instructional design
Thomas R. Cutler Manufacturing Journalist Profiles Elearning in the Insider
Part of a Cultural Change
Until recently companies brought in Six Sigma consultants and used a significant amount of staff time to conduct training. There was often resentment because while this training occurred, staff was still expected to complete all usual functions and meet responsibilities and deadlines. According to Lippman, “One of the biggest obstacles of Six Sigma or Lean is the cultural hurdle. As part of the change management strategy, e-Learning orientation can be a tool in the arsenal to bridge the awareness and orientation gaps.”
e-learning Gains to Justify Training ROI
The cost of training, the logistics of bringing trainers in house, learner travel costs and down time; site planning and costs, all have a fairly high cost component. The demand for e-Learning is increasing rapidly because compared to onsite training; the costs is often less and the ability to provide a customizable solution that suits the company culture and approach is achieved more readily and drives better bottom-line impact. Most importantly, the company owns the training, allowing a more successful knowledge transfer.
Measuring is always the key
The core concept of Lean, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma is the ability to measure process improvement. e-Learning utilizes quizzes and assessments built into the online courseware. Lippman noted, “Data can be measure through the Learning Management Systems (LMS) which allows for assessment of both training content analysis as well as the ability to quantify learner comprehension and subsequent application.” Prerequisites and mastery level courses may be required before a (perhaps a passing grade of 80% or better can be established before the next course or lesson can be taken.)
Training web resources provide easy-to-use, self-paced educational tools for everyone who needs an introduction to standards and conformity assessment activities. e-Learning content highlights the value and importance of standards and compliance programs in the U.S. and around the globe. By taking e-courses and exploring related educational resources and employees gain a strong understanding of key organizational metrics and processes.
About TR Cutler, Inc.:
TR Cutler, Inc. was founded by Thomas R. Cutler almost a decade ago. Cutler maintains extraordinary relationships with clients, journalists, editors, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide and has become a key resource for those writing about the manufacturing sector. Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the 1999. This extraordinary group of more than 3400 journalists worldwide is writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler has worked with thousands of media outlets to expand manufacturing media coverage. Cutler has authored more than 2,000 articles for a wide range of manufacturing periodicals, industrial publications, and business journals including most of the leading monthly trade publications.
Cutler established a Manufacturing Marketing Research division dedicated to measuring the pulse of the manufacturing sector, particularly manufacturing firms which are privately held and rarely accounted for when gauging the industry sentiment. TR Cutler, Inc. provides a voice for manufacturers worldwide.
TR Cutler, Inc.
Thomas Cutler
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To Reach “extended Enterprise” of Learners, Sumtotal Introduces New Software for Managing Talent
“We developed SumTotal 7.5 to give our clients a way to extend the management of training and talent beyond the walls of their organizations,” said Dave Crussell, chief operating officer of SumTotal. “We believe there is a significant business opportunity to help our 1,500 customers — and many new clients – extend training to a wider ecosystem of constituents.”
In 2006, the Santa Rosa, Calif.-based eLearning Guild, a worldwide association of more than 20,000 elearning professionals, surveyed its members – a mix of executives, instructional designers and course developers – about the future of elearning. The Guild found that 82 percent of respondents felt they would increase their use of elearning in the next 12 months to provide education to their customers. Seventy-five percent of respondents said they would increase the use of elearning to train channel partners.
In a December 2006 Gartner report, titled “Forecast: E-Learning Suites and Management Systems Software, Worldwide, 2005-2010,” researchers wrote that “Organizations are increasing their investments in training activities, both within and across the extended enterprise.”
With the ecommerce capabilities in SumTotal 7.5, employers can sell either a single seat for a training class or an entire learning and development program for tens of thousands of learners. SumTotal supports multiple payment methods including credit card, purchase order, check and cash. SumTotal 7.5 also gives administrators a single hub to manage training of all kinds, whether the training is for employees or paying customers.
For employers with a global audience of customers, employees and partners, SumTotal 7.5 will give training administrators a way to create one, universal training record in a single language. But, with a few keystrokes, the administrator can translate this data into virtually any language the learners prefer. For example, with SumTotal 7.5, if a training administrator is creating an online catalogue of workplace safety classes in English, then she can convert this data into German, French, Japanese or virtually any other language for learners across the globe to access.
“SumTotal 7.5 enables learners to find the training they want, in the language they prefer,” said Bill Docherty, senior director of product management. “But our software also ensures that administrators working behind the scenes can track this same data in one language and one system.”
Along with the ecommerce and multilingual features in SumTotal 7.5, the new platform offers users a way to develop a wide range of reports for analyzing learning. For example, the software includes reporting tools that can: 1) examine the features of a training facility prior to starting a class, 2) analyze answers that test-takers provide, 3) scrutinize invoices and budgets for developing programs for managing talent, and 4) pinpoint what a learner’s level of know-how is vis-à-vis his or her peers.
“We believe SumTotal 7.5 provides our clients with the infrastructure to not only develop the talent of their employees but also improve the knowledge and skills of their partners and customers,” said Don Fowler, chief executive officer of SumTotal.
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The Ten Commandments of ELearning
First off, I thought ten is too many to remember, so I cut it down to five.
1. Pedagogy First, Technology Second
Use technology, leverage it, but always remember it’s a means to an end. The desired end is learning and resultant performance and not the use of cool technology. However, knowing what technology to leverage for effective learning is essential too. Remember, technology can’t replace learning, only augment and support it.
2. Always tie to performance outcomes
A lot of eLearning is irrelevant because the designers didn’t really bother to ask what problems their learners were trying to solve or what they were trying to do. Just shoveling content at your learners in the hope that they’ll pick up what they need isn’t a worthwhile strategy. Learning content must be targeted correctly for it to work, and the only way to accomplish that is by knowing about your learners and their goals.
It’s also important to know that sometimes personal learning goals and corporate performance related learning goals are different for each individual. If you target the goal at the confluence of these streams, there is better chance that what you set out to teach is learnt, retained longer and improves performance and problem-solving.
3. Use Small and Smaller Learning Units
It’s these that allow for flexibility when creating personalized learning paths. Yes, the smaller you can make it the better. It’s the granularity that’ll let you design a custom learning experience for your learners. Think of it as learning Lego; you can use those small blocks of content to create different experiences based on learner need. The granularity also allows for just the right amount of content to be delivered, not more, not less.
4. Simplicity in Presentation and Content Structure
Simplicity is never easy, great care needs to be taken to simplify presentation and the structure of the content for learning to be effective. As Clive mentions in his commandment “Media should be chosen for their ability to aid understanding and memory, not because they impress.” It’s easy to fall into the trap of using sophisticated media without any obvious learning advantage. This sort of media bloats projects; costs more time and money, when something cheaper and simpler could have worked fine.
5. Context, Context, Context
Make sure context is maintained, in presentation, during practice and assessment. Learners taking training at work need it in a specific context, the instructional designer must maintain it by providing content that’s relevant to their workplace performance. Context can be enhanced by using scenarios, stories, demonstrations, examples, and case studies that tie in to the outcomes for that training.
Some learning outcomes, especially in the corporate world can be viewed in a singular context and don’t need much else. However, there are behavioral or ‘softer’ outcomes that can’t be viewed in a single context; in such cases using varied contexts provides much value.
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