Why Online training for the technology industry is required?

What are e-learning training and other related training such as blended learning, mobile learning, rapid-learning, and serious games? What can this training bring to the company? What solutions to adopt? When and how to apply them?

Main types of Online Technology Industry

The E-Learning training borrows various supports and various approaches: online, audio/video/videoconferences, emails, use of platforms to put in situations or solve problems, sharing of solutions and questions addressed to the tutor or coach, to the employees of a company or several companies members of a network through mailing lists, blogs, wiki, forum or social media (instant messaging, Twitter, Facebook).

Regarding training management platforms or Learning Management Systems (LMS), companies can “connect” to meet the same training need. To this end, it should be noted that the respect of standards relating to E-Learning, Sharable Content Object Reference Model, (SCORM) by companies can allow their "interoperability", which means making their E-Learning training platforms compatible. . This can be particularly useful when companies that follow the same training want to join together and form virtual communities of practice. As for the SCORM standards, they represent the international requirements relating to e-learning training systems. They have been adopted not only by the US government, but also internationally for elementary and secondary education (K-12), college education, and corporate training. Hundreds of companies designing and distributing Learning Management System (LMS) have produced E-learning training systems that can be developed according to these standards. Core SCORM is the next version of SCORM, the result of ISO standardization.

E-Learning training takes three modalities: synchronous, asynchronous, or mixed. “ Synchronous tools make it possible to communicate in real-time between people who are geographically distant: instant messaging (chat, chat, etc.), Internet telephony, audio, and video conferencing, etc... Asynchronous tools allow exchanges shifted in time and space: electronic mail (e-mail), forum (discussions), portfolio, wiki, blog, etc. ". Training can use tools from these two modalities. In this case, we speak of mixed E-Learning training. Mixed E-Learning training connects the employee, alone or with his peers, and his tutor or coach by means of various technologies, from the telephone to the tools of WEB 2.0 (collaborative platforms and social media) via email and navigation on the site a course or a specific company program.

You should know that there are various types of WEB networks. While most employees take training on simple WEB 1.0 networks, training using WEB 2.0 allows for more sharing and communication, as well as the use of a wider variety of media. Inter-company competition may explain the fact that tools relating to WEB 2.0 are unpopular in the context of in-company training. When browsing with tools from WEB 2.0, the employee can interact and select the information or content he needs to solve problems related to his work. WEB 2.0 is more focused on data sharing.

E-Learning training designed for Technology Industry promotes interaction between the employee, the tutor, and the training content presented on the screen. Taking the course requires the employee to select the content himself by clicking on the information he needs to solve the problems he encounters in the company.

Blended learning: Training allows the introduction, extension, and completion of face-to-face training. E-Learning training can be provided synchronously (virtual classroom), or even face-to-face, in a computerized room or an amphitheater, in order to exploit certain advantages ”. For example, the online part (virtual or in-room, synchronous, asynchronous, or mixed) may require employees to solve a concrete business problem, alone or as a team. The part of the training provided in person can be used to carry out a plenary session supervised and led by the tutor or coach. Note that in Quebec,

Rapid-learning:  "training which allows a rapid response to a [relatively simple] need in terms of training". The content of this training often contains only a few slides, generally presented in the form of PowerPoint.

Mobile-learning:  “Mobile learning (or m-learning) refers to nomadic learning, in particular, the possibilities of downloading audio or video documents (podcasting, podcasting, etc.)”. M-learning has, among others, the following advantages

Accessibility: The size, volume, battery life, and storage capacity of these tools make them accessible to learners in a variety of locations where it was previously impossible.

Improved communication: M-learning can improve communication between employees in their work environment. This can include oral and written messages through the telephone, emails, and SMS messages, or when speakers use Skype through the Internet.

Internet access: M-Learning allows learners to access training resources and support from the tutor to continue their training and their tasks in the context of their real work context. They can contact their peers and/or their supervisor at any time.

Just-in-time, anywhere, video access: In Glouchester, learners working in the service industry were able to access occupational health and safety videos through their M-Learning tools   (telephone). This served them as emergency support in the course of their work. 

Other people with learning difficulties have used their M-Learning tool outside of their work environment to obtain instructions on a cultivation method. These tasks could have been accomplished without supervision. Other videos were then produced to support the growers.

Amplification of the benefits of training: in general, training results in improving versatility and employability, as well as the level of income and, consequently, the performance, profitability, and competitiveness of the organization. E-learning makes it possible to effectively equip training and promotes the development of employee skills:

• Peter Knight (2004), professor at the Open University in the United Kingdom, clearly establishes the link between the development of knowledge, the employability of workers, and the competitiveness of companies,
• a study by Professor Joep Konings of KU Leuven shows that online vocational training increases the profitability of organizations beyond the resulting salary increase.

As for the success of online training, it is based on the following conditions:

• Full involvement and explicit encouragement from the management;
• Monitoring, evaluation, and supervision of the employee;
• Support from the tutor;
• The commitment of competent personnel in training design (local expertise);
• Adaptation of content to the reality of the company;
• Creation of standards relating to the design, development, monitoring, and evaluation of content, distribution methods, and the training platform in general (Learning Management System, LMS);
• Requirement of self-discipline and information or research skills on the part of the person taking the training;
• Sustained call for interactions (asking questions, offering examples, alternatives, interventions, etc.) and encouraging employees to share.