‘Off-the-shelf’ online courses for particular skills training (via corporate intranet or Internet)

There are many suppliers of pre-prepared online training material for generic technical skills such as IT, Accountancy, and Law.  Many training companies have also produced management and interpersonal skills programmes for online use.  These can be good value for money, but it‘s important to make sure they are good quality both in terms of the technical content (accurate, up-to-date) and the learning experience (good interaction with, and challenges to, the learner). The benefits of PC based training in the softer skills are not yet proven - there will be a need for the learner to practice these skills off line with appropriate coaches, and possibly for further support on an ongoing basis.  Likewise, case studies and complex synthesis and project based learning cannot be complete without the learner’s interaction with others, be it their peers or an expert coach or instructor. 

For many smaller organisations with no network infrastructure, access via materials hosted on the Internet is an effective way of accessing good quality technical courseware.  The company providing the material provides access to the material via their website, and payment is on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis.  Many suppliers can track the progress of learners on their site, and report regularly on progress to the employer. 

Bespoke development of courseware for specific needs

Commissioning development of tailor-made e-learning can be a very expensive business, depending on the level of sophistication of the software. It may be beneficial for large organisations anticipating a clear return on investment because they have geographically dispersed staff with homogenous training needs. Smaller groups may be better off buying some authoring tools, boning up on basic online course design principles and doing it themselves, although there is time and a cost involved in getting this right!

Learning Management Systems (and more recently Learning Content Management Systems)

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are large web-based systems which categorise the learning available within the organisation and allow a search using the organisation’s own criteria.  They allow learners to find what they need and some   products allow integration of their learning with the company’s knowledge management systems.  LMS can track whatever learning is done within the system and can report on time and costs spent.  On the downside, LMS are expensive and don’t always have the right features, especially for smaller companies, or have lots of features that that no-one uses.  An alternative for the smaller company might be an intranet used as a learning ‘portal’, with a database for user information,  e-learning courseware, and structured access to other internal and external sources of learning. Such a system can achieve many of the objectives of the LMS, but can be considerably cheaper to develop and run. 

Virtual Presentation/Virtual Classroom

These are sophisticated tools for relaying presentations to people in different places using Internet technology, and the better ones provide full interactivity, with voice, video and application sharing.  These systems are expensive, but some companies can provide the facility on a one-off basis, where a group might want to run a web-conferencing session with their colleagues in other parts of the world.  Alternatives for the smaller organisation are available, and include application sharing tools like Microsoft Netmeeting.  Programmes like ICQ allow interaction with specific contacts over the Internet, and are available relatively cheaply (or free).  Many ISPs provide facilities where groups can register and use the ISP’s online facilities to communicate with each other using chat, bulletin boards, or e-mail.  Investing in even one high spec PC and internet connection would allow access to many of the video and audio web presentations that are available on the internet.

The debates continue

E-learning is still a new science, and there is much debate around its theory and implementation.  The current issues being hotly debated include:

• Which of the different types of e-learning are the most effective for which kinds of learning, and how can e-learning best be integrated with classroom, coaching and other forms of skills development?  

• What motivates people voluntarily to go on using e-learning, once the initial novelty or need has worn off? A number of case studies have indicated that the most difficult part of the culture change was to motivate staff to use the tools provided on an ongoing basis.

• What kind of resources and effort does the organisation have to provide to ensure that full benefit is obtained from e-learning? We know that providing training on CBT was rarely successful because there was often no further support from peers or others to answer queries and assist in putting the skills learned into practice.

• What changes do organisations have to make to become places where people’s learning is valued and encouraged, particularly when they are learning in “work time”? 

Performance Improvement is the Key

Like all training decisions, the starting point must always be performance improvement linked to the business strategy of the organisation, and what needs to be done to achieve it.  Once the required learning has been identified,  the question must then be “will e-learning deliver the training we need quicker, cheaper or better that the other methods available?”, and/or “can e-learning enhance or support any of the offline development we already do?”.  If the answer is yes to either question, E-learning can be a  valuable tool for contributing towards performance improvement.

Jo Ayoubi is a training consultant and project manager with a special interest in e-learning.  She’s currently working on implementing e-learning with one of the “Big 5” accountancy firms, and jointly runs a training software consultancy practice.