A model for estimating the development cost of e-learning modules

Corrie J. Bergeron, Jr., M.Ed. July 2004 All Rights Reserved

Introduction
Inexperienced developers often greatly underestimate the level of effort required to develop interactive multimedia instructional materials. This is usually due to honest naivet about the complexities of creating even seemingly- simple content. This naivet is abetted by the companies that sell multimedia development software, who claim that by using their tools anyone can easily create sophisticated materials. Potential buye rs of custom multimedia solutions also have inflated expectations of what is possible, thanks to the seemingly-effortless sophistication of computer graphics in film and television. The author developed this model in the early 1990s. It has proven valuable in educating clients about the tradeoffs that are required to make informed decisions about the scope and treatment of interactive multimedia programs.

A three-axis model
The effort required to design, develop, and deliver a unit of instructional interactive multimedia (IIM) can be described by a three-dimensional space. (See Figure 1.) Each axis represents a different characteristic of IIM. The further out you move along an axis, the greater the cost of the project. The volume in space described by the intersection of the points on the three axes represents the total development cost of the IIM project.

Production values

Total Cost

Interactivity

Amount of content

Figure 1. A three-axis model for the cost of interactive multimedia development A model for estimating the development cost.doc of e-learning modules Page 1 of 7 1/21/2005

Axis 1 Interactivity
Interactivity is a complex topic, but for our purposes we can simplify it to linear (L) versus non- linear (N), and user-control (U) versus system-control (S). (Bergeron, 1999) Yes, that is itself a two-dimensional matrix, but it flattens out to one dimension in terms of costs. (See Figure 2.)
Least expensive Most expensive ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LS NU LU NS L = linear N = non-linear U = user-controlled S = system -controlled

Figure 2: The Interactivity Axis

The least expensive interactivity is linear, system-controlled (LS). A prime example is a lecture. The learner has no control over the pace or sequence of the presentation. Next on the axis is non- linear, user-controlled (NU). Prime examples are (most) websites, books such as encyclopedias, and magazines. The content may be organized, but the user is not compelled to follow any particular path through the material. Linear, user-controlled materials are the next most-expensive. The first example to come to mind might be a video or audio tape, but that risks making the concept of interactivity dependent on a particular delivery technology. For our purposes determining development costs the difference between linear and non- linear user-controlled materials is not technological, but conceptual. With linear materials, there is a clear relationship between successive chunks of content. Section A transitions to Section B, and B draws on A. If you just jump into B, youll be missing something. The developer provides the organization and transitions. The user may be given the opportunity to control the pace of the presentation, and to a great extent the order, but there is a definite structure to the material. An example might be a loose- leaf collection of short stories versus a bound, annotated anthology. The anthology has significant value added in the organization and annotation. The learner may choose to ignore the provided structure and context surrounding the content, but she is not required to provide the structure and context herself. Linear, user-controlled content is more expensive than non- linear user-controlled content because the developer provides additional structure, context, and connections between chunks in a linear piece. With non- linear content the learner provides the structure. The most expensive kind of interactivity is a non- linear, system-controlled presentation (NS). Examples include free-play simulations and games. A great deal of design, A model for estimating the development cost.doc of e-learning modules Page 2 of 7 1/21/2005

programming, and testing goes into these kinds of programs. You might ask, Wait how is a simulation an example of system control? Isnt the user in control? Well, yes and no. The user of a simulation is certainly making a great many inputs, but there is an underlying set of rules that determines how the system is going to react: You might WANT to open Door X, you might TRY to open Door X, but without the magic Golden Key the door stays locked. In most interactive games, figuring out those underlying rules is part of the game. So it is with many instructional simulations. (Not all instructional simulations fall into this category. A simple procedure simulator, in which the user must perform Step One before being permitted to attempt Step Two, falls in the category of Linear, System-controlled.)

Axis 2 Production Values

The second axis accounts for the cost of creating the multimedia elements of the IIM unit. (See Figure 3.) This axis is not linear, as the cost rises exponentially as you move up.
Least expensive Most expensive ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Text PowerPoint Graphics/Photos Audio Animation Video 3D/Data-driven animation

Figure 3. Production Values Text The least expensive medium is text. Using professional writers, editors, and layout / publication staff increases the cost, of course. Adding simple graphics and photography raises the cost only incrementally, but is unlikely to improve learning unless the images directly support the content (Clark & Mayer, 2003, p.111). Creating custom art and photography is of course more expensive than using stock images. PowerPoint Many instructors post PowerPoint slides from their face-to-face lectures in online classes. This is often a poor choice. Rarely is the content such that it must be revealed to the learner one piece at a time. (When the content is sequential, PowerPoint can be an effective tool.) Slides that are used as lecture support rarely contain enough information to stand on their own. While an instructor can record a voiceover track, this increases the file size even more. Often, a better choice is to rewrite the lecture as a narrative, with bullet points added for clarity and emphasis. PowerPoint files are also very large relative to the amount of content they contain1 . Most slideshows consist entirely of bullet points. The content can usually be delivered as a

A sample PowerPoint file was created using a standard template background and one slide of bullet points. A plain text file of the content was 65 bytes (.06k). The ppt file was 77k. Saving it in RTF/ outline format gave a 3k file. A PDF version was 14k. Saving the presentation as html resulted in a 200k folder.

