The Development of an Industry-Specific Online Learning Center: Consulting Lessons Learned

Abstract

This paper describes the development and delivery of a complex and large-scale consulting intervention for a national professional association of landscape professionals. My consulting team worked with this professional association and a third partner to develop an online learning center which provided training, professional development, and the opportunity for professional certification to over 50,000 registered users. Here, I describe the client, the challenges that the client faced, and the ways in which the online learning center addressed the clients’ problems. I also provide seven key lessons which other instructional communication consultants should take away from their reading of my experience. Finally, I discuss how communication theory and scholarship informed this project.