The E-Learning Revolution - technology transforming training

Training & Development, Dec, 2000 by Patricia A. Galagan

Shift your thinking. Instead of looking for ways to complement instructor-led approaches with technology, create new learning environments built on technology.

Shorten the adoption cycle. New technology is typically used first to do old things, then to do things that exploit its unique capabilities. Skip the first part of the cycle and use e-learning to do things that are done best with technology, such as rapid delivery and broad reach.

Attach yourself to a strategic initiative or a core process in your organization that has a strong e-learning component. Outsource the rest of training.

Think of learning platforms that allow collaborative learning and sharing of best practices as your next base of operations. GartnerGroup estimates that by 2003, 60 percent of organizations will have deployed learning platforms.

Learn the technology. Know the difference between an LMS, an ASP, and a portal. Keep up with which suppliers are best of breed in those areas and who is partnering with whom.

Don't move to e-learning without an adequate technology base. You don't want to be the trainer whose e-learning program wipes out the company's server.

Seek out and be open to learning innovations coming from outside of the training priesthood. Otherwise, you may be relegated to maintaining created by others. Prepare your workforce for e-learning.

That means not just the technical skills, but also the frame of mind for taking charge of their own learning. Internet-based, self-service learning is proliferating inside and outside of workers' companies.

the learning process, not the teaching process, the center of the learner's experience. For learners under 30, virtual learning must be intellectually stimulating and fun.

Avoid the e-reading trap. Design e-learning with more personalization, more engaging content, more just-in-time snippets, and more choice of goal-based scenarios than you can put into a classroom program.

Blend e-learning and c-learning to capitalize on the best of both. Interactive isn't the same as interpersonal. Communities of practice--real humans working in each other's presence--are essential for mastery.

Speak training lingo only with your training peers. Don't proselytize to senior executives about design methodologies or levels of evaluation. Remember that above all, execs want to increase revenue, get more customers, and move faster than the competition.

Glossary

* Application Service Provider (ASP). An Internet service provider (ISP) that sells access to software it licenses from an applications vendor. Not to be confused with the reptile that bit Cleopatra.

* Customer-focused e-learning. Web-based learning programs targeted at current and hoped-for customers. By training customers online, companies attract new business and make people more comfortable with e-transactions. Think of it as a main highway through the e-learning space.

* Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help a company manage customer relationships in an organized way. Helps identify and categorize customers.