Training Development 5

Chapter Seven

Traditional Training Methods

Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of presentational, hands-on, and group building training methods.

Provide recommendations for effective on-the-job training (OJT).

Develop a case study.

Develop a self-directed learning module.

Discuss the key components of behavior modeling training.

Explain the conditions necessary for adventure learning to be effective.

Discuss what team training should focus on to improve team performance.

Training Drives Growth at Zeigler Auto Group

In 2004, the Zeigler Auto Group consisted of four dealerships and a president, Aaron Zeigler, with a desire to expand. Along with aggressive hiring, Zeigler’s plan would require a training program to build skills and alignment with the company’s values. A training program helps attract ambitious salespeople because recruiters can show that it will help them develop their selling skills and perhaps move into management. Furthermore, the largest dealership networks have formal training programs, and Zeigler wanted to compete for talent with them. Training has helped the company meet its president’s ambition to expand. It now has more than 23 dealerships in four states, with a workforce that includes hundreds of salespeople and service advisers.

The company developed training that combines classroom instruction with videos. The videos are available for salespeople, service advisers, and department managers. There are more than 2,000 videos in an online library. The videos range in length from 30 seconds to between five and eight minutes. The library also includes training videos that have been developed by Zeigler’s executives and managers. The videos cover essentials such as having a positive attitude at work and how to treat a customer as well as more complex topics such as overcoming a customer’s objection to purchasing a car. After watching the videos, the employees

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take a quiz to check their understanding. Video instruction is used because the format is flexible and allows employees to learn as their schedule permits. When they meet for classroom training, which happens every month or two, they drill down deeper into topics. The classroom training involves either face-to-face sales training or a guest speaker at headquarters, with the presentation shared in other locations via videoconferencing. Guest speakers have included Jim Craig, the goalie for the 1980 gold medal–winning U.S. Olympic ice hockey team, and Bill Rancic, the first contestant to be hired from Donald Trump’s TV show The Apprentice. The guest speakers’ presentations are also videotaped, if they agree, and included in the video library. Training for new hires also involves face-to-face classroom instruction. Zeigler also uses mentoring groups to develop employees evaluated to have the potential to become managers. Participation in the mentoring groups is by membership only. The invitation comes from Zeigler based on a general manager’s recommendation. The mentoring groups meet six to eight times a year at the company headquarters to discuss and analyze more complex parts of a manager’s job that are not addressed in the training sessions.

One measure of the success of the training is that employee turnover is now just 7 percent, far down from more than 25 percent just 10 years earlier. Also, sales per employee per month are higher than they were before the company started using the high-frequency video approach to learning.

Source: Based on Zeigler Auto Group, Careers page, www.zeigler.com, accessed February 18, 2018; Al Jones, “Kalamazoo-Based Zeigler Buys More Car Dealerships in Chicago Area,” MLive, January 21, 2016, https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2018/03/zeigler_auto_group_buys_more_f.html; Jon McKenna, “Training Helps Sustain Michigan Dealership Group’s Evolution into a Substantial Corporate Player,” CBT Automotive Network, December 1, 2015; https://www.cbtnews.com/training-helps-sustain-michigan-dealership-groups-evolution-into-a-substantial-corporate-player/; Arlena Sawyers, “Getting Schooled in the Car Dealership Business,” Automotive News, June 1, 2015, www.autonews.com/article/20150601/RETAIL07/306019979/getting-schooled-in-the-car-dealership-business, accessed April 1, 2018.

INTRODUCTION

The Zeigler Auto Group uses a combination of training methods to develop the skills of its staff members. For most companies, including the Zeigler Auto Group, training methods have to be developed or purchased within a budget, there usually is a sense of urgency for the training, and training must be made available to those employees who need it.

Several studies have shown that most workplace learning doesn’t occur through formal courses or programs but rather on the job, informally, and through social interactions with others.1 For example, one study of executives found that 70 percent of learning occurred on the job in the workplace, 20 percent occurred socially through coaching and mentoring, and only 10 percent occurred through formal classroom instruction. This is known as the 70-20-10 model of learning. Many trainers rely on this model for designing or choosing training methods that will be included in courses and programs. Similar to the emphasis on conditions for learning and transfer discussed in Chapter Four, “Learning and Transfer of Training,” this model suggests that to increase the likelihood that learning will occur in training, the content needs to be meaningful and practical, the learner has to

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be actively involved in the learning process, and learning needs to involve feedback and reinforcement from others.

Before we discuss specific training methods, it is important for you to consider more broadly the training methods that companies are using to help employees learn and how the emphasis placed on these different methods is changing. Figure 7.1 shows a learning system with four quadrants. This learning system shows that how and what employees learn varies and influences the type of training methods used.2 Guided competency development means that the company has defined a broad set of competencies or skills for positions or for the entire company. Training and development methods such as lectures or online training are directed at the most common needs in the company. Context-based learning, learning that occurs on the job and during the everyday performance of work, tends to be more unique to the employee’s needs and includes training methods such as on-the-job training (OJT), simulations, and mobile learning. Both guided competency development and guided contextual learning are usually formal training activities designed and developed by the company to achieve specific learning goals. Employees are expected to participate in these learning activities. The bottom quadrants include social learning, that is, learning activities that involve employees collaborating with each other either one-to-one or in groups or teams. Social competency development enhances specific job-related competencies through interaction with others, such as a mentor or coach, or through encountering challenging job experiences. The competencies that are developed are typically not necessary for successful performance of one’s job but help prepare employees for future roles or positions. As a result, mentoring, coaching, and job experiences are considered development activities. We discuss development activities in Chapter Nine, “Employee Development and Career Management.” Social contextual learning is informal and peer-to-peer, and it occurs spontaneously on an as-needed basis. It usually involves employees

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sharing knowledge on issues, problems, and topics related to their current job. Employees have always learned from face-to-face meetings and phone conversations with peers. What is new is that the increased availability and access to smartphones and tablet computers provide a multimedia, low-cost, easy-to-use, and familiar way to interact with others using social media such as blogs, wikis, social networks (such as Facebook), and microblogs (such as Twitter). This provides many possibilities for technology-aided social contextual learning. We will discuss blogs, wikis, social networks, and microblogs in Chapter Eight, “Technology-Based Training Methods.” Keep in mind that training methods can cut across the quadrant shown in Figure 7.1 if they include multiple types of learning, such as a virtual classroom that includes simulations and use of social networks.

FIGURE 7.1 A Learning System

Source: From J. Meister and K. Willyerd, The 2020 Workplace. How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today (New York: Harper Business 2010).

More and more companies are using training methods from all four quadrants. This allows employees to have more choice in how and when they learn. It also recognizes the need for both dedicated training time using traditional methods (such as instructor-led courses) as well as just-in-time learning that can occur through accessing relevant content (such as a video) or interacting with peers and experts (such as through social media). Traditionally, training and development activities have been largely “instructor focused.” This means that the instructor or trainer, along with the company, has the primary responsibility for ensuring that employees learn.3 The learner plays a passive role as the receiver of information, and learning occurs to the extent that the appropriate conditions are provided by the learning “experts” or are inherent in the learning method. For example, the instructor bears the responsibility for identifying what should be learned, determining the most appropriate methods, and evaluating the extent to which knowledge and skill acquisition have resulted from the learning activity. Increased recognition of the 70-20-10 model has resulted in training that emphasizes a more active role for the learner and informal learning.4 Also, the greater availability and use of online and mobile technology (e.g., iPads) to deliver instruction and facilitate social collaboration gives the employee the opportunity to choose when, how, from whom, and even what content to learn.5 In the next section, Figure 7.2 provides an overview of the extent to which the many different training methods are being used by companies today. Instructor-led classroom training remains the most frequently used method, but the use of online learning, virtual classroom, or a combination of methods continues to grow.

FIGURE 7.2 Use of Training Methods

Source: Based on “2018 Training Industry Report,” training (November/December 2018), pp. 18–31.

Regardless of whether the training method is traditional or technology-based, for training to be effective, it needs to be based on the training design model shown in Figure 1.2 in Chapter One, “Introduction to Employee Training and Development.” Needs assessment, a positive learning environment, and transfer of training are critical for training program effectiveness. Recall the discussions of needs assessment, learning, and transfer of training in Chapters Three, Four, and Five.

This chapter and Chapter Eight present various training methods. This chapter focuses on traditional training methods, which require an instructor or facilitator and involve face-to-face interaction between trainees. However, most methods discussed here can be adapted for online, virtual reality, mobile learning, or other new training technologies used for training delivery or instruction. For example, a classroom lecture can occur face to face with trainees (traditional training) or can be delivered through a virtual classroom, in which the instructor is not in the same room as the trainees. Also, instruction can be real-time (synchronous) or time-delayed (asynchronous). Through technology, a lecture can be attended live (although the trainees are not in the same classroom as the trainer), or the

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lecture can be videotaped or burned onto a DVD. The lecture can be viewed by the trainees at their convenience on a notebook computer that gives them access to the appropriate medium for viewing the lecture (e.g., DVD player or Internet connection).

Chapter Eight discusses web-based training, e-learning, virtual reality, and social media. The increased use of technology-based training for delivery of instruction is occurring because of the potential increase in learning effectiveness, as well as the reduction in training costs.

Keep in mind that many companies’ training programs use a combination of methods to capitalize on each method’s strengths for learning and transfer. To train its business services employees in how to solve customer issues, during the first meeting Intermedia uses virtual instructor-led training, video, lab activities, and role play scenarios.6 Employees can access the training once they are back on the job to refresh their skills. Health Decisions, a clinical research organization, needed to expand its staff expertise in women’s health issues.7 To do so it developed a training program that included video, e-learning, and instructor-led sessions.

The traditional training methods discussed in this chapter are organized into three broad categories: presentation methods, hands-on methods, and group building methods.8 The following sections provide a description of each method, a discussion of their advantages and disadvantages, and tips for the trainer who is designing or choosing the method. The chapter concludes by comparing methods based on several characteristics, including the learning outcomes influenced, the extent to which the method facilitates learning transfer, the cost, and the effectiveness.

PRESENTATION METHODS

Presentation methods are methods in which trainees are passive recipients of information. This information may include facts, processes, and problem-solving methods. Lectures and audiovisual techniques are presentation methods. It is important to note that instructor-led classroom presentation methods may include lectures, video, workbooks and manuals, DVDs, and games. That is, a mix of methods can actively engage trainees in learning and can help with transfer of training.

Lecture

In a lecture, trainers communicate through spoken words what they want the trainees to learn. The communication of learned capabilities is primarily one-way—from the trainer to the audience. As Figure 7.2 shows, instructor-led classroom presentation remains a popular training method despite new technologies such as interactive video and computer-assisted instruction.

Lectures have several uses and advantages.9 A lecture is one of the least expensive, least time-consuming ways to present a large amount of information efficiently and in an organized manner to groups of trainees. Lectures are useful when the instructor is the main knowledge holder and it is the most efficient and direct way to provide learners with that knowledge. Lectures that are scripted can be used to deliver a consistent message. A lecture can also demonstrate a subject-matter expert’s passion and enthusiasm for a topic. Alamo Pharma Services uses regional sales trainers, trainers, and company leadership as

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presenters in its training courses. In addition to presentations, the courses include polling, discussion, video, and online chat rooms.10 Also, TED Talks (see www.ted.com) are a good example of how lectures can be motivational, interesting, and provide a simple message to learners in less than 20 minutes. Lectures are also used to support other training methods such as behavior modeling and technology-based techniques. For example, a lecture may be used to communicate information regarding the purpose of the training program, conceptual models, or key behaviors to trainees prior to their receiving training that is more interactive and customized to their specific needs.

Table 7.1 describes several variations of the standard lecture method. All have advantages and disadvantages.11 Team teaching brings more expertise and alternative perspectives to the training session. Team teaching does require more time on the part of trainers, however, not only to prepare their particular session but also to coordinate with other trainers, especially when there is a great deal of integration between topics. Panels are good for showing trainees different viewpoints in a debate. A potential disadvantage of a panel, however, is that trainees who are relatively naive about a topic may have difficulty understanding the important points. Guest speakers can motivate

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learning by introducing relevant examples and applications. For guest speakers to be effective, trainers need to set expectations with speakers regarding how their presentation should relate to the course content. Student presentations may increase the material’s meaningfulness and trainees’ attentiveness, but they can inhibit learning if the trainees do not have presentation skills.

TABLE 7.1 Variations of the Lecture Method

Method	Description
Standard lecture	Trainer talks and may use visual aids provided on the blackboard, whiteboard, or Microsoft PowerPoint slides, while trainees listen and absorb information.
Team teaching	Two or more trainers present different topics or alternative views of the same topic.
Guest speakers	A speaker or speakers visit the session for a predetermined time period. Primary instruction is conducted by the instructor.
Panels	Two or more speakers present information and ask questions.
Student presentations	Groups of trainees present topics to the class.

The lecture method has several disadvantages. Lectures tend to lack participant involvement, feedback, and meaningful connection to the work environment—all of which inhibit learning and transfer of training. Lectures appeal to few of the trainees’ senses because trainees focus primarily on hearing information or seeing facts, principles, or processes. Lectures also make it difficult for the trainer to judge quickly and efficiently the learners’ level of understanding. To overcome these problems, the lecture is often supplemented with question-and-answer periods, discussion, video, games, case studies, or simulations. These techniques allow the trainer to build into the lecture more active participation, job-related examples, and exercises, which facilitate learning and transfer of training.

For example, EY combines e-learning with a virtual classroom and face-to-face instruction for training its tax professionals.12 The virtual classroom courses are 30 minutes long. In the first 10 minutes, online polling is used to test participants’ understanding of key concepts covered in the e-learning course. The trainer is encouraged to help clarify any key concepts that the participants don’t understand. Following the polling, participants work in five- or six-person virtual teams on case studies. Next, participants attend the live, face-to-face class in which they complete income tax returns using EY’s processes and technology.

Audiovisual Techniques

Audiovisual instruction includes overheads, slides, and video. Video is used for improving communications skills, interviewing skills, and customer-service skills and for illustrating how procedures (e.g., welding) should be followed. Video is usually used in conjunction with lectures to show trainees real-life experiences and examples.

Consider how Farmers Insurance, Verizon Communications, and Asurion use videos in their training.13 As part of its training to improve the experience of its customers, Farmers Insurance uses 16 videos that are two to three minutes long. Employees observe actual customer interactions, identify their responsibilities, and determine what they could do to improve the customer’s experience. Managers are provided with a guide for each video. The guide provides tips on how to discuss the key points and reinforce learning after employees complete a video. At Verizon, customer-facing employees use an app to access a customer interaction video that models the best way to talk to customers about the features and benefits of its new pricing plans. Asurion is a company that provides device insurance and warranty and support services for cell phones, consumer electronics, and home appliances. Asurion’s development team creates and provides employees with videos explaining the features and selling points of its new products. These videos help employees learn how to deal with customers’ questions and concerns about new products.

Most problems in using video result from the creative approach used.14 For example, common problems include: too much content for the trainee to learn; poor dialogue between the actors (which hinders the credibility and clarity of the message); overuse of humor or music; and drama that makes it confusing for the trainee to understand the important learning points emphasized in the video.

HANDS-ON METHODS

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Hands-on methods are training methods that require the trainee to be actively involved in learning. These methods include on-the-job training (OJT), simulations, case studies, business games, role playing, and behavior modeling. These methods are ideal for developing specific skills, understanding how skills and behaviors can be transferred to the job, experiencing all aspects of completing a task, or dealing with interpersonal issues that arise on the job.

On-the-Job Training

On-the-job training (OJT) refers to new or inexperienced employees learning in the work setting and during work by observing peers or managers performing the job and then trying to imitate their behavior. OJT is one of the oldest and most used types of informal training.15 It is considered informal because it does not necessarily occur as part of a training program and because managers, peers, or mentors serve as trainers. If OJT is too informal, however, learning is less likely to occur. OJT can be useful for training newly hired employees, upgrading experienced employees’ skills when new technology is introduced, cross-training employees within a department or work unit, and orienting transferred or promoted employees to their new jobs.

OJT takes various forms, including apprenticeships and self-directed learning programs. (Both of these are discussed later in this section.) OJT has several advantages over other training methods.16 It can be customized to the experiences and abilities of trainees. Training is immediately applicable to the job because OJT occurs on the job using actual tools and equipment and actual job tasks. As a result, trainees are highly motivated to learn and the skills learned in OJT more easily transfer to the job. Both trainees and trainers are at the job site and continue to work while training occurs. This means that companies save the costs related to bringing trainees to a central location, hiring trainers, and renting training facilities. Finally, OJT can be offered at any time, and trainers will be available because they are peers or managers.

At Nomad Global Communication Solutions, a company that builds and equips disaster response trailers, each task in the manufacturing process is assigned to an employee expert who breaks every step into simple, easy-to-understand language.17 The expert works alongside every new employee, explaining the steps needed to complete the assigned task. The expert repeats steps that appear confusing and asks questions to ensure that the employee understands what he is doing and is able to remember the steps.

At Sweet Candy Company, a candy maker based in Salt Lake City, Utah, new employees receive training in basic safety and emergency evacuation procedures in an orientation session and then are assigned a mentor.18 The mentor works with the new employee for two weeks, providing hands-on, one-on-one training. Teams hold weekly meetings, and managers provide training on safety issues throughout the year. Employees also receive a weekly safety contact card on which they note safety hazards that they have encountered on the job and how they have fixed the problem. The safety contact cards are turned in, and each month the company has a safety celebration where the cards are put into a drawing. Employees win prizes such as a day off or a $10 gift card. All of the safety contact cards are reviewed to identify safety issues and hazards, which are then communicated to the employees.

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OJT is an attractive training method because, compared to other methods, it needs less investment in time or money for materials, the trainer’s salary, or instructional design. Managers or peers who are job-knowledge experts are used as instructors. As a result, it may be tempting to let them conduct the training as they believe it should be done.

There are several disadvantages to this unstructured approach to OJT. Managers and peers may not use the same process to complete a task. They may pass on bad habits as well as useful skills. Also, they may not understand that demonstration, practice, and feedback are important conditions for effective OJT. Unstructured OJT can result in poorly trained employees, employees who use ineffective or dangerous methods to produce a product or provide a service, and products or services that vary in quality.

OJT must be structured to be effective. Table 7.2 shows the principles of structured OJT. Because OJT involves learning by observing others, successful OJT is based on the principles emphasized by social learning theory. These include the use of a credible trainer, a manager or peer who models the behavior or skill, communication of specific key behaviors, practice, feedback, and reinforcement. For example, at Rochester Gas and Electric in Rochester, New York, radiation and chemistry instructors teach experienced employees how to conduct OJT.19 While teaching these employees how to demonstrate software to new employees, the trainer may ask the employees to watch other OJT instructors as theytrain new recruits so that they can learn new teaching techniques. Regardless of the specific type, effective OJT programs include:

A policy statement that describes the purpose of OJT and emphasizes the company’s support for it.

