A Critical Evaluation of the Contribution of Digital Learning in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Europe : A Literature Review (original) (raw)

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...

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 and SMEs: Considerations from an Italian Study

2020

E-learning is one of the most promising sectors within the Information and Communication Technologies industry and growth forecasts are more than optimistic. Despite these good premises, current data do not show a strong acceptance of e-learning by European enterprises and, in particular small and medium-size enterprises. This paper introduces a research project about SMEs in Italy aimed at understanding SMEs’ decision processes in the field of e-learning and at identifying enablers and obstacles to e-learning diffusion.

Supporting SMEs Towards E-Business Success: Exploring the Importance of Training

… on Small and …, 2010

Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) generate a substantial share of the GDP in industrial economies. The more than 20 million SMEs in Europe are an important source of new jobs and entrepreneurial activity (European Commission, 2002a, 2002b). Considerable funding has been granted to research programs targeting the development of SMEs in general and in specific areas such as the diffusion of e-business. It is assumed that success with e-business in the SME segment will increase a country's competitiveness in the long run, and that successful adoption and use of

E-learning and SMEs: Do demand and supply speak the same language?

This paper reports on research-in-progress designed to understand adoption and diffusion of e-learning (EL) among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in northern Italy. The research takes as its organizing framework the concept that diffusion of an innovation to a group of organizations reflects a match between demand and supply, and augments that framework by reference to Rogers' (1995) model of the processes of adoption and diffusion of innovation in organizations and the IS literature on adoption by individuals. The first two, exploratory stages of the research are completed. They identified that EL is not widely diffused among the firms of interest. In part, this reflects relatively low participation in all forms of training, but it also reflects low awareness of EL, difficulty in identifying and evaluating products and services on the market, and a perception among non-adopters that EL is costly and they do not have adequate ICT infrastructure for it. In the final stage of the research, focus groups were conducted with both SMEs and EL suppliers to identify the extent to which these groups (demand and supply) have a shared understanding of the nature of EL and its potential.

E-learning for entrepreneurial skills in a digital business environment

International Review, 2020

Digital skills are becoming an important prerequisite for employment worldwide, but a significant portion of the population still lacks the skills needed to function in a digital business environment. Although young people are often considered "digital connoisseurs", most of them do not actually have enough of these competencies relevant to starting their own entrepreneurial businesses or filling jobs where there is a need for advanced digital skills. Those with the lowest levels of digital skills would be most affected, as well as those who are least willing to upgrade their skills. Accordingly, it is necessary to promote digital entrepreneurial skills and introduce them into education programs through different forms and levels of education. The main objective of this paper is to explore the possibilities of improving entrepreneurs' competencies through e-learning. In line with this, the authors stressed the need for policymakers to develop a comprehensive and coherent approach to fostering learning and activating digital entrepreneurial skills among young people, while measuring progress towards the goals set, is emphasized. In addition to these, there are many other reasons why digital knowledge must be considered a priority in modern education processes. Accordingly, long-term, and short-term goals and their impact at the level of the individual and organization, as well as at the level of economy and society, have been determined.

Digital Skills for SMEs: get inspired now!

2016

One of the objectives of the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs is to contribute to raising the level of digital skills in the workforce and in particular in SMEs, in order to prepare them for the transformation of their businesses into the digital era. The main drivers for SMEs wanting to embrace the digital economy are internal efficiencies, cost reductions, better collaboration and new product and service offerings. Investing in the digitalisation of their business is vital for SMEs; this ultimately generates higher returns than any other forms of capital investment. Europe therefore needs to ensure that SMEs are equipped with the necessary digital skills to enable them to transform. This booklet aims to serve as a source of inspiration for SMEs that want to embrace digitalisation and acquire new skills. It contains a collection of case studies of SMEs that were able to transform their business with digital technologies as a result of gaining experience from a variety of developmen...