The argument for templates

One of the responses to the LSS Employee Satisfaction Survey is that learning templates and procedures are highly requested. This article says that all e-learning should be templated.

The most common way that e-learning developers try to keep costs down – other than using cheap labour offshore – is through template systems and libraries. The idea is simple: by having re-usable components of various sorts, e-learning can be produced quickly, at reasonable cost, at established quality levels.

The article goes on to list 4 principles to create an effective template strategy:

• Templates must exist, and interact, at different levels of scale.
• Templates must support every part of the design and development process.
• Templates must be based on sound theories of learning, and of learning design.
• Templates must be designed to accumulate knowledge around them.

The article sums up with "e-learning should be almost entirely templated, An effective templating strategy will result in better e-learning, happier learners and clients and lower cost production."