What is an e-learning governance and why do we need it? Simply put, it is the planning for online learning initiatives, setting goals, objectives and standards, prioritizing learning technology investments (such as a Learning Management System, e-learning authoring software, etc.), and the managing and sustaining of these investments. E-learning governance is needed as e-learning become an enterprise-wide endeavor, it demands a strategic direction and participation of senior level executives to ensure the success and effective applications of learning with technology.
To create an e-learning governance, you need to have the following steps in place:
- set up a Terms of Reference (ToR) – to state the purpose, scope, membership, roles and responsibilities, as well as critical success factors. Click to download a sample doc on Terms of Reference for E-Learning Governance Committee I created for a Western Canadian public sector client.
- After a ToR is set up, you need to consider who will serve on the committee – ideally, committee membership will primarily base on nomination by each of the stakeholder units or who will best represent the key decision maker from each unit. You will also need to elect a chair for the committee. I would suggest this to be rotated on an annual basis.
- Define the purpose, scope, roles and responsibilities for the committee – typically the committee would define and prioritize what learning initiatives to deploy, who will be responsible for deployment, including quality control and evaluation. Equally important, the committee should clearly state what is out of scope – i.e. content validation and details on course development (these tasks are normally part of a working group’s mandate, or up to the individual units to be accountable for).
- Create a vision statement – a vision statement is a framework for all your e-learning strategic planning. It illustrates the purpose, articulate your ideal state, and describe what you are trying to achieve. Here is an example of a vision statement I help crafted for a recent client of mine: To implement and sustain technology-supported training and self-directed e-learning that is strategic, responsive, engaging, measurable, scalable, and collaborative across the organization and all of its operating companies
- Set strategic objectives and milestones – this is where you translate your vision statement into actionable and measurable objectives, as well as setting milestones. I could recommend a short to medium term milestones so as to keep them fluid and flexible.