A clear specification of who is accountable for conducting OJT. If managers conduct OJT, this is mentioned in their job descriptions and is part of their performance evaluations.

A thorough review of OJT practices (program content, types of jobs, length of program, cost savings) at other companies in similar industries.

Training of managers and peers in the principles of structured OJT (see Table 7.2).

Availability of lesson plans, checklists, procedure manuals, training manuals, learning contracts, and progress reports for use by employees who conduct OJT.

Evaluation of employees’ basic skills (reading, computation, and writing) before OJT.20

TABLE 7.2 Principles of OJT

Preparing for Instruction 1. Break down the job into important steps. 2. Prepare the necessary equipment, materials, and supplies. 3. Decide how much time you will devote to OJT and when you expect the employees to be competent in skill areas. Actual Instruction 1. Tell the trainees the objective of the task and ask them to watch you demonstrate it. 5. Show the trainees how to do the task without saying anything. 6. Explain the key points or behaviors. (Write out the key points for the trainees, if possible.) 7. Show the trainees how to do it again. 8. Have the trainees do one or more single parts of the task and praise them for correct reproduction (optional). 9. Have the trainees do the entire task and praise them for correct reproduction. 10. If mistakes are made, have the trainees practice until accurate reproduction is achieved. 11. Praise the trainees for their success in learning the task. Transfer of Training Provide support materials and job aids such as flowcharts, checklists, or procedures. Arrange for manager or trainer support and observation on the job, especially for difficult or complex tasks. Evaluation Prepare and allow time for final tests and exercises and surveys of trainee reactions.

Sources: Based on R. Buckley and J. Caple, “Developing One-to-One Training Programs,” T+D (April 2010), pp. 108–109; W. J. Rothwell and H. C. Kazanas, “Planned OJT Is Productive OJT,” Training and Development Journal (October 1990), pp. 53–55; P. J. Decker and B. R. Nathan, Behavior Modeling Training (New York: Praeger Scientific, 1985).

Self-Directed Learning

Self-directed learning has employees take responsibility for all aspects of learning, including when it is conducted and who is involved.21 Trainees master predetermined training content at their own pace, without an instructor. Trainers may serve as facilitators (i.e., they may be available to evaluate learning or answer questions for the trainee), but they do not control or disseminate instruction. The learning process is controlled by the trainee. Hilton Worldwide uses self-guided tutorials for its revenue management professionals.22 The Revenue Management at Work course is designed to help learners acquire knowledge and skills and use tools to help them improve revenue management. Learners identify their own objectives and complete exercises that help them determine what they need to know as well as a learning action plan.

Self-directed learning also may involve the company providing employees with information such as databases, training courses, and seminars while still holding them responsible for taking the initiative to learn. Because the effectiveness of self-directed learning is based on an employee’s motivation to learn, companies may want to provide seminars on the self-directed learning process, self-management, and incentives for completing learning. Best Buy rewards employees with virtual “badges” when they complete training that is appropriate and necessary for their current career stage.23 For example, employees receive bronze status when they have prepared for a new role by completing foundational training courses. Gold status can be reached when employees become leaders and complete courses relating to managing other employees. In addition to badges for completing training, employees earn pins they can wear on their uniforms and points they can exchange for products and services.

Self-directed learning has several advantages.24 It allows trainees to learn at their own pace and receive feedback about their learning performance. For the company, self-directed learning requires fewer trainers, reduces costs associated with travel and meeting rooms, and makes multiple-site training more realistic. Self-directed learning provides consistent training content that captures the knowledge of experts. Self-directed learning also makes it easier for shift employees to gain access to training materials.

A major disadvantage of self-directed learning, however, is that trainees must be willing to learn on their own and feel comfortable doing so. That is, trainees must be motivated to learn. From the company perspective, self-directed learning results in higher development costs, and development time is longer than with other types of training programs.

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Several steps are necessary to develop effective self-directed learning:25

Conduct a job analysis to identify the tasks that must be covered.

Write trainee-centered learning objectives directly related to the tasks. Because the objectives take the place of the instructor, they must indicate what information is important, what actions the trainee should take, and what the trainee should master.

Develop the content for the learning package. This involves developing scripts (for video) or text screens (for computer-based training). The content should be based on the trainee-centered learning objectives. Another consideration in developing the content is the medium (e.g., paper, video, computer, or website) that will be used to communicate the content.

Break the content into smaller pieces (“chunks”). The chunks should always begin with the objectives that will be covered and include a method for trainees to evaluate their learning. Practice exercises should also appear in each chunk.

Develop an evaluation package that includes evaluation of the trainee and evaluation of the self-directed learning package. Trainee evaluation should be based on the objectives (a process known as criterion referencing). That is, questions should be developed that are written directly from the objectives and can be answered directly from the materials. Evaluation of the self-directed learning package should involve determining ease of use, how up-to-date the material is, whether the package is being used as intended, and whether trainees are mastering the objectives.

Self-directed learning is likely to become more common in the future, as companies seek to train staff flexibly, take advantage of technology, and encourage employees to be proactive in their learning.

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a work-study training method with both on-the-job and classroom training.26 The typical length of an apprenticeship is four years but it can range from two to six years. To qualify as a registered apprentice under state or federal guidelines, apprentices in most cases must complete at least 144 hours of classroom instruction and, depending on state rules, obtain a certain number of hours of on-the-job experience.27 For example, learners in the Ohio State Apprenticeship Program are required to complete 144 hours of instruction and a minimum of 2,000 hours of paid, on-the-job training.28 Once their training is complete, apprentices are called journey workers, and they earn certification from the U.S. Department of Labor or a state apprenticeship agency. Table 7.3 shows the top 10 occupations for apprentices. In 2017, there were over 533,000 active apprentices in over 22,000 registered apprenticeship programs.29 The average annual wage for an apprentice is $50,000. Apprenticeships can be sponsored by individual companies or by groups of companies cooperating with a union. The typical costs of apprenticeships for employers ranges from $170,000 to $250,000, including four years of classroom training, medical benefits, and salary on the job while the apprentices learn. Apprentices are not required to work for the company after they graduate. Unions’ collective bargaining agreements designate what proportion of union dues or hours worked by its members are used to fund apprenticeship programs. As Table 7.3 shows, most apprenticeship programs are in electrical work, plumbing, pipefitting, steamfitting, and carpentry. Table 7.4 provides an example of an apprenticeship program for a machinist.

TABLE 7.3 Top 10 Occupations for Active Apprentices

Rank	Occupation	Active Apprentices
1	Electrician	41,489
2	Plumber, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters	23,094
3	Carpenter	20,159
4	Construction Laborers	14,089
5	Heavy and Tractor Trailer Truck Drivers	7,890
6	Electrical Power Line Installers and Repairers	7,008
7	Sheet Metal Worker	6,667
8	Structural Iron and Steel Workers	5,225
9	Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers	4,509
10	Roofer	3,946

Source: Based on “Top 10 Occupations for Fiscal year 2017,” from U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. Available at https://doleta.gov/oa/data_statistics2016.cfm.TABLE 7.4 Example of a Machinist Apprenticeship

Hours	Weeks	Unit
240	6.0	Bench Work
360	9.0	Drill Press
240	6.0	Heat Treat
200	5.0	Elementary Layout
680	17.0	Turret Lathe (Conventional and Numerical Control)
800	20.0	Engine Lathe
320	8.0	Tool Grind
640	16.0	Advanced Layout
960	24.0	Milling Machine
280	7.0	Profile Milling
160	4.0	Surface Grinding
240	6.0	External Grinding
280	7.0	Internal Grinding
200	5.0	Thread Grinding
520	13.0	Horizontal Boring Mills
240	6.0	Jig Bore/Jig Grinder
160	4.0	Vertical Boring
600	15.0	Numerical Control Milling
240	6.0	Computer Numerical Control
640	16.0	Related Training
8,000	200.0	TOTAL
Probationary: The following hours are included in the totals above, but must be completed in the first 1,000 hours of apprenticeship:
80	2.0	Drill Press (probation)
280	7.0	Lathe Work (probation)
360	9.0	Milling Machine (probation)
40	1.0	Elementary Layout (probation)
80	2.0	Related Training (probation)
840	21.0	TOTAL

Source: A. H. Howard III, “Apprenticeship,” in The ASTD Training and Development Handbook, 4th ed., ed. R. L. Craig (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), p. 808.

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In an apprenticeship program, the hours and weeks that must be devoted to completing specific skill units are clearly defined. The OJT involves assisting a certified tradesperson (a journey worker) at the work site. The OJT portion of the apprenticeship follows the guidelines for effective OJT by including modeling, practice, feedback, and evaluation.30 First, the employer verifies that the trainee has the required knowledge of the operation or process. Next, the trainer (who is usually a more experienced, licensed employee) demonstrates each step of the process, emphasizing safety issues and key steps. The senior employee provides the apprentice with the opportunity to perform the process until all are satisfied that the apprentice can perform it properly and safely.

Apprenticeships have benefits for both the learner and the company.31 Learners earn pay while they learn and their wages increase automatically as their skills improve. Learners often receive a job offer and good wages from the company that sponsors their training. Apprentices gain a wide range of skills and knowledge based on their classroom and on-the-job experience. They tend to be cross-trained, which means they can move to different tasks and jobs. For example, an individual who completes a machinist apprenticeship can begin working as a machinist and then move to other areas of production, sales, and eventually management. Unlike the expense of a college eduation, the costs for the learner are usually limited to textbooks.

Apprenticeship programs benefit employers by providing them with the skills they need but are difficult to find in the labor market.32 Employers also benefit from high employee retention and loyalty rates among apprentices, improved morale and emphasis on continuous learning, a talent pool, improved safety, and training customized to their needs. Recognizing the value of apprenticeships, President Trump signed an executive order that makes it easier for companies, unions, and trade associations to develop their own program guidelines and provides additional funding for apprenticeships (not surprising, given that he was the host of the television show The Apprentice).

At Newport News Shipbuilding, graduates of apprenticeship programs make up 13 percent of the workforce. Its program includes 800 apprentices in 25 occupations. Eighty percent of graduates are still employed by Newport News 10 years later. Because apprentices want to learn, it helps create an environment where more experienced employees want to share their knowledge and help apprentices learn new skills. This helps develop a skilled internal labor force, which is likely unavailable outside the company (recall the discussion in Chapter One of how companies are having difficulty finding employees with the skills they need). Siemens has an apprenticeship program in its Charlotte, North Carolina, factory.33 Siemens partners with a local community college to offer courses in combination with on-the-job training. The apprentices are recruited from local high schools and the company pays approximately $180,000 per student in providing tuition, books, and wages during the four-year program. Apprentices learn skills needed in advanced manufacturing and graduate from the program with an associate degree. The apprenticeship program at Scot Forge, a metals manufacturer, also involves classes at local colleges and work on the shop floor. The company pays apprentices’ wages and tuition. Apprentices who graduate from the three-year program receive an associate degree and are guaranteed a job at the company for two years.

Apprentice-like programs are also used to prepare new managers. The president and chief executive officer of Goldcorp, a company in the mining industry, offers the chance for MBAs to apply for a nine-month apprenticeship.34 The apprentice shadows

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Goldcorp’s CEO and observes board meetings, negotiations, mine acquisitions, and other important aspects of the mining industry. Goldcorp hopes the apprenticeships will attract more MBAs to the mining industry, which is viewed by many graduates as an unsafe and dirty business. Hyatt Hotels offers several programs in which management trainees complete training in the areas of facilities, culinary arts, sales, hotel operations, accounting, and catering.35 Trainees rotate through all parts of the hotel and perform all aspects of each job, from washing dishes to catering, and then spend the rest of the training time in their specialty area. Employees who complete the training are placed in entry-level management positions.

Besides the development costs and time commitment that management and journey workers have to make to apprenticeship programs, another disadvantage of many of these programs is that, despite efforts to be inclusive, there still may be limited access for minorities and women.36 Also, there is no guarantee that jobs will be available when the program is completed. This is especially a problem in poor economic times such as the 2009 recession.

Simulations

A simulation is a training method that represents a real-life situation, with trainees’ decisions resulting in outcomes that mirror what would happen if they were on the job. A common example of the use of simulators for training is flight simulators for pilots. Simulations, which allow trainees to see the impact of their decisions in an artificial, risk-free environment, are used to teach production and process skills as well as management and interpersonal skills. As you will see in Chapter Eight, new technology has helped in the development of virtual reality, a type of simulation that even more closely mimics the work environment.

Simulators replicate the physical equipment and conditions that employees encounter on the job. Alive Hospice in Nashville, Tennessee, uses simulation to train doctors and other health-care providers in how to communicate terminal diagnoses to patients.37 One side of the room looks like a doctor’s office. The other side of the room has a hospital bed. Trainees practice scenarios with one or more employees playing the role of the patient or family member. The four scenarios include telling a patient about a terminal diagnosis and responding to angry family members. The interactions are videoed so that following the simulation the trainee and a facilitator can review what happened and discuss what went well as well as areas for improvement. According to one doctor, the simulation was useful because she never had any formal training in how to hold an end-of-life conversation. Watching and receiving feedback made her realize she was too quick to jump into the conversation when the patient was talking. The realism of the simulation helped another doctor recognize the need to reduce the tension resulting from an interaction with a patient’s angry family member.

At Automatic Data Processing, Inc., 30 high-potential global managers, working in teams of six, participate in a computer-based business simulation that replicates the company’s business model.38 The team, acting as the company’s executive board, must operate a financially sound and profitable business through five rounds by creating growth opportunities in a competitive global market.

There are several features that simulators must have to be effective.39 Trainees need to interact with the content, the trainers, and other trainees. Feedback should be provided to

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trainees on their performance in the simulation. Trainees should attend a debriefing led by a trainer or facilitator to help them understand what they have learned and how to apply it in their work. Finally, simulators need to be realistic. That is, they need to be similar to the equipment and situations that the trainee will encounter on the job. Recall the discussion of near transfer in Chapter Five, “Program Design.” Simulators need to have elements identical to those found in the work environment. The simulator needs to respond exactly like the equipment would under the conditions and response given by the trainee. For example, flight simulators include distractions that actual pilots must deal with, such as hearing chimes in the cockpit from traffic alerts generated by an onboard computer warning system while listening to directions from an air traffic controller.40 For this reason, simulators are expensive to develop and need constant updating as new information about the work environment is obtained.

Case Studies

A case study is a description about how employees or an organization dealt with a difficult situation. Trainees are required to analyze and critique the actions taken, indicating the appropriate actions and suggesting what might have been done differently.41 A major assumption of the case study approach is that employees are most likely to recall and use knowledge and skills if they learn through a process of discovery.42 Cases may be especially appropriate for developing higher-order intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. These skills are often required by managers, physicians, and other professional employees. Cases also help trainees develop the willingness to take risks given uncertain outcomes, based on their analysis of the situation. To use cases effectively, the learning environment must give trainees the opportunity to prepare and discuss their case analyses. Also, face-to-face or electronic communication among trainees must be arranged. Because trainee involvement is critical for the effectiveness of the case method, learners must be willing and able to analyze the case and then communicate and defend their positions.

Table 7.5 presents the process used for case development. The first step in the process is to identify a story (i.e., a problem or situation). It is important to consider if the story is related to the instructional objectives, will provoke a discussion, forces decision making, can be told in a reasonable time period, and is applicable to the situations that trainees may face. Information on the problem or situation must also be readily accessible. The next step is to research documents, interview participants, and obtain data that provide the details of the case. The third step is to outline the story and link the details and exhibits to relevant points in the story. Fourth, the media used to present the case should be determined. Also, at this point in case development, the trainer should consider how the case exercise will be conducted. This may involve determining if trainees will work individually or in teams, and how the students will report results of their analyses. Finally, the actual case materials need to be prepared. This includes assembling exhibits (figures, tables, articles, job

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descriptions, etc.), writing the story, preparing questions to guide trainees’ analysis, and writing an interesting, attention-getting case opening that will attract trainees’ attention and provide a quick orientation to the case.

TABLE 7.5 Process for Case Development

1. Identify a story. 2. Gather information. 3. Prepare a story outline. 4. Decide on administrative issues. 5. Prepare case materials.

Source: Based on J. Alden and J. K. Kirkhorn, “Case Studies,” in The ASTD Training and Development Handbook, 4th ed., ed. R. L. Craig (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), pp. 497–516

There are a number of available sources of preexisting cases. A major advantage of preexisting cases is that they are already developed, but a disadvantage is that the case may not actually relate to the work situation or problem that the trainee will encounter. It is especially important to review preexisting cases to determine how meaningful they will be to the trainee. Preexisting cases on a wide variety of problems in business management (e.g., in human resource management, operations, marketing, and advertising) are available from Harvard Business School, the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia, Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario, and various other sources.

KLA-Tencor uses cases studies as part of a program known as “The Situation Room” to help managers learn how to deal with common leadership problems.43 A group of between 8 and 20 managers get together face to face or virtually each month for one year and read one of twelve 350–400 word case studies. Each case is based on a real situation or problem that occurred at KLA-Tencor. It has to be broad enough for most managers to have experienced the situation, issue, or problem, but specific enough to be useful. After they read the case, the managers are given three minutes to write their response to the situation. Participants share their responses and their peers provide feedback. If a peer doesn’t like a response, he or she can provide an alternative. After all participants have shared their responses, four teams are formed and they are given “homework.” Between the first and the second sessions, participants are expected to meet for an hour in their teams and review content, models, methodology, and/or tools that they have been exposed to in prior courses. Based on this review, they are asked to provide a response to the situation. During the second session participants share their prepared responses and discuss them. Based on what they learned from the first and second sessions, participants are asked to prepare a personal response focusing on how they will handle the situation if they encounter it on their job. The outcomes of the sessions are documented on the company’s knowledge management system so practices can be shared with other managers facing similar challenges. Managers completing the program have found it valuable. KLA-Tencor is currently analyzing employee engagement survey scores to see if managers who participated in The Situation Room have improved in the leadership and management categories assessed on the survey.

Business Games

Business games require trainees to gather information, analyze it, and make decisions. Business games are primarily used for management skills development. Games stimulate learning because participants are actively involved and because games mimic the competitive nature of business. The types of decisions that participants make in games include all aspects of management practice: labor relations (agreement in contract negotiations), ethics, marketing (the price to charge for a new product), and finance (financing the purchase of new technology). Games are also used for developing job-specific skills such as patient triage or aircraft repair. They are similar to simulations in that they can be used for training that otherwise would involve risk of injury or accidents or would be too costly.44

Typical games have several characteristics.45 Games involve a contest among trainees or teams of trainees or against an established criterion such as time or quantity. Games

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are designed to demonstrate an understanding or application of a knowledge, skill, or behavior. Several alternative courses of action are available to trainees, and trainees can estimate the consequences of each alternative, but only with some uncertainty. Trainees do not know for certain what the consequences of their actions will be because the consequences are partially based on the decisions of other game participants. Finally, rules limit participant behavior.

