Managing the Training Investment

As an employer, I am faced with a growing challenge in the area of training. My challenges are not unique. They include reduced budgets, limited resources, limited learner time, rising costs of training and so forth. Utilizing e-learning resources is one way to overcome these challenges.

Large organizations with large budgets may not be hit as hard by these challenges. But for the organization of a few hundred employees, providing training can be a true challenge. As a result, less training is being delivered and the training that is being done is focused on mandatory and job-specific training.

Margaret Driscoll, Ed.D. and Matthew Dirks, Ph.D. recently published an article in Training (e-networks; Are You an E-Learning MVP?) that listed 10 tips for expanding e-learning in an organization.

Tip #1: Use training as an incentive and benefit for retaining and recruiting employees. Employees want to remain competitive and seek organizations that help them accomplish that goal.

Tip #2: Use e-learning to drive adoption. Initial effort to change or adopt new ideas is generally not enough and can be supported by a training effort.

Tip #3: Use e-learning to address busy schedules. Bundling training in easy to digest courses will encourage people to start the process. Anything that over 60 minutes meet adoption challenges.

Tip #4: Use the right technology. There are so many alternatives to the traditional face-to-face approach, many of which are very cost effective.

Tip #5: Master and share the tools. The right tools can also be quite easy to use and with minimal practice can be mastered by all.

Tip #6: Move all or part of a traditional instructor-led class online. Even with online training, collaboration tools, forums and online discussions can provide the hand-holding that some require to master the topic.

Tip #7: Design for reuse. It is amazing what free material is available. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

Tip #8: Extend the impact of online learning classes. With the right tools, trainees can easily be given refresher courses and by keeping people current, the cost of training can be kept under control.

Tip #9: Tone down the bells and whistles. Keep it simple and cost effective. After all, mastering the content is the goal, not impressing the student with our great creative skills.

Tip #10: Teach others how to use templates and style sheets. Sharing content and tricks for creating courses can pay dividends to the organization.

Given these great suggestions, it is then incumbant on me to find a delivery method that can take advantage of technology and deliver content in a cost effective way. I am curious, has anyone found a cost-effective (OK, FREE) delivery method for e-learning that can meet these needs? I am very interested in your thoughts.

Basis of the revolution.

We live in a time with unprecedented access to information. A simple search on Google’s search site for any rudimentary term will provide millions of links to the desired term. But it hasn’t always been this way. A brief examination of the history of education will confirm that the last ten years are truly phenomenal in the amount of information available to us.

Prior to the advent of writing, education was accomplished orally and with a very specific purpose. Families would pass down oral traditions in order to provide cultural and social context to children. Ritual and religious philosophy were also passed on orally in order to maintain the moral teachings. For example in non-literate African societies, learning was by initiation, observation and repetition of what parents did. Another example is the training of children on the influence of spirits in averting sickness, death and pestilence. Other education was passed on to facilitate agricultural and vocational acumen and was accomplished orally or by example. The result was that the society was trained in the areas needed to keep everyone gainfully employed, appropriately socialized and culturally acclimated

There have been three huge developments that have impacted education. The first was reading and writing. No longer was information only shared orally. It became possible for many people to have access to the written word. The second was the printing press with movable type. This accelerated the spread of information to the masses. The final revolution is the Internet. Now information is absolutely available on demand.

Despite these three events which I am calling revolutions, the educational and training world has not made similar changes. I think we are in for a major revolution as the world starts to adapt to the concept that information is available to the masses. I love the concept of learning and education. I hope to see the pedagogy keep up with the access to content. I hope you'll join me as I explore issues in training and education in this blog.