Finding Efficiency in Learning Design at 2U:
An Analysis
Context
In R621, a course on analysis that I took in fall of 2021, my classmates and I were tasked with conducting needs analyses projects on a particular set of learners and their unique learning context. At the time, I was the VP of Learning Experience at 2U and there was significant pressure to find efficiencies in work across the company. I chose to focus on the learning designers on my team and analyze their work to generate recommendations on how we might reduce overall time spent on design.
Summary
I began the project by defining the problem, purpose, and proposed methodology. The problem was: learning design was taking up to 60 hours per course, and we needed to reduce the overall time on design and development. My process entailed reviewing the plethora of documentation at my disposal, including onboarding materials and time tracking data, and interviewing a number of learning designers. As part of the project, I created SWOT and force field analyses and generated recommendation that were adopted by the team to make changes to drive efficiency.
Reflection
Leaders are required to come up with thoughtful and effective solutions to complex problems that challenge their business. The process and tools we learned for analysis in R621 is applicable to more than just learning design. It provided a framework for identifying a problem, defining a purpose, establishing a methodology, collecting data, generating potential solutions, and making decisions. Especially with complex problems, it is helpful to have this structured approach and tools like the SWOT analysis to help think things through and arrive at a decision confident that you've examined every angle.
Key Takeaways
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Analysis: Conducting this analysis gave me a framework for methodically identifying a problem and collecting data that would help me make a decision on how to move forward.
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Data collection: Conducting this analysis helped me understand the range of data sources available, how to select the right tool, how to collect data from complementary sources, and find patterns that would help lead to a decision.
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Presentation: Leaders should always be practicing their presentation development and delivery skills. This project helped me do just that.