To ensure learning and transfer of training, games used in training should be simple enough that trainees can play them in a short period of time. The best games generate excitement among the participants and interest in the game. Meaningfulness of the game is enhanced if it is realistic. Trainees need to feel that they are participating in a business and acquiring knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are useful on the job.46 Debriefing from a trainer can help trainees understand the game experience and facilitate learning and transfer. Debriefing can include feedback, discussions of the concepts presented during the game, and instructions in how to take the knowledge, skills, or behavior emphasized in the game and use them at work. Table 7.6 contains some questions that can be used for debriefing.

TABLE 7.6 Questions to Use When Debriefing a Game

· How did the score of the game affect your behavior and the behavior of the team? · What did you learn from the game? · What aspects of the game remind you of situations at work? · How does the game relate to your work? · What did you learn from the game that you plan to use at work?

Source: Based on S. Sugar, “Using Games to Energize Dry Material,” in The ASTD Handbook of Training Design and Delivery, eds. G. Piskurich, P. Beckschi, and B. Hall (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000), pp. 107–120.

A team of nurse educators from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill use a game, Friday Night at the ER, to improve the collaboration between nurses, physicians, and other health professionals who work in rural county hospital emergency rooms.47 Needs assessment showed that the professional staff working in these emergency rooms felt the greatest training need was for improved communications and collaboration to deliver better patient care. The game challenges players to help manage a hospital during a typical day. Each player performs a role that is different from, yet dependent on, players in other hospital roles. Each session of the game concludes with the opportunity for players to reflect on and discuss what they learned and to make plans to apply what they learned in their real hospital roles.

A review of research on computer games shows that trainees learn more when they are actively involved in learning the content (rather than reading text or listening), they have unlimited access to the game, and the game is used as a supplement to other training methods, such as lecturing.48 Games may give team members a quick start at developing a framework for information and may help develop cohesive groups. For some groups (such as senior executives), games may be more meaningful training activities (because the game is realistic) than presentation techniques such as classroom instruction.

Role Plays

Role plays refer to experiences in which trainees take on a role such as a manager, client, or disgruntled employee and explore what is involved in the role.49 Role plays are usually included in training programs involving interpersonal skills such as communications, sales, providing performance feedback, coaching, leadership, and team building. Role plays can be completed in small groups of two to three persons in which all trainees complete

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the role play. Alternatively, several trainees can volunteer to role-play while the remaining trainees observe them. In a role play, outcomes depend on the emotional (and subjective) reactions of the other trainees.

At Wequassett Resort and Golf Club in Chatham, Massachusetts, the training schedule considers both the need to make guests happy and the need to help both new and returning employees learn how to do that.50 From October to April, the resort is closed, but 340 employees start work in the spring before the resort opens. Half of the employees are receiving training for the first time, while the returning employees need refresher training. Wequassett Academy offers 70 courses in four schools (customer intimacy, technical training, information and technology, and management). The goal of training is to provide the kind of service that will encourage guests to come back again, as well as recommend the resort to their friends. The resort’s training is in step with its business, which requires a personal touch. Training involves classroom instruction with role plays, as well as the use of DVDs. Employees have to successfully complete competency checklists before they are able to work. For example, food servers may have to take courses in menu knowledge, food service, and wine knowledge.

For role plays to be effective, trainers need to engage in several activities before, during, and after the role play. Table 7.7 shows the activities that comprise effective role plays.

TABLE 7.7 Activities for Effective Role Plays

· Provide background information on the purpose of and context for the role play. · Make sure that a script is provided with enough detail for trainees to understand their roles. · Arrange the room so trainees can see and hear the role players. · Develop and use observation sheets and checklists that emphasize the issues in the role play. · Provide debriefing on the experience of the role players and observers, the relationship of the role play to the company context, and important learning points.

Sources: Based on S. Karve, “Setting the Stage for Effective Role Plays,” T+D (November 2011), pp. 76–77; S. Thiagarajan, “Instructional Games, Simulations, and Role Plays,” in The ASTD Training and Development Handbook, pp. 517–533.

Behavior Modeling

Behavior modeling presents trainees with a model who demonstrates key behaviors to replicate and provides trainees with the opportunity to practice the key behaviors. Behavior modeling is based on the principles of social learning theory (discussed in Chapter Four), which emphasize that learning occurs by (1) observation of behaviors demonstrated by a model and (2) vicarious reinforcement. Vicarious reinforcement occurs when a trainee sees a model receiving reinforcement for using certain behaviors.

Behavior modeling is more appropriate for teaching skills and behaviors than for teaching factual information or knowledge. Research suggests that behavior modeling is one of the most effective techniques for teaching interpersonal and computer skills.51

Table 7.8 presents the activities in a behavior modeling training session. These activities include an introduction, skill preparation and development, and application planning.52 Each training session, which typically lasts four hours, focuses on one interpersonal skill, such as coaching or communicating ideas. Each session includes a presentation of the rationale behind the key behaviors, a video of a model performing the key behaviors, practice opportunities using role play, evaluation of a model’s performance in the videotape, and a planning session devoted to understanding how the key behaviors can be used on

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the job. In the practice sessions, trainees are provided with feedback regarding how closely their behavior matches the key behaviors demonstrated by the model. The role-playing and modeled performance are based on actual incidents in the employment setting in which the trainee needs to demonstrate success.

TABLE 7.8 Activities in a Behavior Modeling Training Program

Introduction (45 mins.) · Watch video that presents key behaviors. · Listen to rationale for skill module. · Discuss experiences in using skill. Skill Preparation and Development (2 hrs., 30 mins.) · View model. · Participate in role plays and practice. · Receive oral and video feedback on performance of key behaviors. Application Planning (1 hr.) · Set improvement goals. · Identify situations in which to use key behaviors. · Identify on-the-job applications of the key behaviors.

Well-prepared behavior modeling training programs identify the key behaviors, create the modeling display, provide opportunities for practice, and facilitate transfer of training.53 The first step in developing behavior modeling training programs is to determine (1) the tasks that are not being adequately performed due to lack of skill or behavior and (2) the key behaviors that are required to perform the task. A key behavior is one of a set of behaviors that is necessary to complete a task. In behavior modeling, key behaviors are typically performed in a specific order for the task to be completed. Key behaviors are identified through a study of the skills and behaviors necessary to complete the task and the skills or behaviors used by employees who are effective in completing the task.

Table 7.9 presents key behaviors for a behavior modeling training program on problem analysis. The table specifies behaviors that the trainee needs to engage in to be effective in problem analysis skills. Note that the key behaviors do not specify the exact behaviors needed at every step of solving a problem. Rather, the key behaviors in this skill module specify more general behaviors that are appropriate across a wide range of situations. If a task involves a clearly defined series of specific steps that must be accomplished in a specific order, then the key behaviors that are provided are usually more specific and explained in greater detail. For example, tennis players learning how to serve must follow a

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detailed sequence of activities (e.g., align feet with the baseline, take the racquet back over the head, toss the ball, bring the racquet forward over the head again, pronate the wrist, and strike the ball). People learning interpersonal skills must develop more general key behaviors because there is always more than one way to complete the task. The development of general key behaviors promotes far transfer (discussed in Chapter Five). That is, trainees are prepared to use the key behaviors in a variety of situations.

TABLE 7.9 Example of Key Behaviors in Problem Analysis

Get all relevant information by: · Rephrasing the question or problem to see if new issues emerge · Listing the key problem issues · Considering other possible sources of information Identify possible causes. If necessary, obtain additional information. Evaluate the information to ensure that all essential criteria are met. Restate the problem considering new information. Determine what criteria indicate that the problem or issue has been resolved.

Another important consideration in developing behavior modeling programs is the modeling display. The modeling display provides the key behaviors that the trainees will practice to develop the same set of behaviors. DVDs and online video are the predominant methods used to present modeling displays. In online behavior modeling training, the learner can practice the key behaviors by watching scenarios that mimic an interpersonal interaction. At certain points during the scenario, for example, when asked a question, the learner is asked to choose one of several choices of how they would respond. Just like in a real interpersonal interaction, they then see how the other person would react to their response. (The use of new technology in training is discussed in Chapter Eight.) Effective modeling displays have six characteristics:54

The display clearly presents the key behaviors. The music and the characteristics of the situation shown in the display do not interfere with the trainee seeing and understanding the key behaviors.

The model is credible to the trainees.

An overview of the key behaviors is presented.

Each key behavior is repeated. The trainee is shown the relationship between the behavior of the model and each key behavior.

A review of the key behaviors is included.

The display presents models engaging in both positive use of key behaviors and negative use (i.e., ineffective models not using the key behaviors).

Providing opportunities for practice involves (1) having trainees cognitively rehearse and think about the key behaviors and (2) placing trainees in situations (such as role plays) in which they have to use the key behaviors. Trainees may interact with one other person in the role play or in groups of three or more in which each trainee can practice the key behaviors. The most effective practice sessions allow trainees to practice the behaviors multiple times, involve a small group of trainees where anxiety or evaluation apprehension is reduced, and include other trainees who understand the company and the job.

Practice sessions should include a method for providing trainees with feedback to provide reinforcement for behaviors performed correctly, as well as information needed to improve behaviors. For example, if role play is used, trainees can receive feedback from the other participants who serve as observers when not playing the role. Practice sessions may also be videotaped and played back to the trainees. The use of video objectively captures the trainees’ behavior and provides useful, detailed feedback. Having the trainees view the video shows them specifically how they need to improve their behaviors and identifies behaviors that they are successfully replicating.

Behavior modeling helps ensure that transfer of training occurs by using application planning. Application planning prepares trainees to use the key behaviors on the job

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(i.e., enhances transfer of training). Application planning involves having all participants prepare a written document identifying specific situations in which they should use the key behaviors. Some training programs actually have trainees complete a “contract” outlining the key behaviors that they agree to use on the job. The trainer may follow up with the trainees to see if they are performing according to the contract. Application planning may also involve preparing trainees to deal with situational factors that may inhibit their use of the key behaviors (similar to relapse prevention, discussed in Chapter Four). As part of the application planning process, a trainee may be paired with another participant, with the stated expectation that the two should periodically communicate with each other to discuss successes and failures in the use of key behaviors.

GROUP BUILDING METHODS

Group building methods are training methods designed to improve team or group effectiveness. A team refers to two or more people with specific roles or functions who work together with shared responsibility to achieve a common goal or mission or complete tasks in a company.55 In group building methods, trainees share ideas and experiences, build group identity, understand the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, and get to know their own strengths and weaknesses and those of their co-workers. Group techniques focus on helping teams increase their skills for effective teamwork. A number of training techniques are available to improve work group or team performance, to establish a new team, or to improve interactions among different teams. All involve an examination of feelings, perceptions, and beliefs about the functioning of the team; discussion; and development of plans to apply what was learned in training to the team’s performance in the work setting. Group building methods include adventure learning, team training, and action learning.

Group building methods often involve experiential learning. Experiential learning training programs have four stages: (1) gain conceptual knowledge and theory; (2) take part in a behavioral simulation; (3) analyze the activity; and (4) connect the theory and activity with on-the-job or real-life situations.56

For experiential training programs to be successful, several guidelines should be followed. The program needs to tie in to a specific business problem. The trainees need to be moved outside their personal comfort zones, but within limits so as not to reduce trainee motivation or ability to understand the purpose of the program. Multiple learning modes should be used, including audio, visual, and kinesthetic. When preparing activities for an experiential training program, trainers should ask trainees for input on the program goals. Clear expectations about the purpose, expected outcomes, and trainees’ role in the program are important. Finally, the training program needs to be evaluated. Training programs that include experiential learning should be linked to changes in employee attitudes, behaviors, and other business results. If training programs that involve experiential learning do not follow these guidelines, they may be questioned. For example, the U.S. Postal Inspector resigned after criticisms surfaced about postal team training activities. Current and former postal employees complained to several U.S. senators about training activities that included having employees wrap each other in toilet paper, dress as cats, and hold signs that spelled “teamwork.”57

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Adventure Learning

Adventure learning is an experiential learning method that focuses on the development of teamwork and leadership skills through structured activities.58 Adventure learning includes wilderness training, outdoor training, improvisational activities, drum circles, and even cooking classes. Adventure learning appears to be best suited for developing skills related to group effectiveness, such as self-awareness, problem solving, conflict management, and risk taking. Adventure learning may involve strenuous, challenging physical activities such as dogsledding or mountain climbing. Adventure learning can also use structured individual and group activities, such as wall climbing, rope courses, trust falls, ladder climbing, and traveling from one tower to another using a device attached to a wire that connects the two towers.For example, “The Beam” requires team members to cross a six-foot-high beam placed between two trees, using help only from the team. Trainees can help by shouting advice and encouragement.59 Rope-based activities may be held 3 to 4 feet or 25 to 30 feet above the ground. The high-ropes course is an individual-based exercise whose purpose is to help the trainee overcome fear. The low-ropes course requires the entire team of trainees to complete the course successfully. The purpose is to develop team identity, cohesiveness, and communication skills.

At RealScout, 20 coders, marketing executives, and product team members left their office and spent a day in the California mountains learning survival skills such as constructing shelters, purifying water, and starting a fire without matches.60 The program cost $2,000 in addition to the $7,000 to $10,000 lost by shutting down the business for the day. RealScout executives believe the benefits of the adventure outweigh its costs. They believe it helps develop stronger teams, allows employees to better know each other even if they don’t work together on a daily basis, and gives employees a fun experience that will aid in retention.

Adventure learning can also include demanding activities that require coordination but place less of a physical strain on team members. In drum circles, each team member is given a drum, and facilitators work with the team to create a drumming orchestra. Toyota spent $20,000 for drums to accommodate 40 people at its training center in Torrance, California.61 Drum circles are held twice a week. Toyota believes that the drum circles are metaphors for how high-performance teams should operate: cooperatively and smoothly. Cooking Up Change is one of many team-building courses offered around the United States by chefs, caterers, hotels, and cooking schools.62 These courses have been used by companies such as Honda and Microsoft. The idea is that cooking classes help strengthen communications and networking skills by requiring team members to work together to create a full-course meal. Each team has to decide who does what kitchen tasks (e.g., cooking, cutting, cleaning) and who prepares the main course, salads, and dessert. Often, team members are required to switch assignments in mid-preparation to see how the team reacts to change.

For adventure learning programs to be successful, exercises should relate to the types of skills that participants are expected to develop. Also, after the exercises, a skilled facilitator should lead a discussion about what happened in the exercise, what was learned, how events in the exercise relate to the job situation, and how to set goals and apply what was learned on the job.63 DaVita HealthCare Partners provides kidney-related health-care services such as dialysis.64 DaVita contracted with a training provider to develop a three-hour experiential learning activity that would be collaborative, have a sense of purpose, and

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reinforce the company’s values of teamwork, fulfillment, and fun. The goals of the program were to understand the importance or why of work, understand how team members relate to patients and to each other, and learn how to address challenges. The training activity started with a discussion of the importance of communicating and collaborating for successful teamwork on the job. Employees were divided into three-member teams and given the task of building prosthetic hands, which would be donated to organizations serving amputees. Building the prostheses provided an opportunity for the achievement of the program goals. The employees built more than 14,000 prostheses during the three-hour activity! The activity concluded with a discussion of ways to apply what they learned to their jobs at DaVita.

This approach does have disadvantages, however. The physical demands of some types of adventure learning and the requirement that trainees often touch each other in the exercises may increase a company’s risk for negligence claims due to personal injury, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. Also, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) raises questions about requiring disabled employees to participate in physically demanding training experiences.65

Given the physically demanding nature of adventure learning, it is important to consider when to use it instead of another training method. Adventure learning allows trainees to interact interpersonally in a situation not governed by formal business rules. This type of environment may be important for employees to mold themselves into a cohesive work team. Also, adventure learning exercises allow trainees to share a strong emotional experience. Significant emotional experiences can help trainees break difficult behavior patterns and open trainees to change their behaviors. One of the most important characteristics of adventure learning is that the exercises can serve as metaphors for organizational behavior. That is, trainees will behave in the same way in the exercises that they would when working as a team (e.g., developing a product launch plan). As a result, by analyzing behaviors that occur during the exercise, trainees gain insight into ineffective behaviors.

Does adventure learning work? Rigorous evaluations of its impact on productivity or performance have not been conducted. However, former participants often report that they gained a greater understanding of themselves and how they interact with co-workers.66 One key to an adventure learning program’s success may be the insistence that whole work groups participate together so that group dynamics that inhibit effectiveness can emerge and be discussed.

Team Training

Team training refers to training that is designed to improve team effectiveness. There are many different types of teams in companies, including production teams, service teams, committees, project teams, and management teams. Teamwork tends to be episodic.67 That is, teams engage in a cycle of identifying their goals, engaging in interpersonal interactions, and taking actions to achieve their goals. They repeat this cycle as goals are reached and tasks are completed and they move on to new tasks or goals. Regardless of the type of team, successful team performance depends on the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of its members. Figure 7.3 shows the three components of team performance: knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.68 The behavioral requirement means that team members must perform actions that allow them to communicate, coordinate, adapt, and complete complex tasks to accomplish their objective. The knowledge component requires team members to

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have mental models or memory structures that allow them to function effectively in unanticipated or new situations. Team members’ beliefs about the task and feelings toward each other relate to the attitude component. Team morale, cohesion, and identity are related to team performance. For example, in the military, as well as many areas of the private sector (e.g., nuclear power plants and commercial airlines), much work is performed by crews, groups, or teams. Successful performance depends on the coordination of individual activities to make decisions, team performance, and the readiness to deal with potentially dangerous situations (e.g., an overheating nuclear reactor). Research suggests that effectively trained teams develop procedures to identify and resolve errors, coordinate information gathering, and reinforce each other.69FIGURE 7.3 Components of Team Performance

Source: Based on E. Salas and J. A. Cannon-Bowers, “Strategies for Team Training,” in Training for 21st-Century Technology: Applications of Psychological Research, eds. M. A. Quinones and A. Dutta (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1997), pp. 249–281.

Figure 7.4 illustrates the four main elements of the structure of team training (tools, methods, strategies, and team training objectives). Several tools help define and organize the delivery of team training.70 These tools also provide the environment (e.g., feedback) needed for learning to occur. The tools work in combination with different training methods to help create instructional strategies. These strategies are a combination of the methods, tools, and content required to perform effectively.

