Business Issue

“Internet penetration has now reached 73% for all American adults. Users note big improvements in their ability to shop and the way they pursue hobbies and special interests online.” Pew/Internet & American Life Project, April 2006 – Internet penetration and impact. The same report also indicates that this share of online Americans say the Internet improved their ability to do their job is up 35% from 24% in March 2001. With Internet penetration among adults in the U.S. at an all time high, the Gartner Group reports that the global market for Web-based learning is over $33.6 billion dollars. It is safe to say that many organizations are using some form of online learning to educate and train their workforce. What most organizations have is a fundamental interest in what online learning has to offer: 24-7 availability Flexibility for access from home Self-paced capabilities Global reach Open opportunity for team-based learning to remote locations Maximize learning  Facilitate a continual learning process & improved performance       Provide just-in-time education    Provide shorter class times    Be cost effective & more convenient    Create a Learning Management System with self-paced components   Enhance instructor's value to a class    Phase the learning in multiple stages with various techniques    Provide consistency of learning points    "Catch up" your new hires quickly    Compliment your classroom trainers with online reinforcements

Technology has definitely improved lives and with the accessibility of broadband connections at home (42% of Americans or 84 million) on the rise, the capability to get the training education needed is quickly becoming second nature. Online education is now taking a “front row seat” (Techlearning.com).

Some Perspective

In these days of rapidly changing technologies, competitive industries and global issues, organizations are finding a need to train their workforce almost perpetually. Yet it is still difficult to find time to fit the training in or to pull many people off-line at one time.

Jill is a supervisor for a telemarketing firm: “Our clients change and update their products frequently. The need to keep our workforce training on products as well as customer service, communication, and team leadership skills is constant. I’ve got to have the capability to have my people access the training right at their workstation at times when they are not taking calls. While this isn’t ideal, it is a necessity for our business.”

A Solution

Consider also the estimation of costs saved in terms of travel time, hotel, and food for people brought in for training. At the same time, many organizations are mandating stepped-up programs that include high-quality, professional development during times of budget tightening. With online learning, the ability to meet these needs opens up professional development opportunities considerably. Many organizations are using the combination of easy access to online courses combined with on-the-job teachable moments, mentoring and blended-learning.

Blended learning allows the worker to access a specific number of courses or portion of courses online at their own pace and combines it with specific days or hours to bring team members together for face-to-face group interaction and role play. In this way time and money are maximized through online courses and motivation and interest is enhanced with face-to-face activities and on-the- job practice with the team leader.

In our experience, organizations using this approach report great success and interest in professional development.

ALD, Inc. has been in the business of training organizations online for years, utilizing professional publishers' materials. The idea of quality, flexible and blended learning is not new, but many more adult learners have reached that readiness level. Online training has come of age. Let’s not forget that acquiring and keeping key talent are reemerging as top issues of concern and training and delivery methods are an important part of the picture. Also, many industries require that everyone achieve a level of success needed to perform on the job and master specified skills.

A report by the Society of Human Resource Management, Special expertise Panels 2006 Trends Update indicates, “hours of training per employee per year continue to go up, and the increase in utilization of technology for delivering training and organizational development continues.”

Is your organization ready to support the demand with an organized approach to online delivery of training in organization?

ALD, Inc. offers state of the art leadership training for managers and front-line leaders in classroom, online, and blended formats.

Dr. Michael Allen offered these thoughts on blended learning in a Learning Circuits newsletter: "You can’t, unfortunately, evaluate e-learning by looking at it. Good e-learning creates an experience. You don’t witness experiences by looking at a few screens. The most appropriate evaluation comes from measuring either business improvement or performance change, of course, and not from looking at an application or even measuring it against a set of criteria (including my own).  At the very least, evaluators should experience an application to project the impact it may or may not have."

How Does ALD Use Blended Learning? 1. With the Supervision Series -classroom or online courses to develop the fundamental skills managers need for effectiveness - use the online courses (with a workbook) to supplement the classroom experience - devote class time to the application of the techniques - read about the Supervision Series 2. Two additional courses available for classroom or online learning are Behavioral Interviewing (BIonline - BI classroom) and Managing Performance Discussions (MPD online- MPD classroom) - use the online course as prework or as post-training reinforcement. 3. The DiSC® System provides a unique opportunity for blended learning - participants respond online to the profile and read the personalized report generated for them; then bring all participants into a classroom setting to expand on the applications of behavioral styles to foster greater teamwork, cohesion and productivity.

4. Blended Learning Options to Reinforce DiSC© Training   (Use any or all of these suggestions to reinforce the DISC concepts)

Participants complete the online self-paced course, Reinforcing Your Understanding of Behavioral Style (RUBS); they have access to this course for 12 months for just-in-time reinforcement. Participants attend a half-day instructor-led workshop to review DiSC principles and participate in role-plays using DiSC. Participants receive and Interim Assignment to apply DiSC in their workplace. Subject matter expert conducts a 90 minutes webinar (or conference call) to debrief the Interim Assignment, answering questions and coaching participants. We can recommend other blended learning opportunities for your situation.

For your reference, the PowerPoint presentation, Five Easy Pieces to Effective Online Learning, contains Tips for Success in making the most of your online training experiences.

Check out our distance learning options - many can supplement training you currently have in place.