Incorporating distance education into the corporate setting efficiently can create new opportunities for businesses and save a tremendous amount of money. Online education can be an invaluable tool simply because employees do not have to leave their jobs, no travel expenses, no food expenses, or lodging reimbursement. Most distance education is just-in-time learning, delivered instantaneous to employees right at their desks, home, or a company classroom. The business world has been slow to incorporate distance education but has realized that its opportunities are limitless. Classes offered could further employee education, provide professional development, or job training to name only a few. This type of educational process shifts the focus from “teaching” to “learning.”
If a business offers professional development to its employees, the employees may be required to meet as a group and have discussions with a sister company in another city, have a guest speaker, etc. This provides the participants the opportunity to interact and collaborate in an efficient and effective manner. It allows for group activities, discussions, and independent learning. If the session is live and being recorded, employees would have the opportunity to review the class at any time. The recorded session can be archived and used for employees that were unable to attend or for other classes in the future.
Larger rather than smaller corporations may have a greater opportunity to participate and offer their employees distance education because equipment and network connection costs may be larger than the smaller businesses can afford. Some customers of businesses are now being asked to participate in the distance education process. Businesses no longer include owner’s manuals with some equipment that they sell. Links are set up on the company homepage to download the owner’s manual or offer directions on how to operate or use their products. This saves the business printing expense.
Some disadvantages of online classes for the employee in the corporate setting is the lack of direct interaction between the employee and the instructor, no immediate feedback, and difficulty with team work and the communication between the students. This would not be a problem if the classes were offered via videoconference. Disadvantages for the instructor include less contact with instructor increases for new classes because of the development process. Advantages continue to outweigh the disadvantages and save corporations money.
A 1998 article in Industry Week by Samuel Greengard quotes Brandon Hall, "Distance learning represents the future of corporate education, right now, it's only in its infancy, but it has already proven its value." Little did Mr. Hall know how far we would come in ten years.
Helpful websites:
E-Learning Concepts and Techniques is a collaborative e-book project by Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania's Department of Instructional Technology students and guest authors.
SouthWest Training Institute
Interactive, Synchronous, Distance Learning
Going for Distance: As the Technology Advances, More and More Employees are Reaping the Benefits of Distance Learning, Industry Week,
Samuel Greengard
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ReplyDeleteHello Bonnie!
ReplyDeleteNice Blog! You got me thinking and wondering about what's going on in the corporate world and distance ed/training. So I did a little wandering around the internet today and found a few interesting things! I thought I would check out some of the really BIG GUYS--like Citigroup. I found this article "Citbank determined to stay on cutting edge".
Here's the link: http://whitepapers.zdnet.co.uk/0,1000000651,260175221p,00.htm
But basically, the article says "Citibank firmly believes in using the most cutting-edge technology. The challenge they faced was finding a company that could deliver superior value-added training for its employees, but without taking them out of the office for long periods of time. In December 2001, Citibank chose to work with Global Knowledge, initially in the UK, to pilot its Virtual Classroom e-Learning solution (VCeL)."
I looked up Coca Cola and found this article from the Higher Education Accreditation Commission (HEAC):
Here's the link: http://www.heac.org/heac/distancelearning.htm
Here's a quote from the article:
"Another trend is the increasing interest in providing on-the-job training through distance learning. Companies like Coca-Cola Schweppes, Ford and IBM are taking distance learning very seriously. No longer limited to a few specialist institutions, open and distance learning are becoming part of mainstream delivery."
It seems with the present economic situation, companies are going to have to try harder to find economic ways to train and offer continuing education for their employees and utilizing distance learning communities sound like an increasingly effective way to accomplish this.
Diane
Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteHaving spent a majority of my career trying to get non-profit organizations to start thinking more like for-profit businesses in their incorporation of technology and planning, I can finally say that in this one arena our organization is on target!
As we work to provide state-wide training to our own staff, healthcare professionals, and healthcare students, we are expanding distance learning opportunities. Over the past eighteen months,we have not only purchased various on-line modules, but have developed a few. Honestly, we have yet to develop a set of standards for the development of these programs, so I cannot say they are quality products. Nonetheless, we are moving forward in hopes of increasing effectiveness and efficiency.