FIGURE 7.4 Main Elements of the Structure of Team Training

Sources: Based on E. Salas and J. A. Cannon-Bowers, “Strategies for Team Training,” in Training for 21st- Century Technology: Applications of Psychological Research, eds. M. A. Quinones and A. Dutta (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1997), pp. 249–281; J. Cannon-Bowers and C. Bowers, “Team Development and Functioning,” in APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology ed. S. Zedeck (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2011), pp. 597–650.

The strategies include cross training, coordination training, team leader training, scenario-based training, and guided team self-correction. Cross training has team members understand and practice each other’s skills so that members are prepared to step in and take the place of a member who may temporarily or permanently leave the team. Research suggests that most work teams would benefit from providing members with at least enough understanding of teammates’ roles to discuss trade-offs of various strategies and behaviors that affect team performance.71 Coordination training instructs the team in how to share information and decision-making responsibilities to maximize team performance. Coordination training is especially important for commercial aviation or surgical teams that are in charge of monitoring different aspects of equipment and the environment but must share information to make the most effective decisions regarding patient care or aircraft safety and performance. Team leader training refers to training that the team manager or facilitator receives. This may involve training the manager on how to resolve conflict within the team or helping the team coordinate activities or other team skills. Scenario-based training refers to training that places team members in a realistic context while learning. This type of team training helps trainees experience the consequences of their actions, make adjustments, accomplish their tasks, and build team self-efficacy (i.e., the feeling that the team can successfully perform tasks). Guided team self-correction refers to training that emphasizes continuous learning and knowledge sharing in teams. In this type of training, team members observe each other’s behavior and give and receive performance feedback.

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Employees obviously need technical skills that can help the team accomplish its task. But team members also need skills in communication, adaptability, conflict resolution, and other teamwork issues.72 Team training usually involves multiple methods. For example, a lecture or video may be used to disseminate knowledge regarding communication skills to trainees. Role plays or simulations may be used to give trainees the opportunity to put into practice the communication skills emphasized in the lecture. Regardless of the method chosen, opportunities for practice and feedback need to be included.

For example, Aquarius is an undersea laboratory used during the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO). The base, located several miles off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and managed by the University of North Carolina.73 The NEEMO experience places astronauts in a challenging environment that parallels the hostile physical and stressful psychological environment experienced in long-duration missions. These challenges can include allowing the crew to experience the effects of gravity in space, on the moon, and Mars; providing a compressed timeline for completing tasks; practicing procedures such as spacewalks to repair or replace equipment and emergency procedures used to rescue crew members; and performing tasks with delayed and limited communications with the mission control crew. The NEEMO experience helps crew members develop important team processes, such as communication, coordination, performance monitoring and back-up

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behaviors, to successfully meet the challenges and perform the tasks they encounter, both in Aquarius and on their space missions.

Team training has helped the pilots in the cockpit of commercial airliners improve their communications with each other, reducing the number of accidents that have occurred. To further enhance passenger safety, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is asking each of its pilots to attend an extra day of training.74 The extra day of training will focus on reducing the likelihood that generation gaps between more senior captains and younger co-pilots or first officers might lead to poor communications and decision making. The training is intended to encourage veteran captains to mentor junior co-pilots by sharing their knowledge and experiences; teach captains how to request and respond to feedback from junior pilots; and help pilots with less seniority increase their confidence in communicating with more senior captains should they identify problems. The training is especially important because due to the retirement of more senior pilots, flight crews are younger and have less experience. United has hired thousands of new pilots who are being assigned to fly international routes without the same amount of supervised flying they historically would have received.

Action Learning

Action learning gives teams or work groups an actual problem, has them work on solving it and committing to an action plan, and then holds them accountable for carrying out the plan.75 Companies use action learning to solve important problems, develop leaders, quickly build high-performance teams, and transform the organizational culture. Table 7.10 shows the steps involved in action learning. Several types of problems are addressed in action learning, including how to change the business, better use technology, remove barriers between the customer and company, and develop global leaders. Typically, action learning involves between 6 and 30 employees. It may also include customers and vendors. There are several variations in the composition of the group. One variation is that the group includes a single customer for the problem being dealt with. Sometimes the group includes cross-functional representatives who all have a stake in the problem. Or the group may involve employees from multiple functions, with each employee focusing on their

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own functional problem and contributing to solving the problem identified. Employees are asked to develop novel ideas and solutions in a short period of time. The teams usually need to gather data for problem solving by visiting customers, employees, academics, and/or industry leaders. Once the teams have gathered data and developed their recommendations, they are required to present them to top-level executives.

TABLE 7.10 Steps in Action Learning

· Identification of the sponsors of action learning, including CEOs and top managers. · Identification of the problem or issue. · Identification and selection of the group who can address the problem. · Identification of coaches who can help the group reframe the problem and improve its problem solving by listening, giving feedback, offering assumptions, and so on. · Presentation of the problem to the group. · Group discussion that includes reframing the problem and agreement on what the problem is, what the group should do to solve the problem, and how the group should proceed. · Data gathering and analysis relevant to solving the problem, done by the group as a whole as well as by individual members. · Group presentation on how to solve the problem, with the goal of securing a commitment from the sponsors to act on the group’s recommendations. · Self-reflection and debriefing (e.g., What have the group members learned? What might they have done differently?)

Sources: Based on P. Malone, “The Untapped Power of Action Learning,” T+D (August 2013), pp. 54–59; M. Pedler and C. Abbott, Facilitating Action Learning (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2013).

Consider how University Health System and PepsiCo used action learning teams to provide solutions to urgent and complex business problems.76 At University Health System, nine cross-functional teams of managers who otherwise would not work together worked on separate business problems. Example of these problems included how to increase patient satisfaction; how to reduce billing errors; and how to enhance inventory control. Each team was asked to present its solution to what was called “Shark Tank”—with three senior executives and the CEO for pediatric services serving as “sharks.” As each team presented its ideas, the sharks provided coaching and feedback. The teams’ solutions helped University Health System save millions of dollars and improve patient satisfaction. PepsiCo employed action learning when it wanted to train managers to take a global perspective on the company’s strategy. Leslie Teichgraeber, who leads PepsiCo’s training programs, observed that most managers were familiar with only their local or national markets. So she assembled teams of managers from various locations and assigned each team to solve problems related to business needs that had been identified by the heads of their units. At the end of nine months, they presented their ideas to PepsiCo executives.

Action Learning Programs

Six Sigma and kaizen are training strategies that involve principles of action learning. Six Sigma and kaizen provide employees with measurement and statistical tools to help reduce defects and cut costs.77 Six Sigma is a quality standard with a goal of no more than 3.4 defects per million processes. There are several levels of Six Sigma training, resulting in employees becoming certified as green belts, champions, or black belts.78 To become black belts, trainees must participate in workshops and written assignments coached by expert instructors. The training involves four 4-day sessions over about 16 weeks. Between training sessions, candidates apply what they learn to assigned projects and then use them in the next training session. Trainees are also required to complete not only oral and written exams but also two or more projects that have a significant impact on the company’s bottom line. After completing black belt training, employees are able to develop, coach, and lead Six Sigma teams; mentor and give advice to management on useful Six Sigma projects; and provide Six Sigma tools and statistical methods to team members. After leading several project teams, black belts can take additional training and be certified as master black belts. Master black belts can teach other black belts and help senior managers integrate Six Sigma into the company’s business goals.

TIAA, a financial services company, provides a two-week class for green belt certification.79 During the class, trainees work on projects that focus on improving business processes in order to improve the quality of a product or service. A skilled mentor coaches the trainees and provides them with guidance on their project. So far, TIAA has saved over $32 million as a result of these projects.

Kaizen, the Japanese word for improvement, is one of the underlying principles of lean manufacturing and total quality management (we discussed lean thinking in Chapter One). Kaizen refers to a strategy in which employees from all levels of the company focus on the

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continuous improvement of business processes.80 Just Born, the company that makes Mike and Ike and Peeps candies, uses the Wow . . . Now Improvement Process, a customized kaizen process designed to improve business processes and results.81 The Wow . . . Now Improvement Process includes training employees in how to identify improvement opportunities, collect data, make improvements, measure results, and refine practices based on the results. As the Wow . . . Now Improvement Process illustrates, kaizen involves considering a continuous cycle of activities, including planning, doing, checking, and acting (PDCA). Statistical process control techniques are used by employees to identify causes of problems and potential solutions. They include process flow analysis, cause-and-effect diagrams, control charts, histograms, and scattergrams.

CHOOSING A TRAINING METHOD

As a trainer or manager, you will likely be asked to choose a training method. Given the large number of training methods available to you, this task may seem difficult. One way to choose a training method is to compare methods. Table 7.11 evaluates each training method discussed in this chapter according to a number of characteristics. For example, the types of learning outcomes related to each method are identified. Also, for each method, a high, medium, or low rating is provided for each characteristic of the learning environment, for transfer of training, for cost, and for effectiveness.

TABLE 7.11 Comparison of Training Methods

How might you use this table to choose a training method? The first step in choosing a method is to identify the type of learning outcome that you want training to influence. As discussed in Chapter Four, these outcomes include verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitudes, and motor skills. Training methods may influence one or several learning outcomes. Research on specific learning methods has shown that for learning to be effective, the instructional method needs to match the desired learning outcome. For example, research on behavior modeling and role playing shows that these methods lead to positive results, but their effectiveness varies according to the evaluation criteria used.82 This emphasizes that the particular learning method used to deliver learning is not what is most important. Rather, the choice of the learning method should be based on the desired learning outcomes and the features that facilitate learning and transfer of training. Once you have identified a learning method, the next step is to consider the extent to which the method facilitates learning and transfer of training, the costs related to the development and use of the method, and its effectiveness.

As was discussed in Chapter Four, for learning to occur, trainees should understand the objectives of the training program, training content should be meaningful, and trainees should have the opportunity to practice and receive feedback. Also, a powerful way to learn is through observing and interacting with others. As you may recall from Chapter Five, transfer of training refers to the extent to which training will be used on the job. In general, the more the training content and environment prepare trainees for use of learning outcomes on the job, the greater the likelihood that transfer will occur. As discussed in Chapter Six, “Training Evaluation,” two types of costs are important: development costs and administrative costs. Development costs relate to the design of the training program, including costs to buy or create the program. Administrative costs are incurred each time the training method is used. These include costs related to consultants, instructors,

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materials, and trainers. The effectiveness rating is based on both academic research and practitioner recommendations.

Several trends in Table 7.11 are worth noting. First, there is considerable overlap between learning outcomes across the training methods. Group building methods are unique because they focus on individual as well as team learning (e.g., improving group processes). If you are interested in improving the effectiveness of groups or teams, you should choose one of the group building methods (e.g., adventure learning, team training, or action learning). Second, comparing the presentation methods to the hands-on methods illustrates that most hands-on methods provide a better learning environment and transfer of training than do the presentation methods. The presentation methods are also less effective than the hands-on methods.

If you are not limited by the amount of money that can be used for development or administration, choose a hands-on method over a presentation method. The training budget for developing training methods can influence the method chosen. If you have a limited budget for developing new training methods, use structured OJT—a relatively inexpensive, yet effective, hands-on method. If you have a larger budget, you might want to consider hands-on methods that facilitate transfer of training, such as simulators. Keep in mind that many of the methods discussed in this chapter can be adapted for use in online learning, e-learning, and distance learning. These training methods are discussed in Chapter Eight.

If possible, you may want to use several different methods within a single training program to capitalize on the different strengths of each method for facilitating learning and transfer. For example, at Miami Children’s Health System, training for new employees uses multiple methods to help them understand the organization’s culture, feel comfortable, and learn about their new job.83 Senior leaders interact with the new employees in a discussion of the organization’s vision, mission, and values and the importance of their roles. Employees are assigned a “buddy” to help answer any questions they might have about the organization. New employees also attend courses, participate in simulations, and receive on-the-job training.

Summary

Companies are using a variety of training methods to guide competency development and contextual learning. Although new technology such as social networks are being used by some companies for training delivery and instruction, most training is still conducted face to face with an instructor. This chapter discussed traditional face-to-face training methods, including presentation, hands-on, and group building training methods. Presentation methods (such as lecturing) are effective for efficiently communicating information (knowledge) to a large number of trainees. Presentation methods need to be supplemented with opportunities for trainees to practice, discuss, and receive feedback to facilitate learning. Hands-on methods get trainees directly involved in learning. Hands-on methods are ideal for developing skills and behaviors. Hands-on methods include on-the-job training (OJT), self-directed learning, apprenticeship, simulation, business games, case studies, role playing, and behavior modeling. These methods can be expensive to develop but incorporate the conditions needed for learning and transfer of training to occur. Group building methods such as team training, action learning, and adventure learning focus on helping teams

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increase the skills needed for effective teamwork (e.g., self-awareness, conflict resolution, and coordination) and help build team cohesion and identity. Group building techniques may include the use of presentation methods, as well as exercises during which team members interact and communicate with each other. Team training has a long history of success in preparing flight crews and surgical teams, but its effectiveness for developing management teams has not been clearly established.

Chapter Eight

Technology-Based Training Methods

Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

Explain how new technologies are influencing training.

Evaluate a web-based training site.

Explain how learning and transfer of training are enhanced by new training technologies.

Explain the strengths and limitations of e-learning, mobile learning training methods (such as iPads), and simulations.

Explain the different types of social media and the conditions conducive to their use for training.

Describe to a manager the different types of distance learning.

Recommend what should be included in an electronic performance support system.

Compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of traditional training methods versus those of technology-based training methods.

Identify and explain the benefits of learning management systems.

Using Technology for Training Pays Off for PayPal

PayPal’s digital payment platform gives its over 200 million active account holders in markets around the world the confidence to connect and transact in new ways—online, on mobile devices, using an app, or in person. Using technological innovation and strategic partnerships, PayPal has created better ways to manage and move money and offers choice and flexibility when sending payments, paying, or getting paid around the world. The PayPal platform, which includes Braintree, Venmo, and Xoom, allows consumers and businesses to receive money, withdraw funds, and hold balances in many different monetary currencies. Although PayPal is considered a state-of-the art payment service when it comes to using technology to digitize how we pay for products and services, it was not considered cutting edge in its use of technology for training. However, that has changed as PayPal Learning has infused learning technology into its employee training programs.

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PayPal decided to incorporate social media into its training because it is easy to use and its over 5,000 employees are familiar with it. PayPal created a private Facebook group where employees can connect with each other and it invited experts to ask questions and gain (and share) knowledge. PayPal also encourages workers to use Twitter’s video service to watch short training modules. PayPal provides employees with access to Udemy for Business, a supplier of massive open online courses (MOOC). Employees can access 1,600 courses on a variety of topics and have complete control over when to complete them. They can bookmark important tutorials or save lectures for future reference.

As a result of incorporating technology into its training, PayPal has found that the number of employees who complete two training courses every six months (referred to as “active learners”) has doubled. Also, the company has realized a 25 percent savings in training costs.

Source: Based on H. Clancy, “A New Mind-Set,” Fortune (January 1, 2017), p. 30; “About PayPal” from www.paypal.com, accessed January 29, 2018; E. Wiechers, “PayPal Invests in Workplace Skills Development With Roll Out of Udemy for Business,” (April 12, 2016) from https://about.udemy.com/udemy-for-business/paypal-invests-in-workplace-skills-development-with-rollout-of-udemy-for-business/accessed January 29, 2018.

INTRODUCTION

As the opening vignette illustrates, technology is having a major influence on how training is delivered. PayPal is using technology-based training methods to provide a learning environment that offers benefits similar to well-designed face-to-face instruction (practice, feedback, learner involvement) but overcomes the cost and time challenges related to trying to bring employees together in one physical location for training. Online learning provides trainees with access to training at any time and place. The effective development and use of technology for delivering training such as online learning requires collaboration among the areas of training, information technology, and top management. In addition, needs assessment, design, transfer, and evaluation (training design) are critical components of the effective use of technology-based training. Although technologies such as social media, tablet computers, and virtual reality provide exciting capabilities and possibilities, it is critical that companies use training technologies that support both business and learner needs.

PayPal is not alone in adopting new training technologies. Due to job demands, employees often don’t have the time to find or attend classes and small companies have difficulty funding formal off-site training courses.1 Technology can help give employees access to learning on the job when they need it. For example, employees can be given access to portals that recommend courses and show what other employees in their business function are using for learning. Vendors such as Lynda.com, Skillsoft, and Grovo provide the opportunity for employees to pinpoint courses that will advance their skill in a specific area of expertise. Short training modules for machine maintenance, manufacturing processes, or safety are available that take 15 minutes or less to complete and include activities built in to employees’ schedules to apply what they have learned. Also, technologies such as artificial intelligence and augmented reality can provide employees with on-the-job performance support.

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As we discussed in Chapter Seven, “Traditional Training Methods,” instructor-led classroom training is still the most popular training method. However, the use of technology for training delivery and instruction is increasing and anticipated to grow in the future. Table 8.1 provides a snapshot of the use of new technology in training. The use of training technologies is expected to increase dramatically in the next decade as technology improves; the cost of technology decreases; companies recognize the potential cost savings of training via tablets, mobile phones, and social media; and the need for customized training increases.2 As you will see later in this chapter, new training technologies are unlikely to totally replace face-to-face instruction. Rather, face-to-face instruction will be combined with new training technologies (a combination known as blended learning) to maximize learning.

TABLE 8.1 Use of New Technology in Training

· 15 percent of training hours are delivered in a virtual classroom and 31 percent are delivered online. · 41 percent of learning hours involve technology-based training methods. · 86 percent of companies use learning management systems. Broken down by size, 96 percent of large (10,000 or more employees), 89 percent of midsize (1,000–9,999 employees), and 77 percent of small companies (100–999 employees) use learning management systems. · 54 percent of large companies (10,000 or more employees) use mobile learning applications, compared to 27 percent of midsize (1,000–9,999 employees) and 27 percent of small (100–999 employees) companies.

Sources: Based on M. Ho, “2017 State of the Industry” (Alexandria, VA: Association for Talent Development, 2017); “2017 Training Industry Report,” training (November/December 2017), pp. 20–33.

The development, availability, and use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook have the potential to significantly influence training and learning. These tools are used by many people in their daily lives, especially the millennial generation. Many companies are using these tools for recruiting new employees and marketing and developing products and services. These tools are also increasingly being used for learning. Social media tools reshape learning by giving employees access to and control of their own learning through relationships and collaborations with others. Social media tools, including shared workspaces, social networks, wikis, blogs, podcasts, and microblogs, are being used for learning. Shared workspaces, social networks, and wikis are the most commonly used social media for learning.3

There appear to be generational differences in using and realizing the potential benefits of social media tools. Generation Zers and millennials believe that social media tools are helpful for learning and getting work done, and they use those tools to a greater extent than baby boomers or Generation Xers. Because Generation Zers and millennials are more likely to use social media tools in their personal lives, they are perhaps more comfortable using them at work.

