Digital learning has transformed continuing development for many professionals. Where in-person training and seminars previously provided a backbone to learning and development, now members of professional associations expect a blended model where engaging learning opportunities exist online. 2020, with its large-scale event cancellations, accelerated online learning but many professionals and associations would already have been familiar with its benefits.
This is the start of a new blog series exploring online learning readiness for membership associations. Here, we’ll consider the first of five stages: building a foundation for online learning.
Check back for future blogs that will examine driving engagement and collaboration, evaluating and monitoring, personalising the journey, and analysing and acting.
Where is your association on its online learning journey? Take the Association’s Journey Quiz >
Building a Foundation
1. Who are the stakeholders?
As you get started with online learning, you’ll need to consider who your stakeholders are. They will be important as you develop content and rollout your learning programme. You may have existing relationships with partners or vendors you can draw on; at the very least you’ll need to understand any commitments that are already in place and where support may be available.
2. What content do you have?
Next, consider the capabilities and expertise for course creation you already have in-house. The likelihood is, it will be considerable as membership associations have a depth of knowledge and content. You can make good use of this content as you build integrated, rewarding digital learning experiences that meet member expectations of a modern learning programme.
3. What will the member experience look like from end to end?
You should also consider the entire member experience that learning and development will be a part of. Members expect a joined-up experience with access to everything they need in one place, most likely a membership portal. With this in mind, you should plan to seamlessly integrate learning and development with other services of the member portal.
Take the Quiz
D2L’s Associations Journey Quiz walks you through the specifics to consider at each stage of the learning journey. Take the quiz to find out where you’re on track, what you may need to take a closer look at, and to discover additional resources to help.
Written by
International Digital Marketing Manager
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