The ELearning Fieldbook [Electronic resources] : Implementation Lessons and Case Studies from Companies that are Making eLearning Work نسخه متنی

Key Drivers for Cross-Cultural Adoption of e-Learning

Although Internet access is growing exponentially around the globe and the access to e-learning through Web-enabled resources is spreading with 24/7 availability, attention must be given to the cultural adaptation of e-learning to enhance acceptance, utilization, and completion of e-learning courses. Fundamentally, there are five drivers which have an impact on the adoption of e-learning worldwide, as shown in Figure 9-1.

Figure 9-1: Drivers of Global Adoption of e-Learning

All of these need to be functioning well to support the learner in a successful e-learning experience, and yet if the first four drivers are in place, without consideration of the last pillar-the cultural dimensionsthe execution of the e-learning strategy could still be hindered.

The First Driver: Competitive Forces

As discussed in Chapter 2, e-learning implementations are driven primarily by the need for organizations to become more competitive and drive shareholder value. The dynamic, competitive global business environment requires higher standards of quality, lower costs, efficient responsiveness to customers, targeted products within global market segments, and speedy flexibility to accommodate market changes.

These extraordinary pressures in the twenty-first century marketplace compel global and national enterprises to:

Reduce time-to-market for new products/services

Increase sales effectiveness

Deploy rapidly and seamlessly to geographically dispersed employees

Build strong customer relationships

Leverage investments in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations

Align a global workforce to the strategic direction and develop related skills

Comply with various national and international regulations and laws

As shown in the company cases featured in this fieldbook, e-learning solutions have proven to be very successful in supporting the growth and development of the workforce to achieve these business goals.

The Second Driver: Internet Access and Connectivity

One of the key drivers and enablers for usage of e-learning is Internet access and connection speed. At the end of 2002, there were approximately 600 million people around the world with Internet access (see Table 9-2). As a comparison, this was only approximately 36 million in 1996. Interestingly, for the first time, Europe now has the highest number of people with access to the Internet.

Source: NUA 2002

The percentage of a national population with access to the Internet, called Internet penetration, differs significantly from country to country. Table 9-3 shows the top ten countries in Internet penetration.

In addition to access to the Internet, it is important to understand the impact of connectivity or access speed on the e-learning experience. Internet speed determines what types of e-learning programs can be engaged in on the Internet and has an impact on the effectiveness of the e-learning experience. High-speed Internet access is only used by a limited number of Internet users. A 56-Kbps dialup connection has become the lowest-common denominator in the U.S. In contrast, 26 Kbps is considered speedy in many countries.

However, improvements in the telecommunication infrastructure, the increase of wireless Internet solutions, cost-reductions in hardware and Internet access, and the general popularity of the Internet will increase the estimated number of people with Internet access and good connectivity to an estimate of 1 billion globally by 2005 (NUA 2002).

This then becomes a market of a billion potential e-learners around the world.

The Third Driver: Regional and National Laws and Policies

National laws and policies can have an enormous influence in the adoption of e-learning.

The European Community has published the eEurope 2002 Action Plan, which has committed all the member countries to equipping every citizen with the skills needed to live and work in the information society. They are also providing a European diploma for basic Information Technology skills, including a decentralized certification procedure.

Internet Savvyness in the McDonald's Corporation Workforce*

One of the questions we asked online during participant registration was: How often do you use the Internet? We found out that among our employees there was more computer savvyness outside the U.S., than inside the U.S. For example, only 7 percent in Brazil had never used a computer, compared with 26 percent in the U.S.

* See Chapter 14: McDonald's Corporation

Other countries where national laws and policies have a favorable impact on e-learning include Sweden, Singapore, and Italy. Sweden and Singapore are establishing nationwide broadband access, which makes these countries ideal for testing broadband e-learning approaches. While in Italy, government initiatives allow citizens to deduct the cost of Internet access and telephone charges from their taxes, resulting in 18 million citizens being connected. In Asia, the Japanese government is providing major subsidies to all Japanese workers to learn new skills online. (IDC 2003)

In some cases, current existing laws have unintended consequences on Internet access and applications in e-learning. Some labor unions in Europe are very apprehensive about access to personal data. For example, there is resistance to the results of an assessment or test being transmitted over the Internet to a learning management system. Germany has excellent Internet access, but names and test scores are not transmitted over the Internet because of existing 'safe harbor' regulations. Awareness of these difficulties, however, allows the application of remedies through specific policies to provide a secure technology environment.

In the cultural adaptation of e-learning initiatives, it is helpful to understand and appreciate the impact of current laws, regulations, and policies that will influence the success of your efforts.

The Fourth Driver: Courseware

Learning must be engaging, motivational, and fun to foster commitment and completion. This is covered extensively in Chapter 4 of this Fieldbook. However, to make e-learning attractive across the globe, language and culturally corresponding look and feel are highly important.

An analysis of the 100 major languages indicates that English is spoken as a native language only by an estimated 5 percent of the global population. In contrast, the residents of English speaking countries currently make up about 40 percent of the Internet user population. Fortunately for e-learning developers, there are a growing number of global companies who have decided to adopt English as their business and learning language. In addition, some countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong (China) are dominated by English speaking enterprises.

However, there is a growing need to have learning content available on the Internet in languages other than English. It is predicted that 36 percent of all Internet users in 2003 will prefer to use a language other than English, for example:

84 percent of online users in Japan prefer to use Kanji

75 percent of the online users in Latin America prefer Spanish or Portuguese

52 percent of the online users in Europe prefer a language other than English

Besides language translation, there is also a recognized need to provide e-learning that corresponds to the national business culture, and a growing e-learning industry segment is dedicated to this localization of Internet interfaces and e-learning content. Content that especially benefits from such localization includes:

Development of soft skills, such as interviewing, leading meetings, conducting presentations, and sales skills

Policies/procedures/laws where it is very important that people understand the subtleties in their home language

Foreign language training

Elements within e-learning courseware that are often localized include:

Visuals

Colors, the meaning of colors can vary by culture

The characters and appearance of people and environments

Sound

Language

Flow or order

"The overwhelming predominance of English on the Internet sharply limits its usefulness for most Chinese.Much more Chinese-language content and much faster network speeds will be needed to make the rich multimedia information of the Internet accessible and attractive to the great majority of Chinese Net users."

Source: US Embassy Beijing, 2002

The Fifth Driver: Cultural Dimensions

The fifth pillar is one of the most important considerations in the adoption of e-learning.

What is the definition of culture? Culture is a shared set of learned assumptions, values, and behaviors developed over time, which influence thoughts, feelings, and day-to-day actions. The core of culture is formed by values. It is recognized that there are various groups who can share a culture, for example, engineers share a professional culture. However, in this discussion of e-learning adoption, the focus will be on nation or state culture.

Geert Hofstede has identified and researched four dimensions of culture that have a significant bearing on adaptation of new approaches. These cultural dimensions of difference can point to explicit issues in design and actions that can support the adaptation, and may speed the adoption, of e-learning. Selected dimensions of difference from Hofstede's research are illustrated in Figure 9-2. The potential impacts these dimensions might have on the design and deployment of e-learning programs are enormous (see Figure 9-3).

Figure 9-2: Dimensions of Cultural Difference

Figure 9-3: Dimension of Difference and Potential Impact on e-Learning Design

"The export of ideas to people in other countries without regard for the values context in which these ideas were developed can be observed in the domains of education, and in particular, management and organization."

Geert Hofstede, Software of the Mind, 1991