This chapter begins by discussing the influence of new technology on training delivery, support, and administration. How technology has changed the learning environment also is addressed. Next, the chapter explores computer-based training, online learning, and e-learning. E-learning emphasizes learning through interaction with training content, sharing with other trainees, and using Internet resources. The use of technologies, including social media, tablets such as iPads, and mobile smartphones, for training delivery and instruction are introduced. Next, the use of expert systems, intelligent tutoring systems,

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artificial intelligence, and augmented reality as training methods and for on-the-job performance support is discussed. The chapter also shows how learning management systems aid in the delivery and administration of training programs. The last section of the chapter compares the various training methods that are based on new technology. A blended learning approach combining traditional face-to-face and technology-based training methods may be the best way to capitalize on the strengths of available training methods.

TECHNOLOGY’S INFLUENCE ON TRAINING AND LEARNING

Chapters One and Two discussed the role that training and development should play in helping companies execute their business strategy and deal with forces influencing the workplace. For training to help a company gain a competitive advantage, it needs to support business goals and be delivered as needed to geographically dispersed employees who may be working at home or in another country. Training costs (such as travel costs) should be minimized and maximum benefits gained, including learning and transfer of training. For learning and transfer to occur (i.e., for the benefits of training to be realized), the training environment must include learning principles such as practice, feedback, meaningful material, and the ability to learn by interacting with others.

New technologies have made it possible to reduce the costs associated with delivering training to employees, increase the effectiveness of the learning environment, and ensure that training contributes to business goals. Table 8.2 lists, describes, and provides examples of some of the new technology training methods discussed in this chapter.

Table 8.2 Technologies Used for Training

E-learning, Online Learning, Computer-Based Training (CBT), Web-Based Training (WBT) Training delivered using a computer or the web. Can include CDs or DVDs of text and/or video. Webcasts/Webinars Live web-based delivery of instruction to trainees in dispersed locations. Podcasts Web-based delivery of audio and video files. Mobile Learning Delivery of training through handheld mobile devices such as smartphones or tablet computers. Blended Learning Training approach that combines technology and face-to-face instructional delivery, such as classroom and WBT. Wikis Websites that allow many users to create, edit, and update content and share knowledge. Distance Learning Training delivered to trainees in other locations either online or through webcasts or virtual classrooms, often supported with communications tools such as chat, e-mail, and online discussions.

Social Media Online and mobile technology used to create interactive communications allowing the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Includes wikis, blogs, networks such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn, microsharing sites such as Twitter, and shared media such as YouTube. Shared Workspaces A space hosted on a web server where people can share information and documents, such as Google Docs. RSS Feeds Updated content sent to subscribers automatically instead of by e-mail. Blogs A webpage where an author posts entries and readers can comment, such as WordPress. Chat Rooms and Discussion Boards An electronic room or message board on which learners communicate. Communications between learners can occur at the same or different times. A facilitator or instructor can moderate the conversations, which may be grouped by topic. Microblogs or Microsharing Software tools that enable communications in short bursts of text, links, and multimedia, either through stand-alone applications or through online communities or social networks, such as Twitter. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) Learning that is designed to enroll a large number of learners (massive); is free and accessible to anyone with an Internet connection (open); takes place using videos of lectures, interactive coursework including discussion groups, and wikis (online); and has specific start and completion dates, quizzes and assessments, and exams (courses). Adaptive Training Training that customizes the content presented to the trainee based on his or her needs. Machine Learning Technology that applies algorithms to data to identify user trends and patterns that inform future suggestions and data searches. Augmented Reality (AR) Allows trainees to see the physical world around them but their view includes virtual media. Artificial Intelligence (AI) A system such as a computer, a computer-controlled robot, or software that thinks intelligently like humans.

Sources: Based on N. Kroc, “Reality Reboot,” HR Magazine (October 2017), pp. 46–51; D. Zielinski, “Get Intelligent on AI,” HR Magazine (November 2017), pp. 60–61; S. Gale, “Ready or Not, the Future Is Now,” Chief Learning Officer (March 2017), pp. 20–21; R. High, “3 Terms All Business Professionals Need to Understand,” VentureBeat (February 24, 2018) from https://venturebeat.com, accessed March 7, 2018; R. Johnson and H. Gueutal, Transforming HR Through Technology (Alexandria, VA: SHRM Foundation, 2010); American Society for Training and Development, Transforming Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies, 2010 survey report; T. Bingham and M. Conner, The New Social Learning (Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development Press, 2010); A. Kaplan and M. Haenlein, “Users of the World Unite! The Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media,” Business Horizons 53 (2010), pp. 59–68. T. Poeppelman, E. Lobene, and N. Blacksmith, “Personalizing the Learning Experience through Adaptive Training,” The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist (April 2015), from www.siop.org.; R. Grossman, “Are Massive Open Online Courses in Your Future,” HR Magazine (August 2013), pp. 30–36

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New technologies have influenced the delivery of training, training administration, and training support. Technology has made several benefits possible:4

Employees can gain control over when and where they receive training.

Employees can access knowledge and expert systems on an as-needed basis.

Through the use of avatars, virtual reality, and simulations, the learning environment can look, feel, and sound just like the work environment.

Employees can choose the type of media (print, sound, video, etc.) that they want to use in a training program.

Course enrollment, testing, and training records can be handled electronically, reducing the paperwork and time needed for administrative activities.

Employees’ accomplishments during training can be monitored.

Traditional training methods, such as classroom instruction and behavior modeling, can be delivered to trainees rather than requiring them to come to a central training location.

Three of the most important ways that technology has influenced training and learning are: (1) it provides for greater collaboration, (2) it creates a more dynamic learning environment, and (3) it enhances learner control.5

Technology Facilitates Collaboration

Technology allows digital collaboration to occur. Digital collaboration is the use of technology to enhance and extend employees’ abilities to work together regardless of their geographic proximity.6 Digital collaboration includes electronic messaging systems; electronic meeting systems; online communities of learning organized by subject, where employees can access interactive discussion areas and share training content and web links; social networks; and document-handling systems with collaboration technologies that allow interpersonal interaction. Digital collaboration requires a computer, tablet, or phone with a web browser or app, and communication among users can be either synchronous or asynchronous.7 In synchronous communication, trainers, experts, and learners interact with each other live and in real time, the same way they would in face-to-face classroom instruction. Technologies such as video teleconferencing and live online courses (virtual classrooms) make synchronous communication possible. Asynchronous communication refers to non-real-time interactions. That is, persons are not online and cannot communicate with each other without a time delay, but learners can still access information resources when they desire them. E-mail, self-paced courses on the web or on CD-ROM, discussion groups, and virtual libraries allow asynchronous communication.

Technology Creates a Dynamic Learning Environment

As discussed in Chapter Seven, learning can be an instructor-driven primary process. That is, instructors present information to the learners, and practice and applications occur after instruction is completed. Many learning environments include only the instructor or trainer and the learners. The trainer is responsible for delivering content, answering questions, and testing learning. Trainees play a passive role in learning. Communication on course content is one-way—from the instructor to the learner. Experts and resource materials are separate from the learning environment. Accessing resource materials and experts beyond the instructor and course materials assigned for the course requires learners to go outside the formal

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learning environment. Also, learners often have to wait to access resource materials and experts until instruction is completed. Interaction among learners occurs primarily outside the training room and tends to be limited to those who work in the same geographic area.

Technology has allowed learning to become a more dynamic process. As shown on the right-hand side of Figure 8.1, the use of technology expands the learning environment to include greater interaction between learners and the training content, as well as between learners and the instructor. The trainer may help design the instruction, but the instruction is delivered to the learners primarily through technology such as online learning, simulations, iPods, or iPads. The instructor becomes more of a coach and resource person available to answer

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students’ questions and is less involved in the delivery of content. Learning occurs primarily through exchanges with other learners; the use of blogs, wikis, or other types of social media training; working on virtual team projects; participating in games, listening, exchanging ideas, and interacting with experts (engineers, managers, etc.); and discovering ideas and applications using hyperlinks that take the learner to other websites. Experts and resource materials may be part of the learning environment. While learners interact with the training content through exercises, applications, and simulations, they can discuss what they are learning with other learners or access experts or resource materials available on the Internet. Training delivery and administration (e.g., tracking learner progress) is all done through a learning management system (discussed later in the chapter). In the blended learning environment, shown at the bottom of Figure 8.1, trainees have access to a blended training curriculum that consists of both online and classroom instruction. Collaboration can occur between learners, between learners and training content (e.g., simulation or game), between learners and instructors, and between learners and experts. It is important that new technologies create a dynamic learning environment, including collaboration, active learner involvement, and access to other resources. A dynamic learning environment likely includes the use of Web 2.0 technologies, including social networks, blogs, wikis, and microblogs, such as Twitter.8

FIGURE 8.1 Types of Learning Environments

Consider how Cox Automotive is using cloud-based video to create a dynamic learning environment for its sales representatives and a culture of collaboration and helping others.9 Sales representatives access a video and then record and upload a video of their response. For example, one of the videos asks sales reps what products they would present during a sales visit to an auto dealer. After they submit their responses, they are reviewed by peers who provide feedback and comments and a rating of the effectiveness of the actions taken. Before submitting a final video for review, most sales representatives practice by recording four or five videos, allowing them to refine their responses. Feedback from the videos is similar to feedback the sales representatives would receive in face-to-face training, but it has the advantage of allowing the reps to get feedback from peers at other locations, with whom they would not normally interact.

Technology Gives Learners Control

Learner control refers to giving trainees the option to learn through self-pacing exercises, exploring links to other material, and engaging in conversations with trainees and experts. It includes the ability to select how content is presented (e.g., text, pictures, videos, etc.), to pause, skip, and review content, and to link to additional resources. That is, online learning allows activities typically led by the instructor (presentation, slides, videos, visuals) or trainees (discussions, questions), as well as group interaction (discussion of application of training content) to be incorporated into training without trainees having to be physically present in the training room. Recent technologies enable training to be delivered and accessed by trainees anytime and anywhere, including home, work, or even on the beach! Training content can be delivered in a consistent manner to trainees, who can decide when and where to participate.

Many of the training methods discussed in this chapter have these features. For example, online learning, or e-learning, includes instruction and delivery of training using the Internet or web. Distance learning typically involves videoconferencing and/or computers for delivery of instruction from a trainer to trainees who are not in the same location as the trainer. Mobile technologies allow training to be delivered through iPods, iPhones, personal data assistants (PDAs), iPads, and notebook computers and allow trainees to tune in to training

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programs at any time or place. New training technologies allow for the use of multiple media, including text, graphics, video, and audio. This allows for learning content to be presented in multiple ways, appealing to trainee preferences and learning styles.

Consider how technology has influenced how training is delivered at Farmers Insurance Group.10 Farmers uses a blended learning approach to deliver effective learning to its multigenerational employees and insurance agents who are located across the United States. Farmers Insurance training programs integrate face-to-face instruction, print, online, video, audio, virtual simulations, and coaching. Technology is used for delivering knowledge, and instructor-led training is used for skills development. In the past five years the amount of learning delivered through instructor-led classroom-based training has dropped from 90 to 50 percent. The other 50 percent is online or informal learning. For example, Farmers Insurance is using various training methods to help its employees cope with the changes made in claims processing, ratings, billing, and product systems in support of the company’s business strategy, which emphasizes customer experience, distribution, and product management excellence. Field managers are required to complete online training and webinars designed to provide the new knowledge they need. Then the managers receive instructor-led training, videos, and coaching guides.

Farmers Insurance is also using virtual classrooms, mobile learning, social networks, electronic tablets such as iPads, and learning simulations. While taking courses at the University of Farmers, learners can use electronic tablets to take notes, access websites and articles, and view videos. The video capabilities of the tablets allow instructors to record learners as they practice skills and then provide feedback and coaching. Also, the instructors can create learning materials such as iBooks with embedded videos. To encourage learning outside of a formal classroom environment, Farmers developed iFarmers apps for customers, sales agents, and employees. The iFarmers customer app helps customers learn about different insurance products. An iClaims app gives customers access to input and manage their insurance claims. The iAgent app provides business-focused learning for sales agents. Farmers Insurance has also been experimenting with social networking for employees to collaborate, create, and share knowledge, as well as provide performance support. Some training programs are using the social network for collaborative exercises. Farmers’s “Agency Insider” program allows learners to specify whether they want to use Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, or an RSS feed.

Claims adjusters at Farmers Insurance have to be trained on how to inspect homes that have been damaged in earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, and other disasters. Farmers is using virtual reality to create different scenarios that are impossible to simulate in the company’s existing training program. Farmers worked with a virtual reality (VR) developer to create a VR two-story home that’s suffered water damage. Each scenario takes about 15 minutes to complete, and the different scenarios are presented randomly so that water leaks appear in different places for each trainee. Trainees working in the home have access to a digital tool that lets them tag problem toilets or hot water heaters. They can even use a “fake” iPad to call a plumber or contact the insurance agent when they feel they have identified all of the problems. The prospective claims adjusters are scored based on the problems they identify and the appropriateness of the action they take. The virtual training experience can be broadcast to a classroom where other claims adjusters can watch their fellow trainees perform live. The VR sessions also can be recorded and accessed by employees for review.

The next section of the chapter discusses training technologies, how they are used, and their potential advantages and disadvantages.

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COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING, ONLINE LEARNING, WEB-BASED TRAINING, AND E-LEARNING

Computer-based training (CBT), online learning, e-learning, and web-based training refer to instruction and delivery of training by computer through the Internet or the web.11 All of these training methods can enhance instruction by integrating text; interaction using simulations and games; video; collaboration using blogs, wikis, and social networks; and hyperlinks to additional resources. In some types of CBT, stand-alone content is provided using software or DVDs with no connection to the Internet. Trainees can still interact with the training content, answer questions, and choose responses regarding how they would behave in certain situations, but they cannot collaborate with other learners. For example, Wipro Limited developed a tool it calls a Unified Learning Kit (ULK), a portable laptop programmable computer that enables new employees to experiment in engineering subjects.12 One ULK can teach more than 10 different technical subjects related to hardware and software engineering.

Online learning, e-learning, and web-based training all include delivery of instruction using the Internet or web. The training program can be accessed using a password through the public Internet or the company’s private intranet. There are many potential features that can be included in online learning to help trainees learn and transfer training to their jobs. For example, online programs that use video may make it an interactive experience for trainees. That is, trainees watch the video and then use the keyboard or touch the screen to answer questions, provide responses to how they would act in certain situations, or identify the steps they would take to solve a problem. Interactive video is especially valuable for helping trainees learn technical or interpersonal skills. Online learning can also include opportunities to collaborate with other learners through discussion boards, wikis, and blogs. We discuss more of the potential features and advantages of online learning next.

For example, during training needs assessment, Bayer Pharmaceuticals discovered that its technical experts needed new skills to manage large projects.13 These skills related to keeping project managers focused on the task, managing competing priorities, managing large cross-functional teams, and supervising employees who did not report to them. These skills are important to reduce the time needed to bring research discoveries to the marketplace. To train in these skills, Bayer used a computer-based simulation that requires teams of trainees to manage a large-scale project. The management decisions they make affect their odds of being successful. A computer calculates each team’s probability of succeeding. The simulation includes obstacles that can affect a project negatively, such as unmotivated employees, absenteeism, and projects being completed late. The simulation also includes online work that trainees complete prior to training. The prework provides trainees with an overview of the steps involved in project management. All trainees complete a self-assessment of their team-related behavior (e.g., conflict resolution). The assessments are used for discussing leader/team-member relationships. After completing the simulation, trainees can access a program website that includes a newsletter and tips for project management. Employees who have completed the simulation are demonstrating increased confidence in their ability to manage a project and handle changing priorities, and they are addressing team issues more quickly.

Discover Financial Services uses online training to teach new customer service representatives self-reliance, self-direction, creative problem solving, and how to satisfy the

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customer.14 An online syllabus provides trainees with expectations, goals, and links to access coursework. Trainees can ask questions and share experiences using online discussions. Each trainee has an adviser whose job is to help set learning goals, evaluate performance, and provide coaching. Also, trainees participate in an online game daily, monthly, and between customer calls.

Potential Features of Online Learning

In online learning, it is possible to enable learners to interact with the training content and other learners and to decide how they want to learn.15 Figure 8.2 shows the possible features that can be built into online learning. These features include content, collaboration and sharing, links to resources, learner control, delivery, and administration. It is

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important to note that not all of these features are incorporated into online learning methods. One reason is that certain methods make it difficult to incorporate some of these features. For example, as you will see later in the chapter, distance learning that involves teleconferencing may limit the amount of collaboration that takes place between trainees and the instructor. Also, in distance learning, trainees do not have control over the content, practice, and speed of learning. Another reason why a feature may not be incorporated is that the designers may have chosen not to include it. Although e-learning can include all the features to facilitate learning that are shown in Figure 8.2, it may fall short of its potential because, for example, program developers do not include opportunities for trainees to collaborate. As Figure 8.2 shows, not only can online learning provide the trainee with content, but it also can give learners the ability to control what they learn, the speed at which they progress through the program, how much they practice, and even when they learn. In addition, online learning can allow learners to collaborate or interact with other trainees and experts and can provide links to other learning resources such as reference materials, company websites, and other training programs. Text, video, graphics, and sound can be used to present course content. Also, simulations can be included in e-learning modules to engage learners. OptumRx, a medical services company, provides on-demand videos on RxTube, a company intranet site modeled after YouTube.16 The videos provide instruction on different processes and systems. There are 10 different channels, including over 100 videos. In addition to the learning channel, an executive channel is provided where the company’s top leaders discuss the company’s successes and anticipated challenges.

FIGURE 8.2 Potential Features of E-Learning

Advantages of Online Learning

The possible features that can be built into online learning give it potential advantages over other training methods. The advantages of e-learning are shown in Table 8.3. E-learning initiatives are designed to contribute to a company’s strategic business objectives.17 E-learning supports company initiatives such as expanding the number of customers, initiating new ways to carry out business such as e-business (providing products and services through the Internet), and speeding the development of new products or services. E-learning may involvea larger audience than traditional training programs that focus on employees. For example, e-learning may involve partners, suppliers, vendors, and potential customers.

TABLE 8.3 Advantages of E-Learning

· It supports the company’s business strategy and objectives. · It is accessible at any time and any place. · The audience can include employees and managers, as well as vendors, customers, and clients. · Training can be delivered to geographically dispersed employees. · Training can be delivered faster and to more employees in a shorter period of time. · Updating is easy. · Practice, feedback, objectives, assessment, and other positive features of a learning environment can be built into the program. · Learning is enhanced through the use of multiple media (sound, text, video, graphics, etc.) and trainee interaction. · Paperwork related to training management (enrollment, assessment, etc.) can be eliminated. · It can link learners to other content, experts, and peers.

