E-learning is a complex and evolving environment. It blurs the content/delivery medium distinction in a way that has, in its initial evolution, valued the technical delivery aspects over the instructional integrity issues. That's why a lot of e-learning has failed to achieve measurable results. It looks good on the screen, has all the bells and whistles of interactivity, but it fails to deliver content in a way that fosters learning. To create effective training, instructional designers and developers need to join the e-learning team. Membership on that team requires that you understand the environment and speak the language. Here are a few cost-effective tips for getting that knowledge.

• Take an HTML course—and take it online.
  The best way to understand the environment is to experience it. Type "HTML tutorial" into any search engine, and it will return a list of potential courses, many of them free. Look for one that will teach you HTML as you build a website such as the one at About.com (enter "Learn HTML" in the Find It Now box). This course has the added advantage of a messageboard for students so you can help each other over the problem areas. (Free courses often have problem areas.)
• Read up on the subject.
  Start with a beginner's book on HTML to support your online learning efforts, but expand this to include online newsletters, discussion groups, and websites. You may not understand everything that is said in these venues, but you will gradually gain a sense of the vocabulary and the issues surrounding e-learning. Again, use your search engine to find online learning or e-learning sites, or try the American Society of Training and Development. This site has information on e-learning under "Learning Communities."
• Learn about web page design issues.
  Since e-learning is presented in a series of web pages, it is useful to have some knowledge of effective web page design—what's possible and what's not. One good source for basic information on this topic is Easy Web Page Creation by Mary Millhollon with Jeff Castrina. This book covers basic web page design, creation of web pages using HTML, and the process of getting web pages onto the Web. It includes a number of step-by-step activities to help you master the necessary skills.
• Design a test module.
  You might want to invest in an advanced HTML editor like DreamWeaver, which can be used to develop e-learning courses. A thrifty approach would be to purchase the book Mastering Dreamweaver 4 & Fireworks 4 by David Crowder and Rhonda Crowder. It comes with a 30-day trial version of Dreamweaver. Using CourseBuilder, a free extension for Dreamweaver from Macromedia.com, you could develop a simple training module.

Explore and learn as little or as much as you deem appropriate. Your goal isn't to turn yourself into a technical guru (unless you want to), but you do want to speak the language, understand the technical constraints, and appreciate the challenges facing designers and developers of e-learning. Hands-on experience with the tools for developing e-learning will earn you not only respect from the e-learning development team but a voice in the design and development process.

2002 Copyright Marian Schickling. Printed with Permission.

About the Author
Marian Schickling is a freelance instructional designer/developer and writer with over 20 years' experience. Her articles have appeared in Communication Briefings, The Professional Skier, AAA Going Places, and the Sunshine Press. She has also collaborated on numerous American Society for Training and Development Info-Lines and ghostwritten a book entitled "Identifying Targeted Training Needs." Marian can be emailed at Mschicklin@aol.com.

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