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1
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Context aims
• Results
• Analysis of the literature
• Case study n1 at University
• Case study n2 in a company
• Case study n3 in a training centre
• Conclusions
• Perspectives

2
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Context aims
• Much ado about nothing , caricatured speeches
• Efforts to rationalize in public and private
  companies
• New comers with offensive marketing
• Start-up going down but lots of projects
• e-learning KM porosity immaterial value
• Lightness of the French production

3
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Context Aims
• To wring the ROIs neck
• Try to give training actors some valid data
• To validate some hypothesis for example to have a
  different approach according to the investigated
  ground (is it possible to mix firms,
  universities, training centres?)
• Try to build an analysis grid to calculate costs
  of flexible systems
• Test this tool

4
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Results of the documentary analysis
• No theoretical background to rely upon
• A binary approach training is looked at as an
  expense or an investment
• A mechanical transfer of traditional criteria
  and instruments on a field characterised by
  complexity, innovation and service co-production

5
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Results of the documentary analysis
• No evaluation of the flexible systems output, of
  the socio-economical impact though talking about
  ROI!
• When criteria in ROI calculation is mentioned, it
  is never justified, it can even be in
  contradiction with profitability
• Focus only on running costs
• Limits of the fixed and variable costs
• Limits of the direct and indirect charges
  distinction

6
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Results of the university investigations
• A complex environment where data collection is
  hard
• Investigations question about the existing
  organisation as far as management tools, models
  and practices are concerned
• The ABC model and our thought process (personal
  and partial use of the theoretical model)
• http//www.fffod.org/fr/doc/S2NET/CostsODL/La
  démarche.doc

7
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Results of the university investigations
• Identification of 28 activities gathered into 4
  main process and 11 categories of actors
• http//www.fffod.org/fr/doc/S2NET/CostsODL/Nomencl
  ature d'activités.doc
• Variable process programmation and management
  are more important than production and
  exploitation
• http//www.fffod.org/fr/doc/S2NET/CostsODL/VALORI
  SATION DES ACTIVITES.doc
• Actors who concentrate their tasks upon 1 or 2
  process
• http//www.fffod.org/fr/doc/S2NET/CostsODL/CONTRIB
  UTION DES ACTEURS.doc

8
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Results of the university investigations
• The main role played by teachers
• Some activities take time but are not necessarily
  costly (ex instruction of the administrative
  dossiers)
• Some interesting data crossing calculation of
  the of agregate remuneration taken by each
  activity (e.g exploitation takes 19 of the
  agregate remuneration for 26 of the time spent)

9
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Results of the university investigations
• Subsidy effects at university due to the  common
  pot  principle
• Some expenses are not taken into account by the
  local accountancy
• Indirect charges are difficult to link with
  activities for part of the resources which are
  used is common and the other part is
  specificactors are not able to appreciate,
  mesure which part is aimed at the ODL system.

10
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Results of the university investigations
• A profit and loss account which is not
  profitable. About 100 students per half-year are
  needed to reach the balance. Only 123 were
  trained on the past 4 half-years
• http//www.fffod.org/fr/doc/S2NET/CostsODL/Crésult
  at partiel.doc
• An average cost per student 5403,20 euros BUT
  the training session is charged 1524,5 euros
• An average cost per hour per process calculation
  exploitation process costs around 20,7 euros per
  hour, the management process costs around 37,35
  euros per hour.

11
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Investigation results in a company
• Different approach focusing on ROI
• A specific context efforts to rationalize (cost
  of training kind of taboo, setting up of a
  department in charge of service buying) and to
  revise the existing training system
• An ambitious e-learning project (650 persons on
  150 different locations)

12
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Investigation results in the company
• The firm hypothesis costs must be reduced thanks
  to e-learning (face to face time to train and
  through individualization)
• An unfinished ingeneering of the flexible system
• The B2e department a restricted vision
• Methodological bias the payback (less than a
  year)

13
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Investigation results in the company
• Limits of the analysis grids
• No links beetween the B2E grids and the central
  management tools?
• No valid experience on e-learning, a step by step
  process due to innovation, risks are difficult to
  cope with
• No look back on past errors (high level of
  failures, no development of the former e-learning
  initiatives)

14
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Investigation results in the company
• Estimations rather than rigourous calculations,
  no control of the B2E on the data, lots of hidden
  costs
• Sophisticated management instrument BUT no tools
  to assess the flexible system outputs
• No valid comparisons face to face versus
  e-learning
• An analysis grid which was  localy adapted,
  difficulty to make the grid used as it was
  supposed to be?