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plain text or (if formatting is necessary) RTF (rich-text) file in one-tenth the space (and one-tenth the download time for students). Using PowerPoint is certainly efficient from the instructors point of view, but its rarely the best medium from the learners standpoint. Animation 2-D animation (often done in Macromedia Flash) is more expensive than still art, generally by an order of magnitude: if a still image takes an hour to prepare, an equivalent animation may take ten hours. This is not always the case some simple animations can be created very easily us ing built- in tools and effects. However, animation should be used judiciously, and not simply to spice up a lesson. (Clark & Mayer, 2003) Audio Many PCs come equipped with small microphones, and operating systems have basic built- in audio recording and editing capability. Instructors can use these inexpensive tools to record basic narration at low cost. The quality of the recording is correspondingly low. To get professional results, developers must use professional scriptwriting and voice talent, and use a studio with professional-grade recording and editing equipment. This drives up the cost of audio considerably. Video The advent of digital camcorders and home- movie desktop editing has made video seductive. Many developers have used talking- head video in an effort to make lessons more appealing. (As Clark and Mayer point out, this may actually detract from the lessons effectiveness.) Professional-quality video is yet another order of magnitude more expensive than professional audio. Video is also expensive from a maintenance standpoint. Shooting and editing is expensive, but re-shooting and re-editing is even more expensive. This is not to say that video is never appropriate. But including video without a wellthought-out instructional purpose smacks of Mallory the man who climbed Everest because it was there. 3D / data-driven animation The most expensive media are 3D computer-generated animations and data-driven animation such as that seen in flight simulations and first-person-shooter games. Developing 3D animation requires the use of specialized software running on high-end hardware with a trained operator. Data-driven animation requires skilled programmers to design and implement. For some applications, such as airliner flight simulation, the expense is worthwhile. Interactive animations do not necessarily fall into this category. Simple branching, where scene A plays if the user does A, but scene B plays if the user does B, are really a set of A model for estimating the development cost.doc of e-learning modules Page 4 of 7 1/21/2005

simple animations in a non-linear, user-controlled interactivity structure. As noted above in the section on the interactivity axis, it is system-controlled interactivity that is really expensive.

Axis 3 Amount of content

The third axis is the simplest the amount of content to be covered.
Least expensive Most expensive ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Page/object Lesson Course Curriculum

Figure 4. Amount of Content This axis is somewhat nonlinear, since the unit cost decreases the further out you go. If you are developing four lessons, the cost is double that of two lessons. However, if you are developing forty lessons that will share a similar amount of interactivity and similar media treatment, then you will most likely develop reusable templates and models. This economy of scale drives down the unit cost.

Putting it together the model in action

One of the fundamental questions in instructional design is, So what? It leads the designer to question his or her motives and assumptions. Adding interactivity for its own sake, bumping up the production values to add multimedia bells and whistles, add cost without adding value. The conservative designer carefully selects the best combination of interactivity and multimedia to accomplish the instructional task. This is the real world, however, and financial resources are always limited. Sometimes cost constraints dictate that compromises must be made. Case Study: PLATO Technology Fundamentals The author was the designer and project manager for the PLATO Technology Fundamentals project. The content top be covered was an introduction to physics, covering the basic concepts of electricity, hydraulics, mechanics, and thermodynamics, from a practical, systems perspective. The front-end analysis described the audience as non-technical, low-to- moderate reading ability, and oriented towards hands-on learning. It was determined that this audience would benefit from a multimedia, multimodal instructional approach using extensive graphics and read-the-screen audio, with some video of real systems in operation. It was also determined that a number of interactive systems simulations would be a key component of the instructional strategy. The content was mapped out in detail, the instructional strategies outlined, and a production prototype was built to determine a baseline. The interactive simulations were far more challenging to code and test than had been initially assumed. (This is the purpose of prototypes to uncover such issues early in the project.) Extrapolating the prototypes costs to the entire project (and allowing for the learning curve of doing A model for estimating the development cost.doc of e-learning modules Page 5 of 7 1/21/2005

something for the first time and the expected economies of scale), it soon became clear that the cost of developing a unit of content was well in excess of the amount initially budgeted. Something had to move. In the three-axis model, the volume of the box was too big by half. The first thing to go was the video and the read-the-screen audio. A small amount of sound-effect and intro-screen audio was retained primarily for marketing purposes. (The market for academic courseware is very competitive, and demoability is a valid design criterion.) That brought the top of the box somewhat, but the budget was still too big. Reducing the level of interactivity by removing the interactive simulations would have gutted the instructional strategy. We had to leave the total-cost box extended to the right. The only options left were to either double the budget or cut the content in half. The Marketing department had determined the potential revenue from the title, so increasing the budget was not realistic. The designer spent a week carefully dissecting the content analysis, and determined that it was possible to reduce the number of concepts and principles taught. Executive management was briefed, and gave the order: Do it right. Keep the interactivity and cut the content. Figure 4 shows the effect of the decisions. The level of interactivity was retained. The production values were reduced by removing most of the audio, and the amount of content was reduced. This brought the total cost of the project back in line with the budget available.

Production values Original Cost

Revised Cost Interactivity

Amount of content

Figure 4 Making compromises A model for estimating the development cost.doc of e-learning modules Page 6 of 7 1/21/2005

References
Bergeron, Corrie, Interactive Experiences National Association of Broadcasters Multimedia World, 1999 http://www.itasca.net/~corrie/intexp.pdf Clark, Ruth Colvin and Mayer, Richard E., e-Learning and the Science of Instruc tion, Pfeiffer / Wiley, San Francisco, 2003

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