Developing design principles for an e-learning programme for SME managers to support accelerated learning at the workplace (original) (raw)
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Business and e-learning, 2010
Corporations, as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are always looking to increase efficiency and effectiveness. Many companies today believe that the key to gaining and maintaining competitive advantage in the market development of intellectual capital, and know what, how and why and to understand the importance of such knowledge. Their ability to educate and train staff while maintaining the work is very valuable. E-learning is one way that allows the employee obtain and renew the knowledge necessary to perform their job duties. The paper presents the needs of corporate learning and e-learning features. Also presents parts of the research related to the preparation, training and development and application of Information and communication technology (ICT) in the purposes. The results show that the preparation and training of employees is very satisfactory when entering the workplace, while their involvement in training activities is very small. The respondents have positive attitudes towards e-learning utility for personal training and development, but this kind of training in organizations are not used. He also noted that ICT is not used enough, and the need to train, motivate and encourage employees to use it.
The use of ICT for learning in small and medium enterprises
Educational.technology.has.had.a.profound.impact.on.education.and.training.in. the.last.ten.years..Successive.waves.of.development.and.implementation.has.seen. progression.from.Computer.Assisted.Learning,.usually.CD.ROM.based,.to.the. use.of.internet.based.Virtual.Learning.Environments.and.Learning.Management. Systems,.and.the.more.recent.development.of.e-Portfolios.and.Personal.Learning.Environments..The.provision.of.educational.technology.has.become.a.major. economic.sector,.in.itself. The.benefits.of.ICT.supported.learning.or.e-learning.are.largely.seen.as.flexibility,. allowing.learning.to.take.place.at.a.distance.and.at.a.time.and.pace.suited.to.the. needs.of.the.learners..The.development.of.e-learning.has.been.seen.as.facilitating. the.Lifelong.Learning.required.in.a.period.of.rapid.economic.and.technological. change.and.of.supporting.the.just-in-time.learning.thought.to.be.necessary.for. modern.production.and.work.organisation. Educational.institutions,.social.partners,.national.governments.and.the.European. Union.have.all.readily.embraced.the.use.of.new.technologies.for.learning,.through. the.sponsorship.of.programmes.and.projects.to.promote.e-learning. Despite.such.enthusiasm,.the.reality.has.been.less.than.convincing.(Attwell,. 2003)..The.development.of.e-learning.has.been.dominated.by.the.metaphors.of.the. virtual.classroom.and.the.virtual.university,.an.over.obsession.with.technologies.and. a.focus.on.distance.applications.of.existing.learning.opportunities,.rather.than.the. diffusion.of.learning.in.wider.societal.activities.and.forms..The.term.e-learning.has. become.devalued.to.the.extent.where.it.might.be.more.properly.seen.as.a.marketing. word.rather.than.a.description.of.pedagogic.and.learning.practices..There.has.been. very.limited.attention.to.vocational.and.occupational.learning.and.the.development. of.e-learning.environments.in.less.formal.learning.contexts..Research.suggests. most.learning.-.for.good.or.for.bad.-.takes.place.in.everyday.life.and.work.social. situations.(Nyhan.et.al,.2003)..In.other.words,.most.of.our.learning.is.informal. learning.taking.place.in.a.variety.of.social.contexts..Despite.this,.most.research. and.development.has.been.focused.on.formal.e-learning.programmes.. There.is.little.doubt.that.e-learning.has.had.a.major.impact.in.large.companies,. both.in.allowing.the.extension.of.training.provision.and.in.facilitating.professional.development.activities..However,.the.picture.is.far.less.clear.when.it.comes. to.Small.and.Medium.Enterprises.(SMEs). Policy.discourses.for.of.use.of.e-learning.in.SMEs.have.seen.its.introduction. as.unproblematic,.based.on.a.series.of.assumptions..Assumption.number.one.was. that.SMEs.appreciated. that.in. order.to.become.and.remain.competitive.they. must.train.their.staff..Assumption.number.two.was.that.one.of.the.major.reasons. SMEs.do.not.train.staff.is.due.to.the.difficulties.in.releasing.staff.for.training..Assumption.number.three.was.that.e-learning.could.solve.this.problem.by.allowing. just.in.time.training,.taking.place.on-line.and.at.the.workplace..As.such,.SMEs. were.a.major.target.for.extending.the.market.for.e-learning.and.for.both.private. e-learning.providers.and.for.pubic.institutionally.based.providers. Research.undertaken.in.seven.countries.by.the.EU.funded,.ICT.and.SME. project,.in.line.with.other.surveys.and.studies,.has.shown.that.none.of.these.assumptions.hold.true..Many.SME.managers.are.unconvinced.of.the.benefits.of. continuing.