What Is Bespoke eLearning?
And how does it differ from off-the-shelf eLearning?
Bespoke eLearning Vs Off-the-Shelf
When designing a training programme, it can be challenging to choose between generic and custom eLearning. In this blog post, we discuss what is bespoke eLearning and the key differences between these solutions, helping you make an informed decision for your organisation.
What Is Bespoke eLearning?
Also known as tailor-made or custom eLearning, bespoke eLearning offers more than one-size-fits-all approaches. The content is finely tuned to an organisation’s specific industry, culture, and learning objectives. This ensures that the training resonates with learners, making the educational experience more engaging and relevant. Good bespoke eLearning should be adaptable and easily accommodate changes in industry regulations, company policies, or learner feedback.
What Is Off-the-Shelf eLearning?
In contrast to bespoke material, off-the-shelf (OTS) eLearning refers to existing training content available for purchase and use by a wide range of organisations. OTS courses are designed using a generic approach to cater to a broad audience rather than specific organisations. As a result, OTS content is usually cheaper than bespoke alternatives and can be deployed rapidly.
OTS eLearning has one major disadvantage: the scope for customisation is limited or even non-existent. While some adjustments may be possible, generic eLearning content won’t reflect the precise needs of an organisation or how it operates. This means that readers may struggle to understand how the content applies to them.
Making The Decision
Whether opting for the precision of custom eLearning solutions, or the cost-effectiveness of off-the-shelf alternatives, each path has its merits. But which one is right for your organisation? Here are some factors to consider when making this decision.
Organisational Goals
The main consideration must be satisfying the requirements of your organisation. Bespoke eLearning, with its customised content and learner-centric design, becomes a strategic choice for organisations seeking a highly tailored approach that resonates with their specific industry and culture. For instance, firemen face safety challenges that people in other organisations won’t, so fire brigades choose bespoke health and safety courses developed specifically for them.
Budget
Finance always plays an important role in decision-making. Off-the-shelf eLearning usually costs less in the short-term. However, if you are training a high number of users, perhaps over several years, bespoke eLearning may end up being more cost effective. For example, you may be a large organisation that requires every employee to undertake an annual fire safety course for compliance reasons. In this case you may find that the return on investment for custom eLearning is higher.
Time
Without the need to develop new material, off-the-shelf courses can usually be deployed quickly. This makes them attractive if your training need is urgent. For example, SkillSet rapidly implemented training for a client in the finance industry as they would have been fined if staff weren’t trained in accordance with industry rules very quickly.
Engagement
Bespoke eLearning can include real-world scenarios and organisation-specific information. This makes the content more relevant to the learner. If user engagement is important in obtaining the necessary learning outcome, then custom eLearning may be needed.
SkillSet's Approach to Off-the-Shelf eLearning
At SkillSet, we understand that a one-size-fits-all approach will rarely completely satisfy the needs of an individual client. Therefore, we offer the best of both worlds: a unique blend of bespoke and tailored off-the-shelf eLearning.
We offer a set of off-the-shelf eLearning courses covering subjects that are important to a wide range of organisations. However, we have designed these to be rapidly and cost-effectively customised. We tailor scenarios that are relevant to our client’s users, incorporate organisation-specific information, and match the customer’s branding. This approach ensures that learners relate to the content, and retain the information.
Our tailored off-the-shelf eLearning modules are designed by a team of content professionals, offering both adaptability and compliance with the highest regulatory standards, including GDPR and WCAG 2.1 AA.
Examples of Off-The-Shelf eLearning Tailored by SkillSet:
SkillSet delivered a tailored off-the-shelf cyber security eLearning course for Cyber Resilience for Development (Cyber4Dev), aimed at organisations across Latin America.
The training needed to address the specific cyber security needs of these organisations while being accessible in both English and Spanish.
The challenge was to adapt generic off-the-shelf eLearning content to meet the precise requirements of Cyber4Dev’s diverse audience and ensure it was culturally and contextually relevant.
SkillSet partnered with the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) to design and develop a highly tailored data security eLearning course. This solution included fully customised branding and scenarios specific to the challenges faced by ORR, ensuring relevance and engagement for the learners.
The course is hosted on SkillSet’s robust elasticLearning platform, providing flexibility, scalability, and easy access for ORR employees. This collaboration ensured a comprehensive, interactive learning experience, enhancing ORR’s data security awareness and compliance across the organisation.
