Seriously, the typical IT person in your company is not the guy you run to for eLearning advice, especially if you don’t know squat. You must think of your self-preservation. Think of your job security. And if you are a contractor, think of your reputation and income.
The basics of eLearning cover the essentials of the Internet, authoring in PowerPoint, Flash, audio recoding, image editing, video production, FTP (file transfer protocol), servers, HTML, security, logins, reports, etc. The Do-It-Yourselfers avoid learning the basics from their IT folks or attending an expensive seminar. Safely away from the office, the Do-It-Yourselfers hire or bribe a young tech expert from the nearby community college. You are lucky if your own child, or maybe a niece or nephew, can be your tech guru.
Constantly hold coaching sessions with your tech kid. Humble yourself. This is when you can be a dummy without fear of backlash. Learn the definitions, the basic operations, and try demo software. Complete the proof of concept with your tech kid. You will be amazed how ready you will be to talk with your boss or the IT team when the time comes. (This is a series of post from my book “Do-It-Yourself eLearning 2009).
Related Blog Entries:
The Master SME: How to become one? How to work with it?
Cut to 30% eLearning Development Costs
Ray Jimenez, PhD
http://www.vignettestraining.com/
http://www.simplifyelearning.com/
“Helping Learners Learn Their Way”