There is a bit of worry in the modern business world because of growing technology and new emerging fields of human activity. They need to train their employees quickly to manage the tasks their positions might carry out. And eLearning looks like the perfect solution for this. But it's not that simple. Many businesses started the eLearning platform with a lot of enthusiasm and implemented everything correctly. 

But still, they face failed eLearning projects.  Most people know the benefits of eLearning, but only a few have an idea of why these projects fail. Many organizations usually fail to recognize and address project failures. But for rescuing a failed e-learning project, it's crucial to identify the elements that usually lead to failures.  

Article insight: Identifying the problem areas in your eLearning project that lead to failure is the key to rescuing a failed e-learning project. Let's find out those problems and look for the appropriate solution. 

Understanding e-learning project failures: 

Many organizations have shifted towards eLearning for employee training because it has proven its effectiveness in keeping learners engaged. But still, you come across some eLearning projects that fail. Let's look at some reasons for eLearning projects’ failures.

Meager planning:

Plans are nothing; planning is everything. This phrase by Dwight D. Eisenhower is perfect when it comes to eLearning project management. Most of the time, it's insufficient planning that leads to the failure of an eLearning project. Vendors' failure to communicate properly with the client and lack of precise goals are also the reasons for failure. 

The course content didn't serve learners' requirements:

Trainers usually include detailed information in their courses. But it's not needed. First, you must single out the performance gaps of your target audience. Then the content within the eLearning course should be aligned accordingly. Adult learning principles state that adults learn only when they are sure whatever they are learning will help them in their work. So, you need to make your learning objectives clear. 

Not engaging the learners: 

The biggest challenge in eLearning is to keep learners engaged. It's difficult for learners to achieve their learning goals and finish their assignments when the course is dull. They don't retain information also, which results in poor performance and high dropout rates. 

Inadequate quality checks: 

Never compromise on quality. Quality checks usually take ample time, but it's crucial to have them to make sure that your eLearning course is effective. Your eLearning project can fail even with a single error like a mismatch in the audio sync or a small typo as it affects the overall effectiveness of your course.

In the e-learning industry, failure is quite a knotty term. People consider an eLearning project a failure when it fails to engage the learners. You must be proactive in rescuing a failing project. There will be indicators that will tell you that your eLearning project may be failing. Ignoring these indicators will lead to serious problems. 

The consequences of ignoring project failure:

Below-par retention rates: 

When you notice that your course is not engaging or challenging for the learners, then you must implement some interactive videos and relevant quizzes to tackle this issue. Otherwise, the learners will not complete their courses or drop out early. 

Negative rating from learners:

When you know that the learners are not having a good learning experience and are not satisfied with the project. It means that the course is not serving its purpose. Act immediately or else the learners will give negative reports of the course. And this will affect the project. 

The importance of conducting a thorough assessment: 

When things don't work out, people usually blame someone. It's very tempting, but it will not help. The only thing needed in this situation is to pin down the weaknesses and act to make sure that the project is not ruined further. Assessing a failing eLearning project is very crucial. To make sure you don't come across failure again, you need to evaluate the project. Assessing is not just about picking out the failures, you must look at what went well also. This way, you can draw up a new plan accordingly, and mobilizing a team for project recovery will be easier.

Identifying the root causes of project failure: 

Its objectives were not set at the beginning: 

It's very crucial to clearly define the goals of your course at the beginning for various reasons. Well-defined objectives play a major role in any successful strategy. When you define the course objectives in the initial phase it can stop your project from being a failure.  To clearly define your goals at the beginning, you can implement easy-to-use project management software. This way, the course attendees will know what they must do after completing the course. 

You didn't understand the learner: 

You just can't develop a course just for the sake of making one. Rather, you must try to understand your learners and their conditions to ease their learning. Sometimes learners find eLearning courses to be too rigid. But when you understand your target audience, you can help them adapt to the learning. For this reason, tailoring the content to fit the learners is very crucial. 

Communication gap: 

There must be proper communication between the course designers, clients, and users. Make sure that the communication is clear throughout every phase of the project till the end. Failing to maintain clear communication can harm your course badly.

Developing a rescue plan for e-learning projects: 

To make your e-learning successful, you can include some elements in your rescue plan. Let's look at them.

Committed project manager:

There must be a dedicated project manager for each project. Make sure the project management process is well-defined and repetitious. And importantly, communicate clearly with your vendor and tell them your expectations. 

Use interactivity: 

Rather than making your learners just click, incorporate interactivity to engage them with the course. There are many interactivities like rollovers and click-on tabs to keep your learners engaged.

Add simulations:

Instead of showing your learners a video of how to do certain actions. Provide simulations as it allows them to get involved in the learning process. Learners can try out several actions within guided conditions when you provide them with eLearning simulations.

Adaptability and flexibility:

It's not just about making your course interesting or aligning it with your learner's needs, the course must be flexible. Make sure your course is flexible. If it's not, then no use. Let's look at some ways to make your course flexible:

Free navigation: 

Don't limit the navigation of the course, allow learners to navigate through the entire course according to their needs. Navigation buttons throughout the course should be standardized. Make sure you provide clear instructions to navigate.

Quality checks:

Spend enough time on quality checks and make sure quality analysis takes place repetitively during the development process.

Double-check the following elements to ensure that the course doesn't have any flaws:

• Grammar and spelling must be appropriate. 

• Images in the course should make sense. 

• Fonts, colors, and navigation should be compatible throughout the course. 

• Audio should sync with the proper slides.

Summing up:

Above we have discussed some of the major reasons your eLearning courses might fail. And we have provided a rescue plan for your project also. So, if your project is failing, you know what to do. To learn more about eLearning project planning check out this blog.