Tips for Gathering Source Contents from SMEs_Part 2 January 22, 2009
Posted by elearningtyro in : Instructional Design, Useful Resources , trackbackThis post is the continuation of my earlier post, Tips for Gathering Source Contents from SMEs_Part 1.
Here are the different challenges, which an Instructional Designer (ID) might face when gathering source contents from the Subject Matter Expert (SME), and the best practices for effectively managing those challenges:
Challenge 1
The SME may be located in other countries or remote locations.
Here are the best practices for managing challenge 1:
- An ID must establish a good rapport with the SME before stepping into the input gathering phase.
- The ID and the SME, who are based in the same office location, can arrange for a face-to-face introductory session. If the SME is based in remote office location, the ID can arrange for a one-to-one introductory session with the SME through teleconference or video conference.
- The introductory session must be supported with a presentation that emphasizes on how the SME and his/her source contents play a vital role to the success of an e-learning course.
- The presentation must also include essential information such as the roles and responsibilities of the SME, and the modes of communication with the ID.
Challenge 2
The ID receives a number of documents, links, and presentations from the SME, especially for courses on software applications.
Here is the best practice for managing chellenge 2:
- It is the best practice to convey details such as the word count for a particular topic or page in an e-learning course template to the SME. Thus, the probability of receiving extensive source contents for a particular topic from the SME is less. This approach will also reduce the additional efforts of an ID for analyzing and comprehending all the supporting documents and presentations.
Challenge 3
The SME, especially for engineering and complex subjects, seldom has documents and presentations related to the course. Therefore, an ID needs to have a separate teleconference session or other interactive sessions with the SME for gathering required source contents.
Here are the best practice for managing challenge 3:
- The ID can establish an interactive session with the SME to develop the training plan of an e-learning course. This traning plan should include the following essential details:
- Training objectives
- Target audience profile
- Prerequisite knowledge of the learner
- Titles of the topics to be included in the course
- Key points or key content areas to be included in each topic.
- The ID can then request the SME to provide source contents that map to the traning plan.
These are some of the essential best practices for effectively managing challenges that occur when gathering source contents from the SME. This brings to the end of this post. In my next post related to this topic, I will share information on tools that an ID can use to dynamically gather source contents from the SME. Watch out the ‘Blog’ section frequently!
Comments»
Hi Satish, I’ve read this post earlier on your blog too but never commented as i wasn’t really into blogging then. This is a really impressive list of challenges and their solutions! Infact there have been instances in my job where we had to educate the SME to let them know what we need to make a good course. We used the same strategy of a presentation explaining what we do, what we need from them, with the different kinds of information categorized under headings to make it easier for them to comprehend our job and what we need to get it done.
The results were quite effective as it got them talking on the real issues soon after as they realized we were not getting sufficient support. The trick is to make them realize the value of their contribution and you brought it out really well here.