Technology and Training – Where Are We Headed?

In the readings for this week it is painfully clear that technology will have a strong role in the training each and every person will encounter at some point in their lives.  In today’s fast-paced world we have even moved to having training available on our handheld devices.  I am almost nostalgic for the days not too long ago where we could leave our homes and not be encumbered by the outside world – those days are long gone.  Today we leave the house with our cell phones (smart phones) in hand and our tablets under our arms ready to face the day.  We are in constant contact with everyone, everywhere we go.  Hotspots are found everywhere and where there is not a hotspot we have “aircard” connections built right in to the device so we do not miss a thing. 

Take for example the collaborative study done between IBM and Columbia University.  They were trying to see if the IBM employees utilized their smart phones for training programs.  The training group was under the impression that if they offered accessible online training through the smart phone that more of the employees would prefer to do training in this manner.  The study actually found this not to be the case, however the employees did like to use some key applications which were adapted from their desktops on their smart phone.  IBM is not ruling out using the smart phone to deliver training; however at this time they are heading towards developing applications which will help the employees (Ahmad & Orton, 2010).

There is another article which I reviewed that also discussed the e-learning concept.  This article was not discussing the use of smart phones; it was talking of the generic e-learning arena.  This article discusses the fact that e-learning is here to stay and will only improve with time.  The article discusses the critical factors for successful online learning initiatives within an organization.  These factors are: “

·         Accessing or evaluating corporate culture and readiness for online learning

·         Specific content and programs

·         Internal capabilities or infrastructure

·         Cost options of the initiatives

·         Targeted clients or employees

Hence there are five C’s of online learning; culture, content, capability, cost and clients-this would help acknowledge and address a wide range of online learning issues confronting organizations (Maxwell, 2012, p 93)”.

After the organization qualified itself that it is open to online learning, the management would then have to consider how they would administer online learning to their employees.  There are different methods for online learning which will be discussed.  The obvious method to start with is the CD-ROM or DVD.  The development of the CD-ROM as a delivery method made it possible for anyone with a personal computer to access sophisticated programs with animation and video clips (Noe, 2010).  These applications made it easy to create an online classroom on a personal computer and then the employees or learner could run the programs anytime they had time and run it at their own pace (meaning they could pause or fast forward if needed).  This method also made it easy for a company to deliver training to any employee regardless of where they were physically located.  Moving for the CD-ROM, the next logical step was to make these applications interactive.  People learn when they can actually participate in the training – it keeps them engaged.

This moves us to the next logical method which is learning through the internet.  With the advent of the internet e-learning delivery has exploded.  The World Wide Web has made it easy for just about anyone to learn anything at any time.  With the availability of the web, an organization can deliver training material to their employees that are located anywhere in the world and not have to worry about delivering a CD-ROM to their location.  The organization can also secure the site if they wish only the employees of their company have access to the training.  Most internet-based training is developed to be as user friendly as possible and the accessibility is usually easy as well.  As long as your computer is connected to a network through either a wire or wireless, access to training is available (Noe, 2010).  Training through the internet makes it possible for employees to interact with each other as well as doing training on their own.  It is also easy to update the learning modules when they are on the web so everyone uses the same version.

There are other methods for learning which utilize online training – the next method to be discussed is the blended learning.  Blended learning is a combination of instructor lead sessions and online learning modules.  “Blending learning courses provide learners with the positive feature of both face-to-face instruction and technology-based delivery and instructional methods (such as online learning, distance learning, or mobile technologies like iPods and PDAs) while minimizing the negative feature of each (Hysong & Mannix, 2003)”.  This is an ideal situation for corporate America.  Many companies need to train their employees and computers, while used regularly in every job, are just tools and not all employees are comfortable in their use.  The blended learning gives the employees the opportunity to work with a trainer for the hands on guidance needed after reviewing the online training material.

The last item I want to discuss is the Learning Management System (LMS).  A well-developed LMS is crucial in today’s corporate world.  The LMS will help an organization track training an employee has completed, if the course had a test it will track how the employee performed.  This information will help the organization help the employee.  If the employee is struggling in an area there are other training methods that could be utilized and if the employee is excelling the organization could look for ways to offer more challenges for the employee for their personal growth.   “New developments in LMSs include providing the ability for users to simultaneously search the database as well as their company’s intranet for information on training courses, contact experts who are identified by the company as topic experts, enroll in all courses related to a certification or particular training top at one time, and use simulations to determine whether employees are complying with ethical standards and skills they have been trained in using by the LMS (Boehle, 2008)”.

References

Ahmad, N., & Orton, P. (2010). Smartphones Make IBM Smarter, But Not As Expected. T+D, 64(1), 46-50.

Boehle, S. (2008). LMS Leaders. Training. 30-34.

Hysong, S. J., Mannix, L. M., (2003). Learning outcomes in distance education versus traditional and mixed environments. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Orlando, FL.

Maxwell, A. (2012). TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS IN METHODS OF TRAINING WITH REFERENCE TO ONLINE TRAINING: IMPACT AND ISSUES FOR ORGANIZATIONS. Researchers World: Journal Of Arts, Science & Commerce, 3(2), 87-95.

Noe, R.A. (2010). Employee training and development: Fifth Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.