A Collaborative Training Environment

A Collaborative Training Environment 

Winfred K. Ridley

Walden University

Dr. Ronald Paige, Ph.D.

EDUC – 6135 Distance Learning

May 24, 2014

  Example 1: Collaborative Training Environment

 

A new automated staff information system was recently purchased by a major corporation and needs to be implemented in six regional offices. Unfortunately, the staff is located throughout all the different offices and cannot meet at the same time or in the same location. As an instructional designer for the corporation, you have been charged with implementing a training workshop for these offices. As part of the training, you were advised how imperative it is that the staff members share information, in the form of screen captures and documents, and participate in ongoing collaboration.

 

Companies value good employees. An extensive and comprehensive staff information system exemplifies that value by keeping employees informed of (among other things) company developments, their salary and benefits, professional development opportunities, and even employee discounts. However employees must understand that, pursuant to all the employees, the system also tracks and maintains other information such as professional development progress, email, transfers within the organization, and types of leave (Infotrack Systems, n.d.). “Employee engagement is an emergent property of the relationship between an organization and its employees. One goal of a staff information system should be stronger employee engagement. An "engaged employee" is fully absorbed in, and is enthusiastic about their work, leading them to take positive actions to further their organization's reputation and interests” (Wikipedia, 2014).   

 

The introduction of a new staff information system is a tremendous undertaking and a disruptive innovation (the introduction of new technologies, products or services) requiring several layers of introduction (TechTarget, 2014). Given that the client corporation has six regional offices, consideration should be given to the company culture (hopefully wedded throughout the organization), and the diversity within that culture. Workplace “diversity” is now part of our world culture and is another extension of the global economy. True diversity “requires us to go beyond just collecting people who might look different. We must allow them to be different once they arrive” (Young, 2007). Keeping the audience (the employees) at the center, the staff information system should be designed to further this aim [Instructional Design Expert (IDE), 2009]. Please note that all employees will not have access to all components of the staff information site to remain compliant with company propriety information and policies, and state and federal human resource laws and regulations.

 

Solution to Example 1: Collaborative Training Environment

 

Several distance learning technologies such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts will be utilized during the implementation of the staff information system (Beldarrain, 2006). My distance learning solution places this company’s staff information on the Sharepoint platform, (http://www.discoversharepoint.com/) SharePoint stores, syncs, and shares, content; keeps everyone on the same page; helps employees stay on track and deliver on time, and helps employees stay connected with key people across the organization (SharePoint, 2013).

 

The solution incorporates Moore’s Theory of Transactional Distance, and relies on [employee] independent study as akey component. Transaction distance intertwines environment, individuals, and their pattern of behavior (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012, pg. 44). The initial introduction will occur through a series of twelve blog posts over three months in the weekly company newsletter. These posts will include the reason for the implementation, the general features, (including directions for access) of the system, and expectations for employees. Critical elements such as important company information, employee-managed responsibilities for professional development, links to employee leave procedures, and portals to internal and external resources will also be described. The blog will be delivered via company-wide email which will ask for a “read receipt.” An exploratory question of the week relating to the implementation will be included for employee comments. Blogs are user friendly and are an asset in business and educational organizations (Beldarrain, 2006). The blog implementation component takes advantage of Moore’s Theory of Transactional Distance and addresses structure: more structure/more distance (Simonson et al, 2012).

 

SharePoint Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvn3qNAdF2Y (Youtube, 2014).

 

Continued execution of the staff information system will be carried out by a linked collection of Web podcasts. To gain additional facts about their connection to the system employees will access these audio and video files via RSS feed according to their staff assignment so they remain compliant with their assigned duties within their department (e.g. professional development) and/or other areas of interest, to discover information within other areas of the company, or to seek details about promotion opportunities elsewhere in the corporation. Employees will have access to podcasts anytime during the day or evening wherever they are located. Here, the implementation dovetails with Malcolm Knowles’ Andragogy Theory of distance education giving employees the opportunity to “self-direct” their learning (Simonson et al, 2012, pg. 50).

