e Learning An exploration of Myth and Reality Brian Sutton Chief Educator, QA Agenda for our discussion Where are we now Why the rush towards e-Learning? What is our current experience? The corporate legacy Why invest in Learning? - how does it happen? Some ideas, concepts and facts about learning Where we learn – vs - where we put our money Future directions for learning What is Blended learning First steps A glimpse of the possible Summary What do we mean by e? What do we mean by Learning? “The principles, practice and profession of teaching” Implied Benefits of e-Learning Travel Savings Ability to Report and Measure Effectiveness Cost Savings Time Savings Improved Access to Content The Worldwide Expansion of E-Learning! • Circuit City – is training 50,000 employees from 600 stores using customized courses that are “short, fun, flexible, interactive and instantly applicable on the job.” • The US Army’s virtual university – offered online college courses to more than 12,000 students located anywhere in the world – Estimated to be a $42 million e-learning program. • Dow Chemical – needed to train 40,000 employees across 70 countries on workplace respect and responsibility, using 6 hours of e-learning – Result: All 40,000 passed – Savings: $2.7 million US Energy Company • • • • Problem – IT technical training for employees Solution – Async, Web-based, self-paced learning – Some employees discussed learning in virtual classroom Result – In 12 month span, 3,000 courses completed and another 7,000 partially completed Benefit – Payback period of 3-4 months – Faster time to competency – Reduced re-work – Higher employee retention – Higher quality of service – Reduced help desk call volume and costs – Less system downtime (CLO, March 2003) British Telecom & sales training • Problem – Train 17,000 sales professionals to sell Internet services • Solution – Internet simulation • Result – Customer service rep training reduced from 15 days to 1 day – Sales training reduced from 40 days to 9 days • Benefit – Millions of dollars saved – sales conversion went up 102 percent – customer satisfaction up 16 points (CLO, March 2003) E-learning – promise fulfilled, paradise gained The last 15 years have seen great advances in technology and multi-media design. Courseware is now; Very interactive, includes sound, video, links to job aids and other documents, message boards, live mentors (24x7) Virtual classroom technology allows live instructors to lead world-wide sessions Advantages of current courseware: Can be used anytime, anywhere. Take breaks at any time and return to exactly the same place. Learning is reinforced through constant testing, performance is tracked. Patterns of learning are different, sessions shorter, easier to fit with job requirements. We no longer loose days away from the workplace. Material stimulates multiple senses, therefore more memorable. Faster time to competence. Can be expensive to create but then cost per delivery rapidly becomes marginal E-learning – promise unfulfilled, paradise lost We took the pedagogy of the classroom and applied it unchanged to a new delivery mechanism. The last 15 years have seen great advances in multi-media design whilst learning design has been largely ignored - result Very pretty courseware that provides little stimulus to learn Criticisms of current courseware: Learning that is not Authentic, little connection to real world. Learning not reinforced, no mentoring or post course support. Useless after first use, no indexing to aid finding things later. Does not support information discovery, experimentation and what if type exploration Not linked to enduring corporate repositories of knowledge Expensive to create, even more expensive to maintain The Corporate Legacy Large installed base of generic e-learning materials from a range of providers. Mostly following a pedagogy of tell and test. E-learning modules not linked to personal development objectives and rarely integrated with the rest of the learning portfolio, especially not linked with ILT provision. Poor take up rates of e-learning and poor completion rates. Workers find all sorts of excuses for not doing the e-learning, a current favourite is “I couldn’t get access to the net when I had the time to study”. (Don’t spend time and money trying to fix this, it is a symptom not the problem) ROI based on avoided cost by not doing training some other way, rather than effectiveness of change in Knowledge, attitude, skills or habits and subsequent linkage to operational effectiveness. Building Performance (K+S)xA = Improved Personal and Organisational Performance 1. Knowledge 2. Skills 4. Attitude How People Engage with Learning Experiences • Play • Story Telling • Collaboration with their peers Individual World View Individuals develop Attitudes based on: • Observation • Peer behaviour • Trial & Error • Environment / culture • Guided Practice • Past experience • Need for well being • • Application Experimentation Individual World of Performance Individual Set of beliefs Build in Context Stimulate Multiple Senses Access real systems / tools Individual Support Environments Adapt / Adopt Discovery )x Individuals Acquire & Perfect Skills Through: Practice • + Personal Reflection ( Individuals Acquire & Share Knowledge Through: Informal Learning Represents 70% of Learning that Occurs in the Workplace Informal Formal Informal Learning “the improvised, unplanned instructional efforts that are part of the everyday fabric of business operations.”* * Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Building Performance Over Time I Adopt and Adapt Informal Learning 75% Performance 20% 5% I Can Do I Know Study by Sally Anne Moore, Digital Equipment Corporation ‘Time to Performance’ ‘At the Water Cooler of Learning’ by David Grebow Formal Learning Important Learning Links Formal – In the Classroom Informal – At the Water cooler General & Academic Need Specific & Practical Need Longer Term & Full-time Shorter Term & Part-time Standardised content Requires pre-requisites Individualised content Requires purpose Isolated from work Associated with work Assessment-based Results-based Teacher-centered Measured & Scheduled Control Learner-centered Unmeasured & As Needed Empowerment Adapted from ‘At the Water Cooler of Learning’ by David Grebow When is Retention the Highest? Reading Seeing Hearing Seeing & Hearing Collaborating Practice Teaching 10% 20% To teach is to learn twice. Joseph Joubert 30% 50% 70% 80% 90% Source: Self-explanations: How to study and use examples in problem solving Cognitive Science, 1989 Work-related learning preferences of work-based learners 90 Hands on, doing 76 Work mentor / supervisor 68 68 Work experience Group problem-solving 12 12 16 20 24 Web materials Self-help groups Internet networks Self-study materials Story telling 32 Manuals 48 Formal f2f 0 Source: ICLML, Middlesex University 20 40 60 80 100 Online Pedagogy Grid Instructor Specified tasks Presents traditional training and teaching by innovative means NW Instructor Controlled Process Process is predetermined - learners explore content and direction. NE SW SE Open ended, strategic learner directed Gives learners control over style, location, pace, duration, sequence but not task Learner managed process System liberates and supports learners to decide and control own direction and process Coomey,M Stephenson,J 2001, It’s all about Dialogue, Involvement, Support and Control, in Teaching and Learning Online, Stephenson, J, Kogan Page London Online Pedagogy Grid Instructor Specified tasks •Learner managed virtual learning environment;NW •Customised intuitive tools; Instructor •dis-aggregated Controlled company-specific and Process SW commercial materials tagged for personal relevance; •open to outside sources; •online mentoring. NE SE Learner managed process Open ended, strategic learner directed Coomey,M Stephenson,J 2001, It’s all about Dialogue, Involvement, Support and Control, in Teaching and Learning Online, Stephenson, J, Kogan Page London Online Pedagogy Grid Instructor Specified tasks Vast majority of cases in research literature were in NW, some in NE and SW, few in SE NW Instructor Controlled Process NE SW SE Open ended, strategic learner directed Learner managed process The SE quadrant is where e-learning in the work-place can be most effective Coomey,M Stephenson,J 2001, It’s all about Dialogue, Involvement, Support and Control, in Teaching and Learning Online, Stephenson, J, Kogan Page London Defining Blended Learning Blended Learning has been defined as a combination or mixing of at least four different methodologies: 1. 2. 3. 4. Applying different forms of instructional methods (Classroom, e-Learning, collaboration, simulations, etc.) Combining delivery technology (Internet, CDROM, etc.) Mixing teaching approaches (behavioral, cognitive and constructive) Integrating formal learning activities with actual job activities. Adapted ‘Blended Learning: Let's Get Beyond the Hype’ By Dr. Margaret Driscoll Infusing E-Learning • Problem – A manufacturing company needed to transform a week-long safety program: • Solution - a three-part blended offering – Phase 1 -One day in classroom – Phase 2 -Multiple online simulations and lessons. – Phase 3 -One final day of discussions and exams. • Note: must accomplish online work before phase 3 • Result – raised success rate – Improved transfer of skills – lowered hours away from the job (Elliott Masie, March 2002, e-learning Magazine) Ratheon, Build Own LMS • Problem SAP Training and LMS – Choices • Vendor ($390,000) • • • • Build Internally ($136,000) Cost of Instructor-led Training ($388,000 Solution – Five Training Components in 18 Weeks : • • • • Role-based simulations Audio walk-throughs Online quick reference system Live training support (special learning labs) • Online enrollment and tracking Result – saved $252,000 – within 6 weeks, 4,000 courses taken by 1,400 students (John Hartnett, Online Learning, Summer 2002) Putting the “e” back into Learning The promise of new blended learning programmes lies in their ability to empower the learner. To transform the quality of the learning experience rather than their ability to dumb down or remove cost. Summary • E-learning in its present form has been an expensive experiment and has (by and large) failed to live up to its promise. • The solution to our corporate education problems lies in the fundamentals of how people learn. We need to consider both the formal and informal dimensions. • Putting the needs of the learner foremost helps us to build learning programmes that support the ways that people learn. • e-learning is getting better only because it is beginning to support; discovery, story telling, trial and error, application, experimentation and collaboration. • E-Learning is not the solution – it is part of a solution. • We should perhaps look towards the e- enablement of informal learning networks