(and.in.some.cases,.initial.training),.either.believing.that.their.enterprise.already.possesses.the.required.skills,.that.if.additional.skills.and.knowledge. are.required.the.workers.will.gain.these.primarily.through.experience.or.that.it. is.cheaper.and.more.efficient.to.buy.in.trained.staff.rather.than.to.provide.the. training.themselves..Of.course,.this.is.a.generalisation..The.term.SME.covers.a. broad.range.of.different.enterprises,.and.the.results.of.our.research.suggests.that. attitudes.and.involvement.in.training.may.vary.by.size.and.by.sector..Furthermore,. there.is.some.evidence.to.suggest.that.involvement.in.training.varies.by.country. dependent.on.different.cultures.and.systems. Nevertheless,.in.the.seven.countries.involved.in.the.ICT.SME.study,.there. has.been.little.evidence.of.consistent.involvement.in.formal.e-learning.on.a.geographical.or.sector.basis..That.is.not.to.say.that.learning.is.not.taking.place.in. SMEs.or.that.computers.are.not.being.used.for.learning..In.the.case.studies.we. have.found.a.surprisingly.high.use.of.ICT.for.learning..This.learning.is.not.taking.place.through.organised.classes,.face.to.face.or.through.computer.mediation,. but.is.predominantly.informal.and.social.and.utilises.business.and.social.software. applications.rather.than.purpose.designed.e-learning.software.. The.Leonardo.da.Vinci.ICT.and.SME.project.has.undertaken.an.extended. literature.review,.a.series.of.policy.interviews,.a.survey.of.more.than.350.SMEs,. focus.group.meetings.and.around.110.case.studies.in.the.seven.different.countries.. The.project.also.undertook.five.thematic.studies.based.on.areas,.which.had.been. identified.as.central.to.the.potential.use.of.ICT.for.learning.in.SMEs:.people,. processes,.infrastructure.and.quality. This.book.reports.the.outcomes.of.the.project..The.first.section.contains.a. series.of.nation.reports.on.the.use.of.ICT.for.learning.in.the.Netherlands,.Spain,. Austria,.Poland,.Sweden,.Italy.and.the.UK..These.national.reports.summarise.the. results.of.the.project.bringing.together.data.from.the.policy.interviews,.literature. reviews,.case.studies.and.focus.group.meetings. The.second.section.of.the.book.presents.the.five.thematic.studies..The.third,. and.final,.section.presents.two.more.extended.contributions.based.on.the.outcomes.of.the.research..The.first.looks.at.different.models.for.supporting.the.use. of.ICT.for.learning.and.considers.the.strength.and.weaknesses.and.associated. policy.considerations.for.each.of.the.models..The.second.summarises.the.major. findings.of.the.project.and.considers.the.possible.implications,.both.for.further. research.and.for.policy. The.general.findings.of.the.project.in.relation.to.the.lack.of.formal.e-learning. provision.in.SMEs.juxtaposed.with.the.widespread.use.of.computers.for.informal. learning.in.SMEs.has.profound.implications.for.future.policy.development..Nevertheless.we.would.want.to.add.a.health.warning..Our.research.faced.a.number. of.problems.. With.the.business.survey,.many.of.the.partners.faced.difficulties.in.obtaining. sufficient.responses.and.as.a.result,.the.sampling.methods.are.open.to.question.. Secondly,.the.partners.in.the.project.often.struggled.to.develop.common.understandings.of.key.ideas,.for.example.informal.learning,.and.that.lead.to.different. interpretations.of.the.data..Thirdly,.and.most.important,.is.the.heterogeneity.of. SMEs..We.discovered.considerable.differences.according.to.country,.region,.sector,. size,.financial.strength,.and.length.of.establishment.amongst.others..Furthermore,. the.attitudes.of.individual.SME.managers.have.a.huge.importance.for.approaches. to.learning.and.training. We.have.been.forced.to.make.intelligent.interpretations.of.what.is.often.contradictory.data..Having.said.that,.the.data.gathered.by.the.project.provides.a.rich. resource.for.research.in.this.field..We.have.been.at.some.pains.to.use.the.data.to. illustrate.our.findings.and.recommendations.wherever.possible. The.different.chapters.of.this.book.are.designed.to.stand-alone..This.means,. inevitably,.there.is.some.repetition,.although.wherever.possible.this.has.been.edited. out..We.hope.this.book.will.make.a.modest.contribution.to.a.field.where.little. previous.research.has.taken.place.and.that.it.may.provide.a.sound.foundation.for. others.to.build.on.
E-Learning in Enterprise: Challenges for Introduction
ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT, 2012
David Starr Jordan said: "The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going". The same principle stands for companiesa company that can change in a highly competitive environment and in the current economic situation will be able to maintain its competitiveness. Nowadays, the only way how to be successful is to be able to adapt to constantly changing internal and external business environment conditions and to oversee and find original solutions to significant business issues and challenges. One of the most modern tools that help companies develop their business is an e-learning. Among specialists, there is no common understanding about e-learning and there are very different views on the "e-learning" concept and importance. An analysis performed by the authors, dealing with the forms of e-learning at organizations, showed that a computer is not always used in the implementation of elearning (the authors of the paper consider that the concept of a computer is too narrow and in reality does not reflect the current situation of e-learning). As a result of analyzing, evaluating, and combining various definitions of e-learning that are provided in different sources, the authors have created their own definition of e-learning: e-learning nowadays is the process of personnel training and skill development on the basis of modern information and communication technologies, providing the trainees with the simultaneous audio, visual and interactive stimuli.