 

Wikis are assimilated into the staff information to allow employees to work on professional development or projects. For example, in the area of professional development employees will design a learning plan according to their strengths and weaknesses giving them control of their own development (IDE, 2009). Their learning plan will contain a goal setting and professional learning component describing what goals they set for themselves, how they will go about accomplishing those goals and a formative and summative evaluation component. The forms in the evaluative section will relate the details of professional learning in which they have participated and self-evaluation reflections reviewing their own performance. Professional development benchmarks will be submitted periodically (at least every six months) to supervisors or department heads for review and feedback. To facilitate efficient teamwork on projects, employees will utilize such technologies as InstaColl and Writeboard (now Basecamp). These technologies will incorporate real-time project input and feedback and will allow employees to work synchronously as well as asynchronously across teams, disciplines, and departments (Beldarrain, 2006). These technologies will expose employees to direct, purposeful learning experiences on which to build future collaborative projects putting to use “Dale’s Cone of Experience” (Simonson et al, 2012, pg. 92).
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InstaColl Example: Live Writer-  http://www.live-documents.com/live_writer.html

 

Basecamp Example: Keen Footware-  https://basecamp.com/tour  

 

“Navigation of blogs, podcasts and wikis will be intuitive, appearance will not obstruct the learning process, text and graphics will be balanced, and pages will uncluttered. In addition, page fonts and layouts will maintain consistency, Web pages will be user-friendly to aid scanning, and information will be chunked into small bits to help retention” (IDE, 2009).

All blogs, wikis, and podcasts address separation of teacher-student, student-student, student-resources, time, place, geography, and administrative data collection (Simonson et al, 2012, pg. 50) (Paige, 2014).

 

References

 

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration.

Distance Education 27(2), 139-153.

Infotrack Systems Pvt. Ltd. I(n.d.) Retrieved from http://info-track.com/employee.pdf on May 24, 2014.

InstaColl, (2014). Retrieved from http://www.instacoll.com/products_instasecure.html

Instructional Design Expert, (2009). The five eLearning components. Retrieved from

http://www.instructionaldesignexpert.com/eLearning_Components.html#.U4B8itJdVnm

Paige, R. (2014). Laureate Education. Retrieved from

https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_4855034_1%26url%3D     

SharePoint, (2013) Retrieved from http://www.discoversharepoint.com/

TechTarget, (2014). Disruptive innovation. Retrieved from http://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/disruptive-innovation

Wikipedia (2014). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_engagement

Writeboard (now Basecamp), (2014). Retrieved from https://basecamp.com/

Young, C. (2007). Organization culture change: The bottom line of diversity. Diversity Factor, 15(1), 26–32.

YouTube, (2014). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fvn3qNAdF2Y

Defining Distance Education

 

Defining Distance Education

The definition of distance learning is continually changing because the pace of technology continually changes. Although likely never used in this vernacular, distance learning used to mean having the learner get to a place of learning after physically traveling some sort of distance from home or work to a learning center. The place of learning may have been a local school, a community center or a college or university and may have taken anywhere from a few minutes and a few miles, to in excess of several hours and several hundred miles. My personal definition of distance learning is “learning with integrated convenience.”A formal, generally accepted definition of distance education is “a structured learning experience that can be engaged in away from an academic institution, at home or at a workplace, and can lead to degrees or credentials” (Tracey & Richey, 2005, p. 17). Several factors driving the change in distance education include the obvious unceasing advancement in computer technology and the need for the citizenry to keep pace in a mobile society. Sophisticated technology advancements, paired with the high-tech growth of the Internet, have allowed a “significant rise in institutions offering online flexible learning opportunities. These online universities (many for-profit), have taken advantage of the excellent prospects of competing with traditional educational institutions, offering alternatives to classroom-based instruction” (Tracey & Richey, 2005, p. 19). Such early technologies as wireless transmission (radio), television teaching programs, and satellite educational television have led to educational audio and video cassettes. These have since given way to CDs and DVDs. Today, we easily take advantage of the opportunity to learn through synchronous and asynchronous communication (Holmberg, 2005).

