What do you do if your E-Learning project requires technical support from the IT team?

It is important to document a baseline for what "working correctly" looks like, so it can be compared to other failed states. Detailed documentation is key to a successful action plan.

Additional information that you should supply include the browser types and versions tested on ("issue occurs in both most recent versions of Firefox and Chrome"), information about the network (if away from on-site network, or works/does not work with VPN), and whether or not you can replicate the problem. One great best practice is to record your screen as you encounter the error so they can see for themselves, particularly if they can't replicate the issue for themselves.

For technical support from the IT team on your e-learning project, establish clear communication and collaboration. Define project requirements and objectives clearly, ensuring the IT team understands the technical needs. Maintain open communication channels throughout the project, addressing any issues promptly. Offer assistance and clarification as needed to facilitate effective support. This collaborative approach ensures technical support aligns with project requirements.

Always submit a ticket, and include the machine it happened on, user account, the exact steps leading up to the issue and what you've tried, if anything, to resolve or diagnose the issue yourself. If you have some technical ability, it will help them to see that you've already tried x and y and z with no success. They may still need to try those steps for themselves to make sure, but they are more likely to treat you as a partner in the process.

Close communication with IT is key to a fast resolution. You may often need to act as a go-between with your in-house company IT team and the learning management system's IT team, as sometimes both will disavow responsibility for a problem. You may need to act as a mediator and soothe tempers before you get answers.

Collaborate with the IT team to conduct thorough testing and quality assurance (QA) before launching the e-learning project. Test for compatibility, performance, usability, and security to identify and address any issues or bugs before roll-out.

Early on in my role as an LMS administrator/Instructional Designer, I noticed emails were not being received to my work email inbox for course reminders. I had been setting up test courses and email reminders, and inadvertently noticed that I was receiving them to my personal Gmail account, but not my work domain. It was an issue that could have been either the LMS not sending correctly, or our company domain not receiving them properly (they weren't in the spam folder). I first went to our in-house IT team to check if the LMS emails had been blacklisted erroneously, but they were not. I then went to the LMS IT team to ask if they could see emails being sent. The problem was on the LMS side and was ultimately resolved.