLearning Design Authoring Tools Rapid e-Learning Tools Blended e-Learning e-Learning Tools Learning Management Systems (LMS) e-Learning ROI and Metrics

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

eLearning Certifications

I received an interesting and probably fairly important question. I believe this person represents a fair number of individuals who work in the world of workplace training / learning.

I am a Senior Organizational Development and Training Specialist based in San Diego, CA. I came across your blog today searching for certification programs in the area of eLearning and/or Web Based Training Design. I have about 6 years of experience of classroom training but my company has been reluctant to give us any kind of exposure to web based training or make any real changes to this effective training medium. I know that to secure my future in this field, I must gain some more knowledge in this area on my own.

So I'm wondering if you have any suggestions on some credible, relatively affordable programs that provide certification in eLearning or Web Based Training Design. Any information you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Kudos to this person for not allowing the limitations of their organization limit what they are going to learn. That said, those limits will certainly make it more challenging to find a good choice around eLearning Certifications. Let’s try to help them out.

When I asked about this last time in eLearning Certification, some of the responses:

Also, check out Certification Magazine for many options. http://www.certmag.com

I’m sure there are a lot more programs out there at this point. And a myriad of online degree programs.

I also think it would make a lot of sense to look at some of the recent discussions about certifications and degrees in instructional design. Here are some quick findings via eLearning Learning – particularly I looked at best of pages around: instructional design, eLearning Certification and did queries around degrees, etc. Some really good reading…

10 comments:

Jeff Goldman said...

University of MD, Baltimore County (UMBC) has a great ISD graduate program. This program also offers certifications in Instructional Technology and Distance Ed, if you are not ready for the time involved in getting the MA.

Here's their site - http://www.umbc.edu/isd/

I received an MA from the program and found it a strong ISD program that included courses that taught the practical e-learning design and development skills needed in the real world... not just theory.

Mark S said...

While it certainly can't hurt, a certification is not going to be a replacement for real skills. I have not had any exposure to any recent cert programs, but I really recommend you pick an ILT course that you presently do and try to convert it to elearning. Along the way you'll need to pick up and learn how to use some software tools (Google is your friend, and some elearning forums/lists online will help), and you'll get a feel for what it takes. Then, over time, as your skills increase, and the 'wow' factor of simply being able to put together a functioning course is over, you'll begin to focus on the real important thing - the design. But make no mistake, at this point in time in our field, the thing that needs to go on the resume is tool/skill knowledge. PowerPoint expertise is a given, then comes Articulate and/or Adobe Presenter, Captivate, etc. If you really want to impress then I suggest you learn some Flash as well. Not just how to make an animated bouncing ball, but also how to do basic actionscript (nothing amazing, just how to respond to button click events, etc.). That skill alone will put you head and shoulders above 99.9% of your competition, unfortunately, since they have spent the past 10 years trying to make the most of PowerPoint instead of learning limitless tools...

That said, the past couple of years, the 'rapid' software has become competent if used properly. So no shame in starting there.

mark

Allison said...

Amazing that the person who stimulated this thread resides in San Diego. We have had program, full Masters and certificates, online and on campus, for decades. You can't be engaged in elearning or workplace learning and performance that leverages technology without bumping into many SDSU EDTEC grads. It is something that our faculty and students are passionate and inquisitive about.

You can find out more about the programs at http://edtec.sdsu.edu/

Allison Rossett

Tony Karrer said...

Thanks - I'm trying to add these as we go. I'm sure this is going to be very helpful to folks. And Allison, I'm a little embarrassed that SDSU wasn't already there. :)

Simon Fowler said...

For virtual facilitation: I'm participating in a 'synchronous facilitation' course with http://www.insynctraining.com/ that's very good so far. I'm doing the 'producer' program next month. They also have a design program.

test said...

Tony, Please consider adding:

http://vignettestraining.com/preview-main-workshop.htm

http://www.trainingliveandonline.com/

http://3minuteworlds.com

Also, I am assisting Assumption University in implementing eLearning approaches with their OD MA/PHD program.

Best,

Ray

Connie Malamed said...

Hey Tony,
In case this helps your readers, I'm tracking the US programs I've heard or read about as a Resource page at The eLearning Coach here: http://theelearningcoach.com/resources/instructional-design-programs/.
Maybe I should be calling it something different than ID Programs. Anyway, I'll see if there are any from your list that I can add to this page. Thanks for running this.

Connie Malamed

Joan Vandervelde said...

University of Wisconsin-Stout offers an Instructional Design Graduate Certificate Program to meet the increasing demands for qualified professionals in the field of instructional design.

In this four-course online program, you will learn the skills necessary to develop self-paced e-learning job aids, computer-based training, online courses, webinars, orientations and tutorials ... or redesign existing curriculum for just-in-time delivery and electronic performance support systems (EPSS).

The eight-week courses focus on real-world projects to build an e-portfolio and aid in job searches. Credits may be applied as electives in the Master of Science in Education graduate degree program.

Visit http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/instructionaldesigncert.shtml to find out more about the certificate program.

Unknown said...

yum productions in Australia offer e Learning competencies from the Training and Assessment Diploma:


TAADEL501B Facilitate e-learning
TAADES503B Research and design e-learning resources
TAADES504B Develop and evaluate e-learning

The course will be conducted twice in 2010 - the course takes about 4 months to complete.
The course is conducted online through scheduled online webinars & learning content from our Moodle

Information is at http://www.yum.vic.edu.au/downloads/eLearning_competencies_2010.pdf

Anonymous said...

Tony and others,
Thanks for this post, and subsequent discussion. I have a question.

Given that many of these programs/courses are online, and that the material is to a large extent about online learning, how much does the location of the institution matter?

When I saw the first comment (thanks, Jeff) I thought: hey, that's close enough to me. But if the courses are online anyway, what value does local add?