Sources: Based on D. Hartley, “All Aboard the E-Learning Train,” Training and Development (July 2000), pp. 37–42; V. Beer, The Web Learning Field Book: Using the World Wide Web to Build Workplace Learning Environments (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000).

E-learning allows faster and more efficient delivery of training and reduces geographic and time constraints for employees’ learning. Consider the advantages of e-learning for the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Jiffy Lube, Greyhound Lines, and the San Diego Zoo.18 At the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, e-learning uses modeling through simulated conversations and interactions with patients to train health-care providers in how to provide high-quality patient care. Trainees take on different roles, such as a busy nurse working as a pain management professional at her practice. Trainees make choices about how to respond to patients’ questions, get feedback on their choices, and learn from their mistakes. Jiffy Lube determined that its instructor-led leadership training class needed to be updated to include new information but did not want to expand the class beyond its current three days. As a result, content on time management, goal setting, and financials was moved to e-learning, which freed up more than eight hours in the class. Also, Jiffy Lube realized a 75 percent increase in the number of employees who completed the new e-learning courses. Greyhound Lines, the transportation company, has geographically dispersed employees including supervisors, field representatives, counter and customer service staff, and bus drivers who work around the clock every day of the year. Greyhound uses e-learning to give employees access to leadership, business, and customer service skills courses when they need them. Employees access the courses on the company’s learning management system. The learning management system allows Greyhound to track assignments and course participation and monitor employees’ progress in a course. Course assignments are made available on the learning management system with automatic reminders sent to the trainees. Greyhound also plans to provide iPhones to its bus drivers to make it easier for them to access e-learning. Historically, the San Diego Zoo used formal classroom training to provide its animal care staff with knowledge and skills in the care and feeding of animals, regulatory requirements, safety procedures, conservation, education, animal enrichment, and customer service. However, it realized that it needed more cost-effective training and a strategy on how to teach animal care staff who have varied work schedules, are unable to get together in one place for training, and prefer hands-on learning. The zoo identified 13 courses that would serve as basic courses. They covered transmission of diseases such as swine flu, avian flu, and West Nile viruses, compliance with government regulations, working safely with dangerous animals, and the fundamentals of animal behavior, care, and management. Subject-matter experts were identified and provided course content. Instructional designers worked with the content and developed it into an interactive online format. The online training included video case studies, used rich visuals, illustrated facts and concepts, and used module organization to ensure the training was the right length and would not overload the learner’s memory. Also, following the presentation of material, the online training included interactive assessment, which provided the learner with feedback and positive reinforcement and learning guidance in the form of advanced organizers about topics to be covered and how mastery of one topic could help improve mastery of the next topic.

Some companies have training requirements that all employees have to complete for the company to meet quality or legal requirements. Online learning allows more employees to gain access to these types of programs in a quicker time period than if face-to-face instruction is used. For example, a grocery store chain had to train its pharmacy staff

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about the privacy rules involved in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). To quickly train the staff, a training course was posted online, making it easier for employees to access it through a laptop computer, point-of-sale computer, smartphone, or iPad.19 Online training is also being used by retailers such as Luxottica, the eyewear and optical company, to track who enrolls in and completes online courses that are required for certification to some positions (such as licensed opticians).

E-learning is also easy to update, thanks to user-friendly authoring languages such as HTML. Changes can be made on the server that stores the e-learning program and employees worldwide can access the updated program. The administrative features of e-learning make training management a more efficient, paperless process. For example, CCH developed Shared Learning, an online administration module that allows companies to monitor employees’ completion of e-learning. It tracks how many times employees complete the same class and how much time employees spend per class, and it bookmarks the point at which trainees leave an online class so they can enter the program at the place they left it when they resume training.20

Effectiveness of Online Learning

Is e-learning effective for all types of learning outcomes and trainees? Both research and company experiences suggest that e-learning is effective for a wide range of outcomes, including knowledge, skills, and behaviors.21 Table 8.4 shows some of the research results regarding the effectiveness of online learning compared to other training methods. Online learning may be most effective for training that emphasizes cognitive outcomes, such as declarative and procedural knowledge (recall the discussion of learning outcomes in Chapter Four, “Learning and Transfer of Training,” and Chapter Six, “Training Evaluation”). Courses need to comply with laws and regulations (such as sexual harassment or fraud).

TABLE 8.4 Research Results Regarding the Effectiveness of Online Learning

· Online instruction is more effective than face-to-face classroom instruction for teaching declarative knowledge (cognitive knowledge assessed using written tests designed to measure whether trainees remember concepts presented in training). · Web-based instruction and classroom instruction are equally effective in teaching procedural knowledge (the ability of learners to perform the skills taught in training). · Learners are equally satisfied with web-based and classroom instruction. · Web-based instruction appears to be more effective than classroom instruction (1) when learners are provided with control over content, sequence, and pace; (2) in long courses; and (3) when learners are able to practice the content and receive feedback. · Web-based instruction and classroom instruction are equally effective when similar instructional methods are used (e.g., both approaches use video, practice assignments, and learning tests). · The employees who get the most from online learning are those who complete more of the available practice opportunities and take more time to complete the training. · E-learning is not effective for all learners, especially those with low computer self-efficacy.

Sources: Based on K. Kraiger, “Transforming Our Models of Learning and Development: Web-Based Instruction as Enabler of Third-Generation Instruction,” Industrial Organizational Psychology 1 (2008), pp. 454–467; T. Sitzmann et al., “The Comparative Effectiveness of Web-Based and Classroom Instruction: A Meta-Analysis,” Personnel Psychology 59 (2006), pp. 623–634; E. Welsh et al., “E-Learning: Emerging Uses, Empirical Results and Future Directions,” International Journal of Training and Development 7 (2003), pp. 245–258.

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Software/technical skill-building courses such as Windows or Java may be best suited for online learning, especially if these courses are video-based and allow employees to apply the lesson on their own computer. For example, Allied Bank, based in Pakistan, used e-learning to meet a federal law requiring bank employees to identify and report money laundering and funding for terrorism.22 Designers created a learning portal in both English and Urdu for employees so they could take training based on the language they understood. This reduced travel expenses related to attending training from $420,000 to $218,000, lowered training costs per employee from $250 to $150, and increased the number of employees who received training from 6,500 to 9,200 in one year. Jiffy Lube offers 13 e-learning courses as part of its management certification program. These courses could be taught using face-to-face instruction but Jiffy Lube believes that the content is easily communicated and understood in an interactive e-learning course.23 However, learners at Jiffy Lube also encounter other topics that benefit from discussion, collaboration, role play, and problem solving, such as change management, performance management, and building a team, so they are trained using a combination of online learning and face-to-face instruction.

Online learning may facilitate greater social interaction between trainees than face-to-face learning methods because other trainees are equally accessible or more accessible than the instructor and there are more methods available that allow learners to interact, such as e-mail, blogs, wikis, and chat rooms.24 Also, trainees may be more motivated to participate because they avoid feelings of inadequacy and low self-confidence, which can hinder participation in face-to-face learning. Delaware North Companies (DNC), a hospitality and food services company based in Buffalo, New York, provides hospitality and food services to national parks, stadiums, and airports. DNC delivers self-paced interactive training via the web, followed by virtual classes.25 At DNC, soft skills, such as managing a team, effective communication techniques, delegation, empowerment, and conflict resolution, have been identified as best for online training. Functional and technical skills have been found to be best suited for on-the-job training (OJT).

In considering whether to move some or all training online, there are several things you should consider.26 First, you should determine whether online training relates to business goals or employees’ learning needs. Online training can save costs without compromising quality and provide access to learning for employees who have difficulties attending face-to-face training because of their schedules or locations. Moving training online likely will result in development costs related to designing or purchasing training and providing access. One estimate is that it takes eight hours of development time for one hour of face-to-face instruction but that number can be much higher depending on the sophistication and complexity of the online course. It is also important to consider if employees will be resistant to using online training because of personal preferences or lack of familiarity with training technology. If online training is developed, employees need to know why it is being used, how they can use it to meet their learning needs, how to find courses, and how to gain the most benefit from the courses offered.

Despite the increasing popularity of online learning, many companies—including The Home Depot, Recreational Equipment, Inc., and Qwest Communications International—still prefer face-to-face training methods for teaching skills for complex jobs involving selling and repairing equipment.27 However, online learning is used to train employees when their jobs require them to use a standard set of facts or procedures. For example, Recreational Equipment, Inc., uses role playing between new employees and trainers who

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simulate a wide range of customer behaviors, helping them understand the difference between customers who want a specific product and customers who want to discuss different product choices. Qwest Communications estimates that 80 percent of training in its network department is completed face to face, compared to 20 percent online. To learn how to fix and install equipment, the company believes that employees must have hands-on experience that is similar to what they will encounter working in homes and commercial locations. Online learning may be valuable, but it is insufficient for teaching complex analytical, conceptual, and interpersonal skills.28 This may be because online learning lacks communication richness; some online learners may be reluctant to interact with other learners; and, although online learning increases accessibility to training, employees with busy work schedules have a greater opportunity to more easily delay, fail to complete, or poorly perform learning activities. Later in the chapter, we discuss how online learning can be combined with face-to-face instruction, known as blended learning, to take advantage of the strengths of both methods. Learning can be enhanced by combining face-to-face instruction and e-learning because learners are more engaged; the use of video, graphics, sound, and text is combined with active learning experiences such as cases, role playing, and simulations. Also, blended learning provides opportunities for learners to practice, ask questions, and interact with other learners and peers both face to face and online.

DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE ONLINE LEARNING

Table 8.5 provides tips for developing effective online learning.29 The training design or ADDIE model discussed in Chapter One, “Introduction to Employee Training and Development,” should still be used in designing e-learning. However, the emphasis at each stage should be slightly different.30 Needs assessment, creating a positive online learning experience, learner control, and providing time and space for online learning are four central issues that need to be addressed for effective online learning, including web-based training.

TABLE 8.5 Tips for Developing Effective Online Learning

Needs assessment	Identify the connection between online learning and the needs of the business. Get management to buy in. Make sure that employees have access to technology and technology support. Consult with information technology experts about system requirements. Identify specific training needs (knowledge, skills, competencies, behaviors). If needed, train learners on computer and Internet basics.
Creating a positive learning experience	Incorporate learning principles (practice, feedback, meaningful material, an appeal to active learner involvement, and an appeal to multiple senses). Design the course for the available bandwidth (or increase the available bandwidth to suit the course needs). Use games and simulations, which are attractive to learners. Structure materials properly. Allow trainees the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with each other and with the trainer, experts, or facilitators. Make the program user-friendly: Learning modules should be kept short, the content should not overload trainees, and webpages should not be confusing. Provide incentives for completing training. Keep each instructional segment self-contained. “Chunk” training modules. Create smooth transitions between instructional segments. Any audio, video, or animation should be useful to the learner; otherwise, it is a waste of time and bandwidth. Provide the developer/producer with clear specifications regarding required file formats, maximum file sizes, window and image dimensions, navigation, screen fonts, and available bandwidth. Provide writers and instructional designers with clear guidelines for the maximum number of words per screen, how many interactive exercises to include, and which exercises are best suited to the content. Conduct a formative evaluation (pilot test) before large scale use of online learning.
Learner Control	Provide learners with control, including the opportunity to skip sections or modules and the ability to pause, bookmark, review, and return to where they left off.
Provide time and space for online learning	Give learners dedicated training time to participate in online learning.

Sources: Based on K. Dobbs, “What the Online World Needs now: Quality,” Training (September 2000), pp. 84–94; P. Galagan, “Getting Started with E-Learning,” Training and Development (May 2000), pp. 62–64; D. Zielinski, “Can You Keep Learners Online?” training (March 2000), pp. 65–75; V. Beer, The Web Learning Field Book: Using the World Wide Web to Build Workplace Learning Environments (San Francisco Jossey-Bass, 2000); E. Zimmerman, “Better Training Is Just a Click Away,” Workforce (January 2001), pp. 36–42; R. Clark and R. Mayer, E-Learning and the Science of Instruction (San Francisco: John Wiley, 2003); E. Salas, R. DeRouin, and L. Littrell, “Research-Based Guidelines for Designing Distance Learning: What We Know So Far,” in The Brave New World of eHR, ed. H. Gueutal and D. Stone (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2005), pp. 104–137; S. Boehle, “Putting the Learning Back into E-Learning,” training (January 2006), pp. 29–35; A Rossett and L. Schafer, “What to Do about E-Dropouts,” T+D (June 2003), pp. 40–46; M. Morrison, “Leaner E-Learning,” training (January 2008), pp. 16–18; M. Allen, “The Return of Serious Design,” Chief Learning Officer (July 2014), pp. 31–33.

Needs Assessment

Needs assessment includes getting management to support online learning. Also, the information technology department needs to be involved in the design of any web-based program to ensure that the technology capabilities of the company network are understood and to guarantee that trainees can get access to the browsers and connections they need to participate in e-learning and use all of the tools (e.g., e-mail, chat rooms, hyperlinks) that may accompany it as well as get technical support when needed. Online tutorials may be needed to acquaint trainees with the capabilities of the e-learning system and how to navigate the web. Recall from Chapter Three, “Needs Assessment,” that a needs assessment determines the company’s resources for training and the tasks to be trained for, and it analyzes the employees who may need training. The needs assessment process for web-based training or any other type of online learning should include a technology assessment (as part of the organizational analysis) and an assessment of the skills that users need for online training (person analysis). This should include a technical analysis focused on identifying minimum computing requirements (e.g., bandwidth, memory, hard drive space, software, and processing speed).

Bandwidth refers to the number of bytes and bits (information) that can travel between computers per second. Graphics, photos, animation, and video in courses can be slow to

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download and can “crash” the system. Online learning courses should be designed for the available bandwidth on the company’s system. Bandwidth can be increased by upgrading access speed on the users’ computers, buying and installing faster servers and switches (computer hardware) on the company’s network, or encouraging trainees to access the

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web when demand is not high.31 Soon bandwidth may not be an issue because computer servers will be able to transfer more data faster, personal computers will have greater processing speeds, and cables and wireless communications systems that carry data will have greater capacity. Online learning should also try to build in interactivity without requiring the use of plug-ins. A plug-in refers to additional software that needs to be loaded on the computer to listen to sound, watch video, or perform other functions. Plug-ins can be expensive because they may require the company to pay licensing fees. Plug-ins also can affect how the computer processes tasks. If trainees experience repeated technology problems (such as slow download times, network downtimes, or plug-in difficulties), they are likely to lose patience and be reluctant to participate in online learning.

Creating a Positive Online Learning Experience

In the design and development phase, the characteristics of a positive learning environment discussed in Chapters Four and Five (e.g., objectives, practice, interaction) should be included to help aid retention of learning content and create a meaningful experience that motivates learners. Flowcharts or storyboards should be created that include all of the course components such as a main menu, modules, webpages for each lesson, assessments, discussion forums, images, color specifications, and help menus. Rapid prototyping should be used for designing the program.32 Rapid prototyping refers to an iterative process in which initial design ideas are proposed and provided in rough form in an online working prototype that is reviewed and refined by design team members and key learning stakeholders. Watching how the users interact with the prototype provides feedback about how easy (or difficult) it is to navigate through the course and understand its contents, elements, and instructions. Also, multiple types of media should be chosen in order to appeal to different learning styles to the greatest possible extent. This includes text, animation, pictures, video, audio, games, simulations, and even e-books. E-learning should be designed to minimize content or work that is unrelated to the learning objectives. Extraneous content may take up trainees’ limited cognitive processing resources, resulting in less learning. Table 8.6 provides several design principles that should be considered to create a positive online learning experience.

TABLE 8.6 Principles for Creating a Positive Online Learning Experience

· Instruction includes relevant visuals and words. · Text is aligned close to visuals. · Complex visuals are explained by audio or text, rather than by both text and audio that narrates the text. · Extraneous visuals, words, and sounds are omitted. · Learners are socially engaged through conversational language agents. · Key concepts are explained prior to the full process or task associated with the concepts. · Prompts are provided that encourage self-regulation. · Content is presented in short sequences over which learners have control. · Activities and exercises that mimic the context of the job are provided. · Explanations are provided for learner responses to quizzes and exercises. · Exercises are distributed within and among the module(s) rather than in a single place.

Sources: Based on R. Clark and R. Mayer, “Learning by Doing: Evidence-Based Guidelines for Principled Learning Environments,” Performance Improvement 47 (2008), pp. 5–13; R. Mayer, “Applying the Science of Learning: Evidence-Based Principles for the Design of Multimedia Instruction,” American Psychologist (November 2008), pp. 760–769; R. Clark and R. Mayer, E-Learning and the Science of Instruction, 2d ed. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2008); T. Sitz Mann and K. Ely, “Sometimes You Need a Reminder: The Effects of Prompting Self-Regulation on Regulatory Processes, Learning, and Attrition,” Personnel Psychology 95 (2010), pp. 132–144.

Remember that just putting text online isn’t necessarily an effective way to learn. Repurposing refers to directly translating an instructor-led, face-to-face training program to an online format. Online learning that merely repurposes an ineffective training program will still result in ineffective training. Unfortunately, in their haste to develop online learning, many companies are repurposing bad training. The best e-learning uses the advantages of the Internet in combination with the principles of a good learning environment. Effective online learning takes advantage of the web’s dynamic nature and ability to use many positive learning features, including linking to other training sites and content through the use of hyperlinks, providing learner control, and allowing the trainee to collaborate with other learners. Effective online learning uses video, sound, text, and graphics to hold learners’ attention and provides trainees with meaningful content related to realistic on-the-job activities, relevant examples, and the ability to apply content to work problems and issues. Also, trainees have opportunities to practice and receive feedback through the use of problems, exercises, assignments, and tests.

One way to help create a positive online learning experience is through the use of scenarios that present a real problem or work-related situation that the learner is asked to solve.33 The use of scenarios can help develop critical thinking skills such as troubleshooting or

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identifying customer needs. Other benefits of using scenarios include: they help increase the meaningfulness of e-learning because they are relevant to learners’ jobs; they offer an opportunity for learners to practice their skills dealing with a variety of situations and problems without risk; and, for mandatory training such as for sexual harassment, they may increase learners’ motivation to learn compared to programs that just involve reviewing policies and procedures.

