I joined the effort last fall, after being asked to create a training course called “Selection Interviewing,” which is meant to teach new managers how to effectively locate and hire new employees. As a side note, I submitted this project as an independent study course as part of my Master’s program at UMass Boston. (Aced it!)
I was teamed with a liaison from Last Mile Learning who provided me with some resources such as templates and graphics, but basically, I was on my own to develop a scenario and create the entire course from scratch. After contributing well over 100 hours of design, development, and production work, I completed the course around Thanksgiving and submitted it for approval to the organization. They loved the course and required not a single change. The Last Mile Learning web site went live in April with 15 eLearning courses, 13 face-to-face training packages, four curriculum guides, and two learning paths. Of these, seven courses have already been translated to Spanish, French, and Portuguese. 21 more courses are currently under development. (Check it out here: http://www.lastmilelearning.org/site_build/www/index3.php)
I can’t tell you how exciting it was for me to view the new web site, see my course, and to know that it is a part of such a wonderful resource to so many people who are working to make the world a better place. It was really hard work, and consumed much of my free time last fall, but I would eagerly participate in the project again. In fact, I just agreed to help them out again by quality checking someone else’s finished e-learning course.
Last Mile Learning needs additional volunteers in many capacities, so if you have any interest in hearing more, please reach out to me.
Thank you!
Eileen Cushing-Craig