Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2011 - (Page 17)

[COVER STORY] THE FOCUS MOVES TO EFFECTIVENESS, DOING THE RIGHT THINGS Redeﬁning the ‘e’ in e-Learning B Y L A N C E D U B L I N sing technologies to enable, enhance and extend learning is not a new phenomenon. You might even say that it all began when man first drew on cave walls with charcoal. But fast-forwarding through a history of important learning technologies, the printing press stands out. It led to a change in the methods for learning transfer from just oratory, debate and guilds to formal education and what became known as “book-learning.” If we fast-forward again, it’s clear the invention of the transistor and then the microchip has more recently led to computer-assisted instruction, computer-based training, interactive multi-media, Web-based training and then e-learning. When a new technology is introduced into a process – and learning is a process – the first focus is on efficiency, doing things right. The goal is doing what we’ve always done faster, cheaper and more of it. Key measures are time, cost and usage. Computer-assisted instruction, computer-based training, interactive multi-media, Web-based training and both a-synchronous and synchronous e-learning are all examples of how we can now deliver structured, formal, learning events (i.e., courses and classes) to more people at a lower cost, along with the ability to record, track and report on their progress. I believe the majority of the e-learning designed, developed and deployed today is still targeted here. As time goes by and the efficiencies are realized, the focus moves to effectiveness, doing the right things. The goal becomes improving what we’re doing so we get the results we want and need. Key measures are performance-based, “how well” rather than “how U much.” Starting with the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies and approaches such as blogs and micro-blogs, wikis and communities of practice, rapid e-learning, and more recently informal, social and mobile learning, organizations are now able to more effectively solve real business and organizational problems as well as create new opportunities for innovation. 17 Training Industry Quarterly, Fall 2011 / A Training Industry, Inc. ezine / www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ http://www.trainingindustry.com/TIQ

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2011

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2011
From Where I Sit: Back to the Basics
Table of Contents
Ad Index
The Learning GPS
Work that Stretches: The Best Teacher
The Promise and Peril of Social Enterprise
Technical Training: How is it Different?
Companies Press 'Play' on Training Games
Redefining the 'e' in e-Learning
Essential Components for Effectively Training a Global Workforce
Five m-Learning Considerations for Your Talent Management Strategy
Instructional Design: Learning Meets Technology
Improving Training: Thinking Like a Game Developer
Casebook: Pfizer: Moving Product Sales Training Online
Why is Mobile Learning Not More Popular?
Tweet Suite
Company News
Closing Arguments: The Three T's

Training Industry Quarterly - Fall 2011