15
Renforcement de la volonté de rationaliser
Création dune Direction Projet B2E recensement
des projets dont e-learning, benchmark, ébauche
de loutil daide à la décision, rationalité
limitée, cadre pré-construit, problématique de
linvestissement immatériel
Aucune mesure de loutput (rendement pédagogique,
amélioration des performances, ), suivi des
gains avec le contrôle de gestion à préciser,
instance et niveau de pilotage de la production
du dispositif non définie
Volonté stratégique et politique de rationaliser
le foisonnement didées
Écarts, dérives, suivi des gains peu fiable,
difficulté à retrouver ses petits
Faible maîtrise du e-learning par la cellule B2E,
aucun contrôle de lexhaustivité des éléments de
calcul et de leur pertinence, sous-estimation des
risques, respect des systèmes dintérêt
Définition dun cadre, dune méthodologie ,
permettant de valider la rentabilité de tel ou
tel projet
Validation du projet, légitimation du projet et
du cadre, respect des systèmes dintérêts
divergents
Ingénierie des projets non aboutie, comparaison
de service qui sont différents, pertinence des
indicateurs à revoir, calcul des coûts du projet
tronqué, faible maîtrise du e-learning par MOA et
MOE, non prise en compte de la dimension
complexité
Stratégie de contournement de loutil,  faire
entrer dans les cases 
16
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Investigation results in the T. Centre
• Having a look on an ODL system partly funded by
  ESF after a two year experiment
• An ambitious project regarding the target group,
  the number of places (30 planned, 20 worked, only
  9 worked all along the project), the technical
  architecture and the pedagogical organisation

17
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Investigation results in the T. Centre
• A system which could not have been set up without
  ESF
• One partner business plan

18
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Investigation results in the T. Centre
• One partner business plan

19
The costs of ODL first analysis

• One partner economic model 0,8 per hour per
  trainee BUT it is charged less than 0,5 !
• http//www.fffod.org/fr/doc/S2NET/CostsODL/Modélis
  ation ILEP.doc

20
The costs of ODL first analysis

• The economic model
• Not complete
• Major subsidy effects
• Some costs are supported by partners
• On the shelf products (except for distant
  education resources)
• Model based on a kind of ideal situation BUT many
  hidden costs due to organisational problems
• http//www.fffod.org/fr/doc/S2NET/CostsODL/Dysfonc
  tionnements recensés.doc

21
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Difficult to find adjustments 51 of the costs
  tutoring but it is only 23 of the overall time

22
The costs of ODL first analysis

• The limits of this model
• Doesnt represent reality cost versus expense
• Costs supported by partner dependance
• Reducing tutoring is rather risky pedagogy
  versus economy?
• Susbidy effects is not profitability and develop
  on ashort time basis frustration and tensions in
  the organisation

23
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Conclusions at this step
• Investigating on costs is above all questioning
  the existing organisation and practices (not
  stable, not readable among the organisation
  because of the weakness of the management
  instruments)
• Context are of paramount importance
• But there is at least one  specifically
  generic  element no technological remedy, ICTs
  are not likely to generate (automatically) a
  better profitability or productivity
• 3 regards sur 3 mondes

24
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Conclusions at this step
• 3 critical eyes upon 3 different  worlds which
  very well illustrate Simon March concept of
  limited rationality (hard to collect data,
  illusion around the management of ODL costs
  synonymous of uncertainty and complexity
  management)
• This sounds as an echo to the speeches on
  profitability in training (hardly based on valid
  data )
• Showing the weakness of the way costs are
  analysed

25
The costs of ODL first analysis

• Perspectives
• Keep on analysing and testing our grid on 4
  e-learning systems
• Try to find partners to keep on investigating
• Try to deal with the much more difficult question
  of impacts and outputs