As the end of 2021 comes into view, it's time for Drupal 7 users to start planning their upgrade to Drupal 8 or Drupal 9.

With Drupal 7 reaching end-of-life in November 2022, upgrading early is the best way to avoid the security vulnerabilities that come with unsupported software and take advantage of improvements to backend modules, faster page load speeds and a more user-friendly content management interface.

Don't Just Lift and Shift – Lift and Improve

Currently, about 63% of Drupal websites are running version 7, including thousands of educational websites. And because the upgrade to Drupal 8 can't be fully automated due to a major rewrite of the framework, this migration is also a prime opportunity to update and enhance your educational website's features, design, content and accessibility.

d'Vinci is partnering with education-focused clients like the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to proactively respond to the imminent Drupal 7 end-of-life with strategy, design and development expertise. Since late 2020, our team has worked to improve the user experience and streamline content management for NHGRI's Unlocking Life's Code website in addition to the technical upgrade to Drupal 9.

When the new website launches next month, educators and students will benefit from UX enhancements, a cleaner UI and faster page load speeds, making it quicker and easier to navigate the website's resources. These technical enhancements, plus numerous content updates and a newly translated Spanish version, will improve the readability, relevance and accessibility of resources to even broader audiences.

Behind the scenes, the upgrade to Drupal 9 empowers NHGRI's content managers to add and update educational resources through a more intuitive and mobile/tablet responsive administrative interface. Our development team built mini content templates using the improved Drupal Paragraph module in order to establish a more structured content entry experience and enable self-service content management without in-depth HTML or design expertise. Finally, we took advantage of the many new additions to Drupal 9's core functionality to streamline custom and contributed modules, simplifying maintenance in the long run.

Start Your Drupal Upgrade

We know software upgrades can feel daunting, but d'Vinci is here to help. As both learning specialists and experts in Drupal development, we share your focus on educational goals and content fidelity through each design, technology and accessibility update.

Learning is too important to be interrupted. As the November 2022 Drupal 7 end-of-life date inches closer, now is the time to get a jump on assessing your Drupal 7 upgrade strategy so that you can take advantage of future Drupal feature and security upgrades. Demand for Drupal developers to assist with migrations to Drupal 8/9 will likely increase in the coming year. Depending on the size of your project, upgrading can take weeks to months to complete so getting started early is key.

Contact us now to receive a Drupal 8/9 upgrade cost estimate and work break-down for your website at no charge. Together, we can ensure your educational website remains secure, accessible, and ready to educate the leaders of tomorrow with minimal down-time.

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• Read more about eLearning Development Request for Proposal (RFP) Template

Video interviews can be an effective approach to reaching your learning audience.

Here is an example of how we used interviews in an online learning experience we created.

In the Responding to Veterans in Crisis course for Law Enforcement Officers, the original in-classroom training featured a panel of veterans and police officers who shared their experiences with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and returning home after active military duty. When asked to create an online version of this training, the d’Vinci team was challenged to add these additional voices to a multi-module eLearning course.

Video interviews with several of the panelists served as the solution to not only create an emotional connection with the law enforcement audience, but as a way to hear about practical application of response techniques. The first module started with an emotional story of one veteran’s experience to grab attention. We continued to weave video throughout the online course as we featured veteran law enforcement officers sharing their experiences and recommendations as a way to introduce new content in the modules and reinforce learning points.

In this example, we used video-interviews to drive the story and enhance the online learning experience.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind before you add video interviews to your next online experience.

1. Crafting video interviews starts with identifying learning objectives. Write questions that will yield responses that support those objectives.
2. A preliminary phone or in-person interview helps to test the strength of your interview questions. It will also help you to start to identify how you want to incorporate the responses within the context of the learning program.
3. Working with a talented video production team aids in creating a positive experience for the interviewees and the polished and professional end result of your edited videos.
4. It's important to work with your interviewees and confirm their comfort level with being on camera early.

What training or educational experiences are you looking to recreate in an online environment? Have you considered video interviews? Take a look at few of our other examples where video interviews made an impact on the learning experience.

See Related Examples:

• Delivering Death Notifications
• Blackstone Launch Pad
• SafeSecureKids.org "What is consent?"

Learn more about how d'Vinci uses video and animation in learning.

Establishing a new eLearning vendor relationship is a complicated process. How can you make sure you get the ROI you need? Two words: "Focus" and "Partner."

Focus - First, you need to make sure you're considering the right questions.

How will eLearning help your organization succeed? What skills do your learners need? How will the content be delivered? Your answers to these and other questions provide the focus you need to lay a foundation for success. A carefully thought out Request for Proposal (RFP) addresses each question specifically and provides the information your learning partner needs to deliver the results you want.

Partner - A well-crafted RFP helps you evaluate potential partners and find the one that's best for you- the one with the right combination of expertise, technology, management, and creative skills.

A good RFP also allows potential partners to showcase their strengths. With an eLearning RFP, you can clearly communicate requirements, explain your priorities, and list your criteria. And since everyone responds to the same request, it's easier to compare apples to apples when evaluating partners and solutions.

Using an RFP template

We've created an eLearning RFP template to help you get started. The finished RFP will help you compare prospective partners and assess their capabilities, compatibility, and costs. All you need to do is download the template and customize it so it works for you. Let me know if the template helps. And if you have other ideas to improve the RFP process.

Click here to download the RFP template