To ensure that materials are not confusing or overwhelming to the learner, online learning content needs to be properly arranged.34 An orientation to the new program should be provided to learners to explain how to learn online, how to get help, and how to interact with peers, trainers, and facilitators.35 Participants should be provided with an overview of the course or program and success factors for completion. After the e-learning program is implemented, the focus should shift to how to best distribute, maintain, update, and improve it. Evaluation should involve collecting some combination of reaction, learning, behavior, and results outcomes, including an emphasis on questions related to the number and quality of interactive exercises and multimedia and the ease of use of the navigation tools. Materials in online learning need to be organized in small, meaningful modules of information. Each module should relate to one idea or concept. The modules should be connected in a way that encourages the learner to be actively involved in learning. Active involvement may include asking trainees to find resources on the Internet, try quizzes or games, choose between alternative actions, or compare what they know to the knowledge of an expert or model. Objectives, videos, practice exercises, links to material that elaborates on the module content, and tests should be accessible within each module. The modules should be linked in an arrangement that makes sense, such as by importance or by the order in which content has to be learned (prerequisites). Finally, trainees should be able to skip over material with which they are familiar or in which they are competent, based on a test of the content, or return to modules for more practice.

Learner Control

As mentioned earlier in the chapter, learner control refers to giving trainees the option to learn actively though self-pacing exercises, exploring links to other material, and having conversations with other trainees and experts. Simply providing learner control does not ensure

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that trainees will use all the features provided by online learning (e.g., practice exercises).36 Trainees should have access to instructions on how to use learner control tools, or else difficulty using them will take away from time and attention that they can devote to learning. Companies must communicate the importance and meaningfulness of the training content for employees’ jobs and must hold employees accountable for completing the training.

For example, the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson develop and sell drugs to treat and cure diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, and HIV.37 Salespersons need to learn about drugs and other products before they can sell them to doctors, pharmacies, and hospitals. The quicker that salespersons are trained on new drugs, the sooner patients can gain access to them. Because they are located around the world and often on the road, salespersons don’t have time to learn in a classroom environment. To facilitate a culture of learning, Janssen relies on digital resources that allow employees the opportunity to access information on products when and where they need it. For example, before the company introduced a new diabetes drug, it had to train 2,000 salespersons in less than two months. Using a virtual classroom, Janssen was able to provide training four days after the drug received government approval. Other sales training, including video case studies and podcasts, has been delivered using iPads and other mobile devices. Janssen also provides employees with a performance support tool, known as “YouLearn,” that allows them to acquire skills and knowledge on their own time. Janssen ensures that technology-delivered learning is in sync with the employees’ and the company’s learning needs through in-person coaching and development planning. Managers are required to have at least five development conversations with employees each year, and each employee completes an individual development plan.

Research provides several recommendations for maximizing the benefits of learner control.38 Training programs should not allow trainees to control the amount of feedback they receive because they may rely too much on the feedback, reducing their long-term retention of the training material. The program should offer practice on each topic repeatedly throughout the program so that trainees will not forget topics they have already completed. The program should provide practice to trainees using different examples to help the transfer of training content (skills or knowledge) to not only the full range of situations they may encounter on the job, but also to unexpected situations. Trainees should be allowed to control the sequence in which they receive instruction but not be able to skip practice. Prompting self-regulation improves performance in online training. As was discussed in Chapter Four, self-regulation refers to the learner’s involvement with the training material and assessing their progress toward learning. Online prompts that ask trainees to recall key points or to set goals to help them use and remember the content after the course will help trainees remember the key principles/objectives presented in training and how to apply their knowledge and skills.

Provide Time and Space for Online Learning

Using formative evaluation of prototypes of web training can be helpful in identifying the appropriate length and time of modules (formative evaluations were discussed in Chapter Six). End users (managers, potential trainees) should be involved in a formative evaluation to ensure that music, graphics, icons, animation, video, and other features facilitate rather than interfere with learning. Also, end users need to test the content, the navigator, and the site map to guarantee that they can easily move through the learning

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module and access resources and links to other websites as needed. Online learning blurs the distinction between training and work. Expectations that trainees will be motivated and able to complete web-based training during breaks in their normal workday or on their personal time are unrealistic.39 Companies need to ensure that employees are given time and space for e-learning to occur.40 That is, employees need dedicated time, protected from work tasks, for learning to occur. As with other training programs, employees need to understand why they should attend e-learning and the benefits they will receive so as to enhance their motivation to learn. Accurate communications about the content and types of learning activities in e-learning courses need to be provided to employees.41 Managers need to give employees time in their schedules, and employees need to schedule “training time” to complete training and avoid interruptions that can interfere with learning. Some companies are moving away from their initial expectation that online learning can be completed at the employee’s desktop without time away from the job; instead, they are setting up learning labs for online learning to occur without the distractions of the workplace. “Chunking,” or using one- to two-hour training modules, helps trainees learn and retain more than they might in a standard full-day or half-day training class. Training can also be more easily integrated into the typical workday. Trainees can devote one to two hours to a learning session and then return to their work responsibilities.

Technology for Collaboration and Linking

Chapter Four emphasized that learning often occurs as a result of interaction or sharing between employees. Employees learn by informal, unstructured contact with experts and peers. Collaboration can involve an exchange among two or more trainees or among the trainer or other experts.

Hyperlinks are links that allow a trainee to access other websites that include printed materials, as well as communications links to experts, trainers, and other learners. Owens Corning’s learning resource home page has hyperlinks to all available forms of training information, including CD-ROM, web-based, and trainer-led programs. The site supports online course registration and allows tests to be sent to trainees, scored, and used to register trainees in appropriate courses.42

Research suggests that some employees fail to complete online learning and prefer instructor-led face-to-face instruction over online learning because they want to be able to learn and network with their peers.43 Effective online learning connects trainees and facilitates interaction and sharing through the use of collaborative learning tools such as chat rooms, discussion boards, or social media. Other methods for learner interaction and sharing include having trainees participate in collaborative online projects and receive tutoring, coaching, and mentoring by experts. Online learning also should provide a link between the trainees and the “instructor”—someone who can answer questions, provide additional learning resources, and stimulate discussion between trainees on topics such as potential applications of the training content and common learning problems.

Massive Open Online Courses

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) refers to learning that is designed to enroll a large number of learners (massive); is free and accessible to anyone with an Internet connection (open); takes place online using videos of lectures and interactive coursework, including discussion groups and wikis (online); and has specific start and completion dates, quizzes and

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assessments, and exams (courses).44 MOOCs cover a wide variety of subject matter, including courses in chemistry, math, physics, computer science, philosophy, and leadership. MOOCs are also offered in high-demand areas such as robotics, semiautonomous vehicles, and artificial intelligence. Popular providers of MOOCs include Coursera, edX (a nonprofit founded by Harvard and MIT), and Udacity (a for-profit company founded by a Stanford University research professor and founder of Google X Labs). The courses are often developed in partnership with colleges and universities and, recently, private companies.

The interest in MOOCs likely originated in a free 2011 Stanford University class, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence, that had 160,000 students.45 Since then, colleges and universities have partnered with MOOC providers to offer free or low-cost online courses, which learners can complete and earn certificates or even college credit if they pass a credential exam. Typically, there is a registration fee to take the exam. The fees range from tens to hundreds of dollars, depending on the course length and content. What are the characteristics of learners who participate in MOOCs? Typically, the learners have already graduated from college and are taking the course to explore an interest or develop their skills, although the numbers of undergrads taking courses has increased. MOOCs have been able to attract huge numbers of learners. For example, Coursera estimates that it has attracted over 5 million learners based in the United States and around the world.

Companies are starting to work with the MOOC providers to design custom courses or to create their own MOOCs that can help them meet their skill needs.46 MOOC-provider edX partnered with UPS, Procter & Gamble, and Walmart to design computer science and supply-chain management courses. Learners who take the course and complete a test can earn a certificate. McKinsey & Company developed a MOOC for all employees that included 10 courses.47 To maximize learning and application, it decided not to provide course content that focused on defining a topic, discussing its importance, and emphasizing how the company thinks about it. Instead, its course development focused on what a learner would actually do with the content. McKinsey’s MOOC also asked learners to use an online notebook to reflect on their thinking as they worked through the course. The notebook included questions that asked learners to discuss the implications of what they were learning for their clients. The notebook helped learners initiate conversations with clients after the course was completed. In the MOOC, learners first were presented with foundational skills and then had the opportunity to choose which skills they wanted to review or explore in greater detail. The courses included a variety of learning tools such as short videos, narrated PowerPoint slides, animated whiteboards, and pdf documents. An evaluation of the MOOC courses six months after they were developed showed that 86 percent of employees had taken courses. Employees who participated in the MOOC had over 700 client conversations and more than 90 percent planned to have future conversations. Eighty-five percent of the learners preferred the MOOC over face-to-face training.

Georgia Tech, Udacity, and AT&T worked together to create a MOOC designed to offer a master’s degree in computer science.48 Udacity and AT&T created MOOC courses for nanodegrees, which provide AT&T’s programmers with the opportunity to take a series of courses to prepare them for high-technology specializations such as software engineering, coding, or web development. This helps the programmers prepare themselves with the skills need for emerging jobs. The MOOC also benefits AT&T by providing its employees with the STEM skills they need to compete against companies such as Google and Amazon.

MOOCs have several advantages and disadvantages.49 Some of the advantages of MOOCs for delivering training include: no travel costs; the courses don’t disrupt daily work; they provide training content unavailable from local vendors or consultants; and they can give employees access to highly specialized courses or courses that are not part of their current job responsibilities. Also, they include many features that facilitate learning and transfer. For example, learning is interactive and learner-controlled and it involves social interaction and emphasizes application. Learning happens through engaging short lectures combined with interaction with the course materials and interaction with other students and the instructor. MOOCs emphasize applying knowledge and skills using role plays, cases, and projects, and they are semi-synchronous, meaning that learners receive the same assignments, video lectures, readings, quizzes, and discussions but can complete the coursework on their own time. Also, many MOOCs offer college credit or certificates of completion, which provide incentives for learning and formal acknowledgment.

However, despite claims that MOOCs will revolutionize training and education, they have significant disadvantages. Among those who enroll in MOOCs, their interaction with the course tends to drop off after the first two weeks of the course; course completion rates are low (10 to 20 percent); and most students who complete the courses don’t take the credential exam. Research suggests that only 5 percent of employees receive financial support from their companies for participating in MOOCs.50 Compared to employees who pay for MOOCs on their own, employees who receive company financial support for use of MOOCs have higher course completion rates and are less likely to look for job opportunities outside of their current employer after completing MOOCs. Finally, MOOCs may be inappropriate for courses where synchronous or real-time collaboration or interaction is needed.

To enhance their chances of being effective, MOOCs need to provide an interesting and engaging lecture that is broken up into quizzes and problem sets that learners must complete before they can progress. Learners who complete course topics should be provided with incentives such as badges. Visual meters should be used to provide feedback on progress toward completing the course. The course also needs to include interaction through discussion boards and interactive videos. Also, learners need to have the technological skills and technology capability required to access the MOOC, view videos, and participate in online discussions.

SOCIAL MEDIA: WIKIS, BLOGS, MICROBLOGS, AND SOCIAL NETWORKS

Social media are online and mobile technology used to create interactive communications and allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.51 They include blogs, wikis such as Google Docs, networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn, microsharing sites such as Twitter, and shared media such as YouTube. Table 8.7 shows how social media can be useful for training.

TABLE 8.7 How Social Media Can Be Used in Training

· Provide links to resources such as webinars, videos, and articles related to new learning content. · Help determine future training needs and issues by using tagging capabilities. · Reinforce and sustain learning. · Use as a coaching and mentoring tool. · Link learners before, during, and after a formal training event. · Engage Generation X and millennial employees. · Provide content prior to a face-to-face learning event. · Link learners and building communities of learning before, during, and after training. · Share and create videos. · Allow multiple learners to edit documents at the same time. · Help learners identify who has the expertise they need and gain access to subject-matter experts.

Sources: Based on T. Bingham and M. Conner, The New Social Learning (Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development, 2010); M. Derven, “Social Networking: A Force for Development?” T+D (July 2009), pp. 59–63.

A blog refers to a webpage where an author posts entries and readers (often) can comment. There are many different types of blogs, including personal blogs written by one person; company blogs used for marketing and branding purposes; topic blogs focusing on a specific topic area; and blogs based on media (video blogs) and devices (mobile device blogs). There are several considerations for effectively using blogs in training.52 For a blog

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to be useful for training, it should be related to the learning objectives; otherwise, trainees will find it to be “busy work” and fail to see its benefits. Blogs can be especially useful for trainees to analyze and synthesize information, for learners to reflect on the lesson or course content, and to share ideas and applications of learning content. Instructors need to provide timely and relevant feedback on blog entries. Also, instructors must provide guidelines regarding how blog entries will be evaluated or what types of blog entries are desired (e.g., new ideas, application-related, “what did I learn?”). Blogs also can be useful for training courses involving group work such as projects and cases. Blogs provide a way for team members to share comments, insights, and even get involved in brainstorming.

A wiki refers to a website that allows many users to create, edit, and update content and share knowledge. Microblogs (or microsharing) refer to software tools such as Twitter that enable communications in short bursts of text, links, and multimedia either through stand-alone applications or through online communities or social networks. Shared media refers to audio or video such as YouTube that can be accessed and shared with others.

How are social media being used for learning, training, and development? Many companies are using social networking tools to help employees learn informally and share knowledge both on an as-needed basis and as part of formal training courses.

Consider the following companies and nonprofit organizations’ use of social networking tools.53 Humana, a health-care company, has a social learning platform, known as the Knowledge Exchange, which is designed to build online communities to help employees learn from one another. For example, 100 employees from different departments, business units, and jobs interacting with each other using Knowledge Exchange identified data visualization as an interest and a common learning need. They collaborated, identified learning resources, and learned from each other about data visualization. They used the skills they learned to develop a data visualization product that used the group members’ survey results about the effectiveness of the course. At Cisco, every new employee is trained about the appropriate use of social media. Cisco’s employees have several tools they can use to interact with one another. An internal WebEx Social platform allows employees to collaborate in teams and get feedback from experts throughout the company. Employees can access a dashboard that lets them examine newsfeeds, check meetings and calendars, and review

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work. General Electric Company created an internal social media platform called GE Collab that allows employees to follow each other, add hashtags to comments so they can be found in searches, and link discussions to documents.

TELUS, a Canadian telecommunications company, has an internal social network (Jam) that encourages employees to create and share content on the site. Jam gives employees the power to assign, share, and manage individual or team tasks, join learning program groups to exchange knowledge and experiences, and recommend content to their peers. For example, team members can post or respond to technical and operational questions in the “As a Peer” sandbox. The “Parking Lot” sandbox allows employees to have real-time conversations about training content. Verizon uses social networking tools to train employees to support new products and devices. Device Blog, Device Forum, and Learning Communities help ensure that employees are ready to support customers when new products and devices are introduced to the market. These social networking tools also engage Verizon’s multigenerational workforce and facilitate peer-to-peer learning. Device Blog makes available information and updates on wireless devices (such as the Droid), frequently asked questions (FAQs), how-to videos, and troubleshooting tips. Device Forums enable retail employees to learn from peers and product manufacturers. Employees can ask each other questions, share issues, post tips, make suggestions, and access product experts. Learning Communities are accessed through the Device Blog. They include video blogs, message boards, links to online training modules, and product demonstrations. In addition to these tools, employees have access to My Network for collaborating with their peers, sharing knowledge and documents, and creating working groups. Some instructors also use it for posting supplemental content for learners’ use.

IBM uses social media to connect its employees around the world. IBM’s site, known as w3, contributes to the global integration of the company. The w3 On Demand Workplace is a powerful productivity and collaboration tool for 400,000 IBM employees in 75 countries. The w3 can be used by employees to find resources and tap into knowledge from peers around the world to help clients innovate and succeed. Employees can create personal profiles, bookmark websites and stories that they are interested in, comment on company blogs, contribute to wikis, share files, and read and review position papers, videos, and podcasts.

Special People in Northeast Inc. (SPIN), a nonprofit organization that provides services to individuals with disabilities, makes webcasts as well as videos, how-to manuals, and process flowcharts electronically available to employees to ensure that the knowledge of key employees is documented and current practices and procedures are available and shared. Intel encourages informal learning in two ways: through knowledge sharing and by providing employees with “performer support.” Both knowledge sharing and performer support are part of Planet Blue, a social media platform for Intel employees. Employees also have access to Intelpedia, an internal wiki that employees can edit. Intelpedia has millions of pages, and thousands of employees have contributed to it. Intelpedia helped create a culture for using technology-based information-sharing solutions at Intel.

How can you determine if social media will be an effective learning tool in a company? Table 8.8 shows the factors to consider in answering this question. The more “yes” answers to these questions, the more likely that social media will be an effective learning solution. The most important consideration is whether social media are already being used in the company, which makes it easier to determine how it fits into the company’s learning strategy and how easily it could be adapted to training.

TABLE 8.8 Factors to Consider in Deciding to Use Social Media for Training and Learning

· Are social networks already being used in the company? · Does social networking fit into the company’s learning strategy? · Are employees geographically dispersed? · Does the learning strategy support on-the-job learning? · Is there is a need to foster collaboration? · Are there a significant number of millennial or Generation X employees? · Are employees comfortable using social networks? · Does the business require substantial teamwork? · Does knowledge need to be shared quickly? · Does the company value innovation? · Does the culture support decentralized decision making?

Sources: Based on T. Bingham and M. Conner, The New Social Learning (Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development, 2010); M. Derven, “Social Networking: A Force for Development?” T+D (July 2009), pp. 59–63.

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It is important to support the use of social media and to consider if the ideas, content, and recommendations provided in social media are high quality and match company priorities. Evans Analytical Group (EAG), a high-tech analytical services company, is using social media to reduce the time it takes to locate subject-matter experts (SMEs) and to connect its globally dispersed employees.54 This is important because EAG’s 800 employees might not know about possible topic experts because the company has completed over 25 mergers and acquisitions during the past several years. Employees use Twitter, LinkedIn, or the company’s intranet to find and collaborate with SMEs and acquire and contribute knowledge. Social media usage is also encouraged to reinforce knowledge and skills learned in training programs.

EAG supports the use of social media tools in several different ways. Employees are encouraged to use blogs and wikis by linking their usage to their performance appraisals. Also, each week the company publicly recognizes employees with the highest weekly usage rates of social media tools on its intranet, and the CEO endorses using the tools at company meetings. To help employees understand how to use social media tools and their potential value, EAG provides training videos, tutorials, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) that employees can access on the intranet. To ensure that the tools are effective, an employee steering committee conducts interviews and gathers survey data. For example, they compared knowledge retention between two groups of employees who collaborated after they received training. One group used blogs and wikis and the other group used Chatter, a social collaboration tool. The knowledge retention scores did not differ between the two groups. However, 90 percent of the employees found the tools useful. IBM conducts an expertise assessment to ensure the quality of the recommendations employees’ provide using social media.55 All employees conduct an annual self-evaluation that defines their skill level and ability to serve clients. The skills level choices include: entry, foundational, experienced, expert, and thought leader. These rankings help employees find those who have the knowledge and experience that they need for a particular skill or solution. Self-evaluations of “thought leader” and “expert” are verified by a second line manager and SMEs. Also, it may be necessary to have an editor monitor online postings to ensure that they reflect how the company wants to be perceived. The trade-off of quality evaluations and monitoring is that they may inhibit collaboration and networking.

