Based on the standards
and organizations that you have found related to the
learning environment that
you are creating, do you think that your environment
will map to the expectations within a subset of that larger organization and its
needs?
It is definitely a
challenge to meet the needs of the over 12,000 employees throughout my
organization. Taking into consideration the needs that I am aware
of, I believe that my learning environment will accommodate the expectations of
my learners. In addition to addressing the various needs of the
learning community, I am also trying to proactively address future needs as
well. I plan to use surveys, learning forums and blogs to try to determine
areas for improvement. Improving communication, collaboration and
overall course offerings using various delivery methods will help me to
accomplish this. I consider the needs of the learner population to
be fluid and varied, requiring ongoing change and adaptability as the needs of
the business change.
How is “learning” or
training done in a conventional sense within this field – and what would you
like to bring to the field that has not been done or was not achievable in the
past?
Within my learning
environment, there are many courses and certifications that need to be
completed by employees based on their role with the company and/or their
location (state, country). Although many courses are available in a
web-based format now, there are certain courses that require an element of
hands-on training. One example of the conventional type training
would be our equipment operator certification training. Although
learners can complete various interactive training courses on equipment
knowledge and equipment safety, they cannot complete the practical component
without a hands-on portion delivered by an instructor. Another
example is harassment training required for managers in the state of
California. The majority of the training requirements related to
harassment can be done online, but once a year managers also need to attend an
instructor-led session on the topic of harassment.
In terms of what I would
like to bring to the learning environment, it would most definitely be a mobile
learning platform. Many employees are on the road extensively and
also travel frequently for business so having the ability to download online
courses and then complete them in an offline environment at a convenient time
would be extremely beneficial. We require our employees to complete
many courses quarterly on a quarterly basis, so making the process more
convenient for them would certainly be welcomed.
Are there other comments
and notes that you want to make about your personal learning and/or the
challenges that will lie ahead as you start thinking about the expectations
that you might have of your future learners?
It is important for me
to learn about and understand what options are available in terms of emerging
technology in learning. As the needs of the organization (and the
learners) change, I want to be able to provide them with the tools they need to
succeed by offering engaging and effective training, within budget.
One of my biggest
challenges is determining what limitations I may encounter from a network
infrastructure standpoint. All employees company-wide have access to
a PC or laptop. Many employees also have smartphones and others even
have tablets. The resources are in place to support technology – I
just need to determine what would be the best fit for the content I am working
with.
My learners have
expectations. We ask a lot of them in terms of their own training
and development. Training is a pillar in my organization. I
don’t want what we offer to be considered stale or outdated.
Although learners don’t
necessarily know that that they need mobile learning options, but many of the
comments I receive have to do with taking courses on their mobile devices while
tracking their completions. It is my responsibility to meet their
current needs and expectations and try to foresee future needs and
expectations.
Cathy, Your website looks very attractive and is easy to navigate. I'm quite impressed that you have brought your blogs here and since it is "blogger" it appears to accept my post without further identification.
ReplyDeleteI loved the professional organizations' websites that you put as links. I got carried away and started looking at ASTD's summer conference in Orlando and imagining which sessions that I would attend! They keynote speakers seem impressive... Sugata Mitra's TED talk I have mentioned to others in previous blog comments.
A question to you or to Dr. T if you don't know the answer... are the short courses for professionals given at these big conferences covering similar material to MALET or are they offering short courses in topics that will never be covered in any of the MALET courses.
Regarding your learners, I have noted from your website that your standards include :
"Evaluation of training effectiveness
Surveys to measure retention and relevance of training.
Learning Management System offering tracking and reporting of training completed"
Is this happening now and do you know that the results in the workplace are being achieved through the training sessions already offered. I would like to learn more about each of these evaluative tools -- how you go about planning and implementing these evaluations.
Great work!
Hi Marion - regarding my standards related to training ffectiveness, I have some tools in place currently and others are a work in progress. I use evaluations at the end of my eLearning courses to gather some feedback from the learners. They are not mandatory at this time but have been useful in gaining some insight. I just created 2 surveys that I made available through the learning management system (LMS). They have not been live long enough to determine if there is any valuable feedback, but I am hoping to gain some useful feedback from the learners in my learning environment. My LMS is awesome - I create queries and reports to be able to evaluation training utilization and compliance. As with any system, it is 'garbage in-garbage out'. As long as the instructors and administrators are entering their rosters, these reporting tools are very useful! My plans are to make additional surveys available through the LMS and use the feedback to determine training requests/future training needs as well as feedback on existing training. I will also work to develop standards to ensure that all training completions are captured in the LMS to provide the most effective reporting results. Let me know if you have any questions.
DeleteIn regards to ASTD/TD, I have attended many of their webinars. They are usually great and very informative. They don't cover any topic in depth to the level we do in our MALET courses, but they are informative nonetheless. Thanks Marion!
Cathy
Collaboration! That really is one of my most favorite words and concepts. I think it's so important to seek other's input, to work together and come up with great results. My school uses the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey for their "character education" program. One of the habits is stated as "Seek first to understand, then to be understood". This sounds just like how you plan to establish your learning environment. Using survey's to get feedback will not only be helpful to you, but will certainly empower those around you. Sounds awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks Dusty - and I have to say - that is an AWESOME book! We actually gave copies to our employees at one point. Collaboration is huge. I am actually interested in learning more about behaviors of adult learners in collaborative learning environments. It is quite interesting to see how people interact.
ReplyDeleteAlso, feedback from the learners is so important - we ask them to take training courses for their own benefit - it is important to know what their needs are and if there is value in what you are making available to them!
Thanks!
Cathy