Distance learning: work & training overlap

HR Magazine, April, 1996 by Bill Leonard

On a service call, an appliance repairman is asked to fix a broken refrigerator but discovers that he hasn't worked on that particular model before. No problem - he pulls out his lap-top computer, accesses a phone line and within moments downloads schematics and technical data on the appliance. The repairman can also reach immediate, interactive technical assistance that literally talks him through repair procedures.

Sixteen years ago, this scenario probably would've been considered science fiction. Nowadays, it doesn't seem that farfetched, and within five to 10 years, it will most likely be commonplace.

DISTANCE LEARNING

The type of training the repairman received is generally called distance training or distance learning - some training experts have taken to using the term "just-in-time training." Whatever you choose to call it, the nature of corporate training is changing rapidly.

The corporate trainer is quickly evolving into someone who facilitates, mentors and guides employers and employees to use the best and most timely training available. The goal of the corporate trainer should now be to find, interpret and assess a wide range of information and technologically sophisticated products. "Intersector directors" is the term Karen Mantyla, president of Quiet Power Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based professional development consulting firm, uses to describe the new training role.

"Trainers must redirect their thinking in how to provide skill development training to seize corporate opportunities and maintain their status as a viable competitor within their industry," she says.

The U.S. Distance Learning Association in Livermore, Calif., has defined distance learning as "The delivery of education or training through electronically mediated instruction including satellite, video, audio, audiographic computer, multimedia technology and learning at a distance." This definition by necessity is fairly broad in scope and encompasses most training products currently on the market or under development.

"Employers now face such a wide range of choices," says Mantyla. "The number of products and the amount of information available is mind-boggling. During a conference that I recently attended, an HR professional put the frustrations most employers face into perspective for me," she says. "We were participating in a session on trends in distance learning, and he asked, 'Who knows where to start?'"

Mantyla says that employers must start with a thorough assessment of their training needs. "Technologies developed for distance learning are being introduced and addressed as not just 'nice to have's' but as 'must have's,'" Mantyla says. "The HR managers or corporate trainers who succeed will know where to find and how to access the best sources of information and use them to find ways to deliver training when and where the workforce needs it."

TRENDSETTERS

By virtue of their industry and size, some organizations have already seized opportunities that have placed them on the leading edge of successfully integrating technology into workforce training programs. These companies include AT&T, Ford Motor Co., Intel Corp. and Aetna Life & Casualty. The U.S. government is also considered a trendsetter when it comes to using high tech training techniques.

The government's development of local- and wide-area computer networks and electronic mail capabilities has given many federal agencies a distinct technological advantage over the private sector. A Department of Defense initiative was the origin of the Internet.

Since the government has used technology for many years to share information, federal agencies have naturally gravitated to distance learning. The distance-learning programs that the agencies have created are cost-efficient and effective because the various agencies don't have to reinvent the wheel; agencies share resources and review analyses and studies through the Government Alliance for Training and Education (GATE). The developed coursework, material and programming is then made available to government agencies through the Government Education and Training Network (GETN).

A good example of how GETN works is an ethics training course that will be offered to all government agencies this month via distance learning. All federal employees are required to have ethics training, and agencies can have the course downlinked to their office sites. The ethics training course was developed as a collaborative effort through GATE. The IRS has donated instructional designers to create the course curriculum, while another agency is providing the studio and office space for the course's origination site.

Studies commissioned by the government have concluded that distance learning is an effective way to train. In fact, statistics show that students trained through distance learning consistently score higher than students who attend a traditional classroom/lecturer session.

Training through distance learning can also translate into a significant cost savings, especially for travel. For example, the cost for a training session developed by the U.S. Army National Guard decreased nearly $1.6 million after distance-learning techniques were implemented.