Life of a Course

Each course has its own lifecycle of usefulness. Some are designated for use during a limited amount of time only. Some have a limited timeframe, but reappear for follow-up later. Others are meant for steady long-term use. Determining the course’s lifespan helps determine the need for scheduled or anticipated maintenance.

During development, the expected lifecycle of a course is determined. For example, the entire company may need a lesson on a new or changed safety procedure. The course may have to survive until the new procedure is written into existing safety protocols and all present employees are trained. At that point the course has reached the end of its value. However, if a new audience develops, such as new hires, then the course will have a longer life.

A course involving software, may need editing when the software is updated. This may happen on a fairly regular basis, but in the case of an exchange in ownership, it may change dramatically and quickly as the new owner makes it their own.

This is where monitoring becomes vital. To keep your course catalog up to date, the courses require monitoring and appropriate actions taken. Expired courses need removing. Courses with information that exists in another form, such as the safety protocol that is part of the safety manual, need removing. Courses that could contain outdated or inaccurate information need evaluation and modification or removal.

The trick is keeping track of it all. This sounds like an easy task, but when there are thousands of courses, it can be almost impossible to remember the needs of each. Careful documentation and periodic monitoring is required to assure a course is used to its fullest extent. Read the other article in this newsletter to learn about one possible solution.