My first direct experience with distance education occurred in the 1970’s, and was a special education course offered by Virginia Commonwealth University at my place of work. I did not view the course as difficult because 1) I was much younger then, and 2) we made the course a collaborative effort among those enrolled in the class. Offered at work, the course was very convenient as I was living and working in Petersburg, VA at the time. Petersburg is twenty-five miles south of Richmond, and I did not relish a fifty mile round trip drive. I subsequently took another distance course through George Mason University, again at my place of employment and again for the convenience of not having to travel. “The term distance education began to be used in the 1970s and was officially adopted when, in 1982, the International Council for Correspondence Education changed its name to the International Council for Distance Education (now the International Council for Open and Distance Education)” (Holmberg, 2005).

“An early form of distance learning developed with print-based correspondence course study, which was the dominant delivery system until the beginning of the 1970’s.” Prior to that however, “pre-industrial Europe opened up distance education beyond its higher-level, male-dominated society with the advent of the first correspondence program offering composition and shorthand” “In the United States, correspondence learning eventually compartmentalized into lecture study, class study, correspondence teaching, library, and training” (Tracey & Richey, 2005, p. 17).

My revised definition of distance learning is “quality learning; anytime and anywhere.” Just this year, I attended a college basketball tournament in Charlotte while enrolled in Advanced Instructional Design. Learning online meant that I still received a quality education and did not have to miss any class sessions or assignments that week. Although I did sacrifice attending one or two basketball games, I earned an A for the week, and an A in the course.

This week I learned that traditional universities are “offering their own online versions of campus-based programs, are creating virtual campuses, and are partnering with for-profit companies in order to deliver distance education programs. As is my expectation (and my hope), educational institutions are collaborating to offer joint online programs, courseware, hardware, and other support services to remain viable. I received my undergraduate degree from a brick and mortar institution of higher learning and I want to see these colleges and universities continue to thrive (Tracey & Richey, 2005, p. 17). I have also learned that the motivating factors for corporations (economic), higher education (economic and educational access) and K-12 (funding and choice) are the same and different. (Moller, Foshay, & Huett, 2008) & (Huett, Moller, Foshay, & Coleman, 2008). .     

My vision for the future of distance education is to see it continue to thread as an alternative option into various forms of traditional education. “Schools who wish to deliver e-learning education will require a restructuring of how they do business, necessitating the hiring of distance education instructional designers to work with teachers (or professors), and the local district (or college) (Huett, et al., 2008). I use the phrase “alternative option” because I have had numerous conversations with family, peers, and colleagues (some of whom have taken online courses and some who have not) who feel that online distance learning is not for them. These lifelong learners continue to need the sanctity, netting, and direction that a traditional classroom offers and there is ample room in K/12 through higher education for the delivery of both traditional and online distance learning. Key motivating factors for individuals wanting or not wanting to participate in e-learning are their profession, the technical knowledge he or she possesses and their comfort level with technology. Not discounted are commitment, motivation and the level of support an individual may need both inside and outside of the classroom. As I began to read the articles on “The Evolution of Distance Education” I initially felt they were an “unwarranted attack” on distance education, but I have come to realize that these writings are sounding an optimistic warning of caution to present and future instructional designers, subject matter experts, technology advocates, and learners. My impression of that warning is: “push ahead but with viable integrity.”

Winfred Keith Ridley

References:

Holmberg, B. (2005). The evolution, principles and practices of distance education. (11) 174 pp.

Huett, J., Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Coleman, C. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 3: K12). TechTrends, 52(5). 63-67.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008a). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70-75.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008b). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 2: Higher education). TechTrends, 52(4), 66-70.

Tracey, M., & Richey, R. (2005). The evolution of distance education. Distance Learning, 2(6), 17–21.