Riding the new wave

• Article 1 of 1
• Learning Magazine, September 2011

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Similarly, without proper focus on deployment with mobile devices, attempting to embrace mobile learning is pointless. Company Blackberries aren’t very good multimedia devices because of their form factors and displays; relying on people to use their own iPhones and iPads, which are at least designed with media playback in mind, can work – except most employees are unlikely to want to use the data bundles they pay for themselves to download company e-learning videos on the move. Kevin Young, managing director EMEA of e-learning provider SkillSoft, adds that the lack of a standard platform and certain technologies in the mobile world also make roll-outs harder. “The iPhone and iPad don’t do Flash and corporate IT functions have concerns about security,” he says.

Poor implementation of social media and mobile content, such as video, can put even the so-called ‘digital natives’ off, says Robin Hoyle. Those who’ve grown up with games created with multi-million dollar budgets may find the production values of e-learning and user-generated videos and games poor in comparison and be put off. “Digital natives have experienced a lot of e-learning and many think it’s for kids – now they want grown-up stuff. A lot of people we talk to prefer classroom training as a result.”

Paul Fairhurst, principal consultant at the Institute for Employment Studies, argues that “a lot of just-in-time learning is about learning where to find information. ‘Always-on’ supports that. The downside is you don’t learn how to do anything.”

Clive Shepherd adds that while social media, even video, can help with certain aspects of learning, such as learning skills, the “richer sensory face-to-face experience of being with someone who’s good at their job and observing them all the time in great detail is better than a forum or webinar. In a lot of situations, face-to-face is the right way to go.”

So rushing to jump on the bandwagon is something that organisations should avoid in favour of carefully planned, incremental roll-outs that think through what the benefits may be of new technology, if any, and which medium suits the levels of learning required. A blended approach that doesn’t concentrate on one particular medium can also allow learners to pick the channel and style of learning that suits them best. But while technology and social media can help some people who wouldn’t otherwise communicate, equally it can cause others to forget to communicate – and L&D teams to forget that newest doesn’t always mean best.

FirstGroup
FirstGroup is the largest private sector transport operation in the country, operating trains, buses and other franchises here and in the US. Niall Gavin, who heads the company’s IT training department, says that the introduction of virtual classroom technology to his company has enabled it to deploy training it would never have been able to have done before. “We have 50-60 key people all round the country. Bringing them and a trainer to one place would never be possible and would be too expensive.” Using the interactive classroom, in which learners can share screens and chat, he’s been able to deploy two to three hour courses over the space of a week that everyone has been able to attend.

He’s also created an HR area for conversation, blogging and sharing documents. Although only 70 or so people have signed up for this initial pilot, there are as many as 12 active participants conversing and exchanging information already. He says the potential for this and for social media in learning is “fantastic”.

However, he says that despite the company’s successes, ”We’ll never move away from the classroom. We’re very much looking at blended learning solutions and hopefully there won’t be any one flavour.

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