The Business Case For ELearning [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

E-Training

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Evolution of e-training

E-training at Cisco has moved from a content-centric approach to a learner-centric approach, as shown in Figure 3-2 and the following list.

Content centric [3][4]

Portal centric The information was aggregated based on communities with common needs and interests. The creation of the Field E-Learning Connection (FELC) framework was a success under this model; other portals for partners, manufacturing, and leadership development were also created. The success of portals came from the ease of access for users when searching, retrieving, and leveraging content on a specific topic. For the first time, learning was at the learners' fingertips.

Module centric The innovation in content development occurred with the implementation of reusable learning objects (RLOs) and reusable information objects (RIOs). Initiated in 1997, objects began to have a noticeable impact at Cisco in 1999. By definition, RLO or RIO involve creating, tagging, and storing content in small chunks of content to allow ease of searching, retrieving, presenting, and repurposing. Utilizing a corporate-supported IT platform for tagging the content, Cisco developers captured, organized, blended, reused, and shared learning and information objects more readily in their courses. The success in the training area fostered a large-scale metadata framework project extending this principle to broader context areas of marketing, technical documents, customer services, and employee updates.

Performance centric The next stage of e-training enabled managers to tie job requirements, training history, and development plans together with performance appraisals to systemically manage their work force. Nurturing the intellectual capital and developing their employees became easier for managers as they gained better access to documented and reportable results on their team's learning achievements. Coordination with the system was initiated during this phase of the evolution.

Learner centric chapter 7, "Targeted Learning: Are You Indeed Ready?") page, learners were able to review their strengths and weaknesses to adopt a customized learning plan accordingly with input from their manager.

A productivity portal: FELC

In 1998, the size of the Cisco sales force was 5000 and was projected to more than double over the following 18 to 24 months. The challenge of keeping a sales force trained and current on hundreds of complex products that evolved every six to nine months remained a daunting task. At Cisco, newly hired sales personnel traveled to corporate or regional training sites for several five-day courses each year, courses that delivered training for one product line to the entire field in a classroom setting. This required up to 200 training sessions for each course to reach everyone worldwide.

The demand for sales readiness created the first portal at Cisco for e-training. It was also used extensively for e-communication, providing 80 percent of all the technical and product information that Cisco salespeople needed to know at a single place on the web. The portal included content such as the following:

A VoD menu that searches disparate databases and systems at Cisco to find modules that are relevant to a learner's interest or need

Online lab programs sessions that enable learners to connect to a hands-on, remote lab and receive instructional directions upon their arrival

Robust reporting capabilities that enable sales managers to track and monitor their employees' curriculum, understand exactly which of their employees have taken and passed the assessment tests, and assess employee baseline product knowledge and progress

Electronic access to Cisco experts or "e-mentors," who can respond via e-mail, phone, or virtually meet learners in a lab (and connect to their screen and walk them through an exercise)

Registration system and a web catalog of classroom and online leader-led sessions offered across the globe, as well as searchable documents and presentations

Online tests to complement learning as an aid for identifying knowledge and skills gaps

The sales readiness process became more efficient, timelier, and more relevant to a constantly changing environment. By using the FELC, the Cisco field sales organization could do the following:

Access the latest information on new Cisco products and evolving technologies

Spend more time on the job and less on training-related travel (which reduced field-training costs by 40 percent to 60 percent)

Spend more quality "face time" with customers (in fact, 40 percent more)

To incorporate accountability as a part of the Cisco learning process, Cisco developed management reports that track participation, progress, and completion, as well as assessment scores and certification attainment.

Five steps to content development

So how does content development take place in an e-learning environment for training purposes? Cisco has adopted a five-step approach to content development that allows the organization to leverage content readily across multiple delivery media and repurpose it to accommodate content modification.

The e-training development model (see Figure 3-3) unfolds in a complementary relationship with content sources, such as SMEs. The SME may be anyone inside or outside the organization who serves as a knowledge broker, including a corporate training specialist, product manager, human resource representative, or a salesperson. The development model scales to support the business drivers at each stage of any content area's natural evolution. The more detailed model used for the more mature content serves as a baseline and goal for all early-development cycles.

One of the key features of the five steps is the reuse of content (RIOs and RLOs). Essentially, a classic technique for reducing the cost of e-learning development, RIO/RLO refers to creating e-learning content in small chunks (chapters, modules) so that it may be reused or edited (perhaps even deleted) without having to incur a large cost during revisions. The five steps for content development are as follows:

E-training at Cisco is closely tied to assessment. The proof of learning is in performance. And performing on tests, exams, quizzes, and certifications is an indicator of learning. The demand for e-training is fueled by assessments, which are in turn fueled by performance evaluation and/or incentives.