e-Learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age - Brief Article

McGraw Hill, 2001

344 pages

List Price: $29.95

ISBN: 0-07-136268-1

Learning is a means to enhance workforce performance, says author Marc Rosenberg, former president of the International Society for Performance Improvement and a principal with Diamond Technology Partners Inc., an e-business consulting firm. The idea is to work better and smarter, no matter what the business. For example, some companies may want salespersons to learn new techniques to sell more products or services; other companies may want plumbers to learn how to fix broken pipes more quickly so they can handle more jobs.

Until recently, says Rosenberg, training has been handled with a "default approach" consisting of four elements: a goal of improving specific performance; a design "best suited" to what needs to be learned; a medium of instruction (classroom, text, etc.); and an assessment or certification.

Those elements, however, do not support "knowledge management"--the creation, archiving and sharing of "valued information, expertise and insight." Strategically, training has to be "transformed" for today's business world, Rosenberg argues, so that "e-learning" becomes embedded in the daily work culture. This learning transformation is poised to take off if it encompasses the following factors.

* Meaningful and motivational goals that reflect the "real job situation," not merely passing the course.

* Simulations that focus on learning by doing and learning from mistakes.

* Coaching and feedback, preferably from managers and supervisors who are held accountable for the learning process.

* "Expert modeling" and "stories" that reinforce learning.

* Authenticity, which requires continuous revision of training programs to focus on real situations.

* Reuse of the material and links to other sources.

Rosenberg offers advice on transforming the corporate culture to embrace e-learning. Strategies that don't work include giving employees whatever training they want, creating and distributing a course catalog, "selling" training and mandating training. Strategies that do work include making the coach or the direct manager accountable for learning, integrating learning directly into work and "paying" for knowledge by rewarding those who build intellectual capital.

In the second half of the book, Rosenberg offers a comprehensive plan to institute e-learning throughout the organization, accompanied by several "e-learning journeys" from those who've been pioneering in this field. These examples are reinforced by do's and don'ts concerning various projects.

An "E-Learning Top 20" list also offers 20 key strategic questions to answer to sustain e-learning efforts, such as, "How well is your company using Internet and intranet technology to run its business?" and "How will your organization overcome any bad prior experience you and others have had with technology-based training?"

COPYRIGHT 2001 Society for Human Resource Management
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group