SkillSet delivered highly customised off-the-shelf health and safety eLearning content for a leading UK manufacturer.
The course modules were customised to include the organisations logo and colour scheme. We also included workplace-specific scenarios and links to existing resources. This enables learners to seamlessly access relevant materials, such as organisational policies and procedures, when they are learning about related topics.
Our client was able to deliver eLearning to their employees rapidly and effectively, demonstrating compliance with UK health and safety legislation.
SkillSet's Approach to Bespoke eLearning
At SkillSet, we believe that one size doesn’t fit all. Since 1992, we have been tailoring our learning solutions to be not only relevant, but also fit for purpose, ensuring that learners actively engage with the content.
There are instances where off-the-shelf content may not be suitable to meet your specific needs or lacks the necessary specificity for your organisation or role.
For instance, you might have completed a generic course on data protection, but do you possess a comprehensive understanding of the personal data involved in your day-to-day responsibilities and how to handle it? This might sound simplistic, yet without placing learning into a contextual framework, does it truly meet your needs?
Our designers work closely with subject matter experts when developing bespoke eLearning. This means that our clients have complete control over the design and content of the training from the beginning to the end.
Examples of Bespoke eLearning by SkillSet:
Landex had a wealth of PDF content that was valuable but underutilised due to its traditional format. The challenge was to transform this content into dynamic eLearning modules that would enhance learner engagement, improve knowledge retention, and be easily accessible across multiple devices.
SkillSet collaborated closely with Landex’s subject matter experts to convert the static PDFs into interactive modules that included multimedia elements such as videos, quizzes, and simulations. These enhancements made the learning process more engaging and effective.
Hertsmere Borough Council partnered with SkillSet to develop a series of custom eLearning modules aimed at educating prospective tenants.
The challenge was to create content that was not only informative and easy to understand but also engaging enough to encourage completion. Additionally, the modules needed to be accessible to a diverse audience, including individuals with varying levels of digital literacy.
Civil Service College partnered with SkillSet to create a custom eLearning course based on The Public Sector Fox. SkillSet developed tailored modules with real-world case studies and assessments to make the content relevant and engaging. Using Articulate Storyline 360 and SkillSet’s elasticLearning platform, the course allowed users to track progress, revisit content, and offered managers detailed reporting.
The project was delivered on time, and the Civil Service College praised SkillSet for guiding them through their first custom eLearning project.
Conclusion
Whether you opt for the tailored precision of bespoke eLearning, or the ready-made convenience of off-the-shelf solutions, you need to make an informed decision that aligns with your organisation’s learning and development goals.
Still finding it challenging to decide the best approach for your organisation? Fear not. Our team at SkillSet is here to guide you. Get in touch today, and one of our experienced consultants will help find the right eLearning solution for you.
Also Asked:
What are the benefits of choosing bespoke eLearning for my organisation?
Bespoke eLearning includes the ability to tailor content specifically to your organisation’s needs, culture, and objectives. This makes training more relevant and engaging for learners, leading to better retention and application of knowledge. It also allows for seamless integration of your branding and the use of real-world scenarios that reflect your industry. Additionally, custom eLearning can be updated to meet changing regulations, ensuring long-term value and effectiveness.
Is bespoke eLearning more expensive than off-the-shelf courses?
Bespoke eLearning may have a higher upfront cost compared to off-the-shelf courses due to the customisation and development involved. However, it can be more cost-effective in the long run, especially for organisations with specific training needs or a large number of learners. Custom eLearning can provide a better return on investment by aligning closely with your training objectives, increasing engagement, and reducing the need for frequent updates or additional training programmes.
How can I ensure that bespoke eLearning content is engaging and relevant?
We ensure engagement and relevance by working closely with your organisation to understand your unique goals, challenges, and audience. Our team of instructional designers creates content that reflects real-world scenarios, incorporates interactive elements, and uses multimedia to enhance the learning experience. By personalising the content to your specific industry and incorporating learner feedback, we ensure that the course resonates with participants and keeps them actively engaged.
What makes SkillSet's off-the-shelf eLearning superior to other content providers?
Our tailored off-the-shelf eLearning provides the best of both worlds: the convenience of ready-made courses with the adaptability to ensure the material is relevant and effective for your organisation’s needs.
These courses can be modified to include your organisation’s branding, specific scenarios, and integrated materials. This approach ensures rapid deployment and scalability, making it easy to roll out training across your workforce swiftly.
