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ISSUE 5: OCTOBER 2006 In This Issue:
CURRENT ISSUE FROM THE ARCHIVES JOIN US |
GUEST OPINION Tatu Digital Media, an Oak Hill affiliate, is a provider of web-based E-learning, websites and multimedia services. THE FACE OF E-LEARNING IS CHANGING When my company Tatu Digital Media delivered e-learning in 2001, e-learning basically meant academic texts translated to HTML with the user interaction recorded to a database. Because the content was delivered over 14-56K modems, it tended to be text-based, dry, technical, and unengaging. It took a horde of coders and database people to create a series of courses, and maintaining and updating was painful at best. That was then. Now it's time for e-learning 2.0 and it's taking off. Approximately 65% of Americans have access to broadband connections at home, and a whopping 90% have it at work. This allows us to deliver compelling content and engage more students. The compression capabilities of products like Adobe's Flash and QuickTime Video have improved dramatically, delivering more content in a smaller package. New tools have been developed that allow us to spend time designing content and polishing presentations and product demos rather than database and XML coding or developing workarounds. We have the ability to produce learning products and courseware for CD, on-line, or classroom delivery in a third of the time, and the content is richer and more engaging than ever. We can offer a variety of engaging interactive delivery systems. Dynamic presentations contain animation, voice, videos, and screen captures to demonstrate software or equipment. Courses can even contain evaluation modules to track compliance and knowledge levels. A decision tree model can show the cause and effect of decisions made in a demo so they don't have to be tested in your workplace. Learning Management Systems (LMSs) are cropping up that integrate with daily work and capture and deliver performance and compliance metrics to managers. All businesses need some kind of training. Many industries have continuing education requirements that must be constantly updated, as well as governmental regulations that require safety compliance. More companies use a remote workforce that must be trained consistently to avoid costly errors. Classroom time or required reading reaches only a small percentage of workers and the web is a natural delivery method that is finally coming of age. Costly in-person training sessions can be minimized, and the content can be customized to the job description. Employees are spared the pain of wading through material that is not relevant to their tasks and can focus instead on key techniques and processes, and then get back to work. Companies save money by decreasing mistakes and accidents, informing their workforce of new techniques and tools wherever they are, and keeping them on top of new processes almost as soon as they are developed. It's also finally cost effective to develop short product demos for your clients to use or create educational pieces about your industry as advertising tools or additions to your website. Today even small companies can afford to train their workforce in the latest techniques, workplace safety, and personnel management skills online, which further levels the playing field. So, have you thought about your training needs lately? |