Journal of e-learning and knowledge society, 2011
Employee training is a need for every company, public corporation and organization. Filling this need requires a strong economic and organizational commitment. Compared with traditional classroom training, e-learning gives increased flexibility in terms of time and place, permitting a reduction of direct and indirect training costs and the optimization of time spent on training. The possibility to personalize training courses lends itself to the fulfilment of learning objectives for a wide range of professional needs in large companies and organizations. Finally, an adequate involvement of company employees in the design, implementation, delivery and assessment phases of e-learning courses represents an opportunity for improvement and development of human resources within the organization itself. With these considerations in mind, the Italian Revenue Agency has chosen to include e-learning in its training programme by implementing a pilot project. This paper will outline the most si...
E-Learning: Designing New Business Education
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2005
The PwC&IESE e-business Center is a joint initiative of IESE Business School and the professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers aimed at creating a Research Center to analyse the impact of e-business on organizations. The mission of the PwC&IESE e-business Center is to be an international benchmark for companies and universities in the development and communication of new ideas. Based on this mission, the Center has set itself five basic goals: 1) Gather material on "best practices" and "next practices" in e-business. 2) Develop a conceptual framework that will help enable the world of business to understand and control the impact of the Internet and e-business. 3) Diffuse the knowledge generated by research in this field through the usual scientific and professional media. 4) Develop up-to-date, quality teaching materials. 5) Help train managers to understand the complexity of the changes that technology brings about in society and in the way businesses and competitive advantages are developed. These goals will be achieved through three activities: research, training, and communication. The Center's efforts will be focused primarily on research, as the foundation for training and communication of the results obtained.
The aim of education programs is to ensure qualified and capable people who are needed to meet current and future needs of a business. For this purpose it is necessary to ensure that workers are willing and ready to learn (they need to be sufficiently motivated), they need to understand what they have to do and know, and also to be able to take responsibility for their education by making full use of existing educational resources. The best results are obtained by combining different but appropriate training methods. One of the modern methods is e-learning. As part of this paper the main factors affecting implementation of e-learning in corporate training are discussed. These facts are demonstrated in a case study, which focuses on the introduction of e-learning in the field of acquisition of basic management skills. There are presented the results of pedagogical experiment and structured interviews with the participants of the experiment, there are also the methods that are focused on measuring the economic efficiency of e-learning.
Paper 3: ICT support for workplace learning: eLearning in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
2003
Present economic developments are characterised by globalisation and internalisation. Networks and relationships between companies from different regions are increasing in importance and are used for purposes of investments, trading and research and development. At the same time, the product demands are increasing. Customers expect a rapid availability of new products and desire that they fit their individual needs. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are relatively flexible and quickly adapted to change, and in this light, seen as key organisations for driving innovation and to promote employment. In Europe, SMEs are the backbone of regional prosperity and employment. Employees’ professional development is therefore often seen as a precondition to achieve innovations and to compete with other companies. However, small enterprises are often not able to develop or finance learning initiatives independently. It is therefore not surprising that the European Commission draws a lot of at...
Strategizing for workplace e-learning: some critical considerations
Journal of Workplace Learning, 2005
Purpose -The purpose of this work is twofold. First, the vagueness of e-learning terminology is explored as a premise that the uncritical use of language reflects uncritical approaches to e-learning. North American practitioner literature is then reviewed to examine the way(s) in which e-learning vocabulary and metaphors reveal the attitudes and values that executive decision-makers and analysts bring to bear on organizational e-learning strategies. Design/methodology/approach -Trade and industry publications related to e-learning in the workplace are written both by and for executives and e-learning analysts. A swath of these publications and web sites, along with three major white papers from the OECD, Canada Conference Board and NGA/ASTD were analyzed for major themes.
A Review of Obstacles to Successful e-Learning Deployment in SMEs
E-Learning as an advanced form of learning supported by various technological principles and tools became a point of interest of both academicians and practitioners several years ago. Current literature contains mostly successful stories of its utilization in the business environment highlighting processes and decisions which should be done and make. Rarely are mentioned negative experiences related processes and decision that should not be realized. Hence, it is difficult to fully and explicitly define related bottlenecks or pitfalls. The aim of this paper is to assemble particular fragments and provide readers with a summary of general barriers of e-Learning implementation in small and medium-sized organizations together with recommendations how these barriers can be overcome. Therefore, this position paper provides basic literature overview of conditions and barriers to successful e-Learning implementation in the business settings. The investigation of published case studies reveals that there are several barriers, which need to be taken into the consideration to support fruitful usage of e-Learning technologies in the workplace. Furthermore, suggestions of potential activities that may contribute to coping with these barriers are depicted.