Learndot: create coursework online
Learndot is an online learning environment where you can create coursework for you clients, customers and partners in the cloud. The program helps you create channels (or sections of courses) to organize your information. Each channel is then broken down into even smaller sections called concepts. For example, if you are selling coffee, you might have a channel with an overview of your company and how you got started.
Then you could have several concepts detailing the types of coffee you offer and what makes your coffee better than anyone else’s (for partners), another concept for employees, demonstrating how to prepare your coffee, and a final concept for customers, on customer rewards programs or anything else you would like.
How can it work for you?
Learndot breaks down their usability into three categories: employees, partners and customers. For employee usability, an employer can set up a sequence of training videos and hands-on experiences so that the new employee can complete them at their own pace. This will give them an idea of what is expected from them at the job, as well as, allow them to finish training in a non-intimidating, self-paced manner.
For partners, you can set up courses to allow them to see what your product is, how it works, why it is valuable and how they can sell it. This makes their job easier and increases your efficiency and productivity.
For customers, you can set up courses to empower them through certification programs. For example, Microsoft’s “Certified Professional.”
There are endless ways your can use Learndot to reach out to your customers, partners and employees, but all of it takes time. And that is something you have to weigh: the time to load the content versus using a video conferencing program and speaking face-to-face.
Pros and cons of Learndot
One of the advantages is a 14-day free trial so you can explore the program with full functionality to see if it will work for your and your company. Also, for small entrepreneurs just starting a company, the program is free for up to five active learners. They define an active learner as someone who is actively accessing the content that you have loaded into the program. When you sign up for a free trial, the program walks you through setting up your courses, but it is quite time consuming.
Speaking of time, on the disadvantage list is the time it takes to load your own content. Once it is loaded, you can reuse it, but it does take a while to get everything entered and tagged the way you want it. But, in the time it takes to load the content, you could be holding a virtual training session with G+ Hangouts or similar program. It all depends on the needs of your company.
Learndot can effectively manage your content taking the need for training sessions, meetings, and conferences out of your hands and in to the virtual world. But, overall it still feels like going to school. And sitting at the computer screen can become boring. It lacks a face-to-face element that programs like G+ Hangouts offers. But, it is still a good alternative to sitting in a room with twenty other newly hired people, going at the instructor’s pace or of any business putting resources into repetitive, cyclical content that could otherwise be created once. Try it out and see what you think.