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BLENDED LEARNING

Because of the limitations of online learning related to technology (e.g., insufficient bandwidth and lack of high-speed web connections), trainee preference for face-to-face contact with instructors and other learners, and employees’ inability to find unscheduled time during their workday to devote to learning from their desktops, many companies are moving to a hybrid, or blended, learning approach. Blended learning combines online learning, face-to-face instruction, and other methods for distributing learning content and instruction. Blended learning courses provide learners with the positive features of both face-to-face instruction and technology-based delivery and instructional methods (such as online learning, distance learning, or mobile technologies like tablet computers or iPhones), while minimizing the negative features of each.56 In comparison to classroom delivery, blended learning provides increased learner control, allows for self-directedness, and requires learners to take more responsibility for their learning—all factors consistent with the recommendations of adult learning theory discussed in Chapter Four.57 In comparison to pure online learning, blended learning provides more face-to-face social interaction and ensures that at least some of the instruction is presented in a dedicated learning environment. Blended learning uses the classroom to allow learners to learn together and to discuss and share insights, which helps bring learning to life and make it meaningful. Live feedback from peers is preferable to feedback received online.58

One popular application of blended learning is the flipped classroom. The flipped classroom blends online and face-to-face instruction. Learners watch lectures, complete online simulations, read books and articles, take quizzes to assess their knowledge and skills, and come to class to work on projects and cases, hear speakers, and interact with faculty.59 The flipped classroom recognizes that face-to-face instruction using lectures can be effective when it is delivered to individual learners rather than to a group of learners in the classroom. Lectures can be captured on video and delivered online. This frees up face-to-face classroom time for reinforcing and applying knowledge and skills. One of the keys for success of the flipped classroom is that learners must understand and complete the assigned content prior to coming to class. Although learners work by themselves online, it is important that the trainer be available via phone, e-mail, or chat room to answer the learners’ questions. Also, learners should be required to complete quizzes or exams and earn above a passing score before they can attend the classroom session. Blended learning has been found to be more effective than face-to-face instruction for motivating trainees to learn and for teaching declarative knowledge or information about ideas or topics.60 It appears that blended learning capitalizes on the positive learning features inherent in both face-to-face and web-based instruction. Interestingly, learners react more favorably toward classroom instruction than blended learning. This may be because blended learning courses are more demanding, requiring a greater time commitment because of the use of two learning approaches. Research suggests that the most significant issues or problems with blended learning are fast-changing technology, insufficient management support and commitment to blended learning, and a lack of understanding of what blended learning really is and how to implement it.61

Consider several companies’ use of blended learning and the flipped classroom.62 ADP’s training program for new hires includes one week of in-person workshops, eight simulations, and collaborative, self-paced online learning. This allows the new hires to

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spend more time on hands-on training (which includes online virtual instructor-led classes focused on product training), working with their mentor, and networking with their peers. For some construction projects, Gilbane Building Company uses a blended learning approach. Contractors are required to complete online safety training prior to arriving at the job site. The one-hour online training is accessible using mobile phones, notebooks, and tablet computers that have access to the Internet. The training includes quizzes that are available in English or Spanish. After they pass the quizzes, contractors are escorted on an in-person tour of the job site during which potential safety hazards are identified. The training has helped keep the accident rate low—300,000 hours of work with only one injury. Sonic Automotive used a blended learning approach for manager training. The blended learning approach requires managers to complete foundational skills in an online program before attending three days of instructor-led training. The online program includes assignments and learning modules that prepare them for the classroom sessions, which focus on practice and application of the foundational skills.

Anthem Inc., a health insurance provider, transitioned from face-to-face learning for its associates to online training, which provides learners with more control and allows them to learn from a coach and their peers. Anthem Health Guide (AHG) is a consumer product that helps employees better understand and use their benefits. AHG Flipped Classroom training begins with a video chat orientation where trainers introduce learners to the learning objectives, training agenda, and the technology that will be used. The training content is then delivered face to face using videos, games, group activities, and role plays, in addition to individualized coaching. Also, a social collaboration site on the company intranet provides learners with the opportunity to interact with trainers and other learners. BB&T Corporation had to retrain employees to use a new commercial lending platform. It used a flipped classroom approach to shorten the time it took to provide training, reduce lodging and other travel costs related to the lengthier classroom training, and provide associates with consistent training content. The flipped classroom consisted of 10 one-hour online courses followed by two days of classroom training. BB&T estimates that adopting the flipped classroom approach saved over $400,000 in travel expenses.

SIMULATIONS AND GAMES

Simulations and games were introduced as a traditional training method in Chapter Seven. Developments in software and computer technology have improved the learning and transfer that can result from simulations and games. These training methods, which can be delivered via a personal computer or gaming technology such as an Xbox, immerse trainees in decision making exercises in an artificial, yet realistic environment that allows them to learn the consequences of their decisions. Simulation games are widely popular—one estimate is that 53 percent of adults play video games!63

Serious games refer to games in which the training content has been turned into a game but has business objectives.64 “Gamification” means that game-based strategies are applied to training programs. The key is to use the fun and motivational aspects of games to help employees acquire knowledge and skills. Table 8.9 shows four different types of simulations and games. Some simulations include virtual reality or take place in virtual worlds.

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Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-based technology that provides trainees with a three-dimensional learning experience. This allows simulations to become even more realistic. Using specialized equipment or viewing the immersive model on the computer screen, trainees move through the simulated environment and interact with its components.65 Simulations allow the trainees to experience presence, which refers to the perception of actually being in a particular environment. Presence is influenced by the amount of sensory information available to the trainee, control over the environment, and the ability to modify the environment. In simulations, presence can include trainees feeling a sense of motion or experiencing emotions such as anger from a customer or colleague. Poor presence may result in trainees experiencing vomiting, dizziness, headaches (simulator sickness), and frustration because senses are inappropriately distorted.

TABLE 8.9 Types of Simulations

Type of Simulation	Description
Branching story	Trainees are presented with a situation and asked to make a choice or decision. Trainees progress through the simulation on the basis of their decisions.
Interactive spreadsheet	Trainees are given a set of business rules (usually finance-based) and asked to make decisions that will affect the business. The decisions are entered into a spreadsheet that shows how the decisions affect the business.
Game-based	Trainees play a video game on a computer.
Virtual	Trainees interact with a computer representation of the job for which they are being trained.

Sources: Based on C. Cornell, “Better Than the Real Thing?” Human Resource Executive (August 2005), pp. 34–37; S. Boehle, “Simulations: The Next Generation of E-Learning,” Training (January 2005), pp. 22–31.

BNSF Railway uses virtual reality for training employees in how to conduct a brake safety inspection.66 Employees take the role of avatars in a 3D simulation in which they perform brake inspections on rail cars. The simulation includes all of the important parts that have to be examined in a proper inspection, including air hoses, angle cocks, and hand brakes. In the simulation, BNSF Railway includes all of the defects that can occur but because of safety reasons or difficulty in demonstrating cannot be included in on-the-job training. The program improves employees’ ability to both identify and correct malfunctions. Sberbank and Walmart also are using virtual reality in training.67 Sberbank, the largest bank in Central and Eastern Europe, wanted to develop its staff’s interpersonal skills so that they would be more attentive and thoughtful when interacting with customers. The difficulty with training interpersonal skills is that they need to be practiced in situations that mimic real life but don’t involve the risk of upsetting and possibly losing clients. As a result, Sberbank decided to use a virtual reality (VR) simulation that includes a video experience aimed at developing empathy and compassion. In one of the training modules, trainees use VR headsets to see and feel what an older customer struggling with visual and hearing impairments must experience in completing a bank payment on time. Ninety-seven percent of trainees report having an intense feeling of empathy that they hadn’t previously experienced. Walmart uses virtual reality for training employees in how to prepare for situations such as Black Friday, where customers shopping for holiday gifts wait long hours before the store opens and rush into the store when it opens to grab items on sale. Walmart also uses virtual reality for customer service training and teaching operational skills like stacking and arranging produce.

Simulations can also be used for team training. For example, IBM uses a simulation to train security teams in how to handle cyberattacks.68 The staging area is similar to a flight simulator but with room for two dozen people. Video panels cover the front wall and racks of computer servers located below the floor simulate the data stream of a company’s network. One simulation involves a phishing e-mail sent to an HR representative. The hackers take data before the information technology crew can determine the source of the computer breach. After news of the breach is leaked to the press, U.S. government agencies start an investigation. As the simulation develops, the security team discovers that the hackers have also changed the company’s financial data before its quarterly report. Security teams have to learn to deal with the pressure the breach creates, identify what has been stolen, take steps to notify the appropriate persons and agencies, and secure the breach.

Simulations can also take place in a virtual world. A virtual world refers to a computer-based, simulated online three-dimensional representation of the real world where learning programs can be hosted. Second Life, ProtoSphere, Forterra, and Virtual Heroes are examples of providers of virtual worlds.69 In virtual worlds, trainees use avatars to interact with each other in the classroom, webinars, or role-play exercises. An avatar refers to computer depictions of humans that are used as imaginary coaches, co-workers, customers, and instructors.70 Virtual worlds allow employees to learn alone, with their peers, or in teams. Their strength is their ability to get the learner actively involved in working with equipment, peers, or customers.

PPD is a global contract research organization that is involved in drug discovery, development, life cycle management, and laboratory services. PPD’s clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic, and government organizations. PPD has offices in 47 countries, with more than 13,000 employees, making it critical to deliver effective training without travel and time demands. PPD uses a virtual three-dimensional learning environment to deliver its Clinical Foundations Program.71 Learners use a virtual simulated environment and realistic avatars to talk, send messages, watch and interact with presentations and video content, take notes, and access the Internet. This simulated environment is accessible from anywhere in the world. PPD also uses virtual clinical spaces for training, including pharmacies, nurses’ rooms, and surgical spaces. Eighty percent of trainees who participate in the virtual programs prefer it to classroom training, and 95 percent feel they are more engaged than in traditional instruction.

In the past, British Petroleum (BP) held its annual Global Graduate Forum in London. After two years with the company, over 400 graduates from BP’s global offices would be invited to attend.72 Those who signed up would travel to London for three days of networking with peers and BP’s top executives and presentations emphasizing BP’s corporate culture and values. The program cost $5 million annually, yet only one-third of eligible graduates attended. Those who did attend were dissatisfied with the time devoted to presentations rather than personal interaction.

BP teamed with ProtoSphere to develop a more interactive scenario-based event in a virtual world. Graduates work in teams to solve a problem in which they must balance energy, security, and environmental pressures. The scenario uses a territory that has a high potential for oil and gas reserves but is uninhabited, hard to access, and home to protected animal and plant species. The graduates have to decide whether to use the territory’s energy resources. The virtual world includes briefing rooms, conference rooms, and breakout rooms for each team to work in. Briefing rooms included a flat-screen TV to

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view videos, a Wikipedia document describing in detail the fictitious territory, a schedule of subject-matter expert (SME) sessions, and an intelligent bot to play back audio to the graduates. Graduates find that this experience helps them better understand BP’s business and their ability to work in virtual teams. The virtual Global Graduate Challenge saves the company $3.7 million, compared to producing the live event in London.

Many companies are using games and gamification. An ATD survey of learning professionals found that 25 percent of companies use gamification in learning and 20 percent use serious games.73 Games are being used as the only training methods or within instructor-led and virtual courses.74 At Deloitte, DLearn allows instructors to include several different types of games in their courses. The games are interactive and played either individually or within teams. Mini-games featuring a buzzer and a bonus wheel can be used to ask learners questions; points are awarded for correct answers. Another type of game allows instructors to develop cases that require teams of trainees to make decisions. Based on trainees’ answers, the game can branch off to different paths, varying the points the teams earn based on the quality of their decisions. Instructors can use leaderboards to display the points earned by trainees as well as award badges for participating in class discussion boards and completing courses. Each trainee has a personal profile, including the badges they have earned, that they can share with others.

Each of Pfizer’s 2,500 medical sales representatives in India uses an iPad for communicating with the customer and reporting sales.75 Pfizer developed and launched Roket, a mobile learning app, to increase the sales competencies of the medical representatives. Roket’s key features include access to videos and reading materials, quizzes on training content (as well as a leaderboard that allows the sales reps to compete against each other to see who gets the highest quiz scores), video sharing, and built-in coaching forms used by sales reps’ managers to provide an application-of-training score at the end of a joint sales trip with a sales rep. Pfizer has found that utilization of the app is good: 66 percent of the sales reps use the app each week, while 42 percent use it more than three times each week. Sales proficiency scores are based on weighting quiz scores by 40 percent and application scores by 60 percent. Sales reps’ proficiency scores have increased 24 percent over a 16-week period. Also, the number of coaching sessions held by managers with sales reps, focusing on how they can improve their application score, has increased 29 percent. Ford of Canada uses games to train dealership salespersons.76 The game has a professional auto racing theme and includes videos, product information, and web courses. Trainees can earn points and advance to higher levels, work on their personal goals, earn badges that are shown in a trophy case, compete against their peers on a leaderboard, compete against other dealerships, and receive feedback. Allstate uses a game for employees to review their knowledge on privacy protection (i.e., how to ensure a client’s information is safe).77 The game begins with a video in which the player is declined a mortgage because his identity has been stolen. The player then joins an agency to fight an evil company trying to steal other people’s data. The player can choose to take one of four alter egos, such as Captain Confidential. Next, the player is faced with solving dilemmas by answering questions based on Allstate’s privacy policy. As more problems are solved, the character’s data breach is resolved.

As you can see from these examples, simulations can be effective for several reasons.78 First, trainees can use them on their desktop or notebook computer, eliminating the need to travel to a central training location. Second, simulations are meaningful, they get trainees involved in learning, and they are emotionally engaging (they can even be fun!).

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This increases employees’ willingness to practice, encourages retention, improves skills, and enhances transfer of training. Third, simulators provide a consistent message of what needs to be learned; trainees can work at their own pace; and, compared to face-to-face instruction, simulators can incorporate more situations or problems that a trainee might encounter. Simulators can be used for training interpersonal skills and how to use equipment. Fourth, simulations can safely put employees in situations that would be dangerous in the real world. Trainees can learn and practice dangerous tasks without putting themselves or others in danger. Fifth, simulations have been found to result in positive outcomes, such as shorter training times and increased return on investment.

Simulations do have some disadvantages. The use of simulations has been limited by their development costs. A customized simulation can cost between $200,000 and $300,000, while a simulation purchased from a supplier without any customization typically costs $100 to $200 per trainee.79 The cost to rent space from a virtual-world program’s campus within a public space is $200–$300 per day; it costs $1,000 to $2,000 for a customized simulation within the space.80 The average cost for a basic 15-minute game is $20,000 to $30,000, but games can range from $5,000 to $250,000.81 Leased space in a virtual world is expensive. It can range from $5,000 to $100,000 annually, depending on the size and type of the space leased ($10,000–$20,000 is required for a private space on a public server or a private, customized island). However, although they continue to be an expensive training method, development costs for simulations continue to decrease, making them a more popular training method. Also, the use of simulations as a training method is likely to increase as technology development allows more realism to be built into simulations.

In addition to cost, there are other disadvantages as well. Games and simulations are useful for practicing skills, but trainees must first acquire knowledge and then apply it while playing the game.82 Debriefing learners after a game is useful for helping trainees understand how their simulation experience relates to their work. Another drawback is that, although the novelty of a simulation may help trainees recall the experience, it may also interfere with retention and transfer of training content to the job.83 Learners may not take a simulation seriously. Learning in a simulation may be better for those who already have some job experiences because simulations may confuse and overwhelm some learners. Finally, trainees may not be comfortable in learning situations that lack human contact.

We all know that games can be fun, but what questions should you consider in purchasing or building a serious game for training? Table 8.10 shows the questions you should consider. It is important to establish the purpose of the game and its relationship to the business. Games can be used for several business-related purposes, including safety training, product training, team building, and new employee orientation. It is also necessary to determine what behaviors or tasks trainees should be able to perform as a result of playing the game. The business purpose and behavior and skills should be included in the game’s learning objectives. Learners should be engaged through meaningful game scenarios, narratives, and problems. Games should use leaderboards to increase learners’ motivation by capitalizing on their competitiveness. Also, ideally games should include different levels that require learners to demonstrate their competency in prerequisite knowledge and skills (by achieving certain scores) before learning more challenging knowledge and skills. Finally, games should be tested (recall our discussion of formative evaluation in Chapter Six) to ensure that they are easy to use and logical and that technology problems are minimized.

TABLE 8.10 Questions to Consider About Serious Games

· What is the business objective? · What behavior or tasks will be learned? · How many levels and players should it include? · Will everyone playing the game have access to the same technology? · Is the game fun and does it drive engagement in learning? · Does the game provide feedback and elements such as leaderboards, meters, or badges to motivate friendly competition between employees or teams?

Source: Based on C. Balance, “Strategic Ways to Develop Game-based Learning for High ROI,” T+D (September 2013), pp. 76–77; B. Roberts, “Gamification: Win, Lose or Draw,” HR Magazine (May 2014), pp. 28–35; R. Paharia, Loyalty 3.0 (New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2013).

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AUGMENTED REALITY

Augmented reality (AR) allows trainees see the physical world around them but their view includes virtual media.84 That is, it brings digital elements into the physical world to enhance the information and context that people experience.

Augmented reality shares some similarities yet has significant differences from virtual reality (VR).85 Both VR and AR require the user to wear a headset or glasses. However, in VR the trainee sees an entirely separate world. Virtual reality uses computers to simulate an environment in which trainees are totally immersed. In contrast, trainees wearing AR glasses or headsets see real physical surroundings but images and messages are projected into their line of sight. The major difference between AR and virtual reality is that the physical reality is always present in AR. Another way of thinking about the differences between virtual reality and AR is that AR provides information that supplements the real world in which the employee is working. This information could include instructions for completing a task, digital graphics, or a PowerPoint presentation. A good example of how AR works is to consider Pokémon GO. When playing Pokémon GO with a smartphone, cartoon characters pop into the view of the real landscape waiting to be captured. In contrast, virtual reality creates an entirely artificial training environment. VR is valuable for situations that are hard to replicate, dangerous, or expensive to recreate. It allows learners to review scenarios and see the implications of applying knowledge and skills without harming the environment, facilities, or other people. VR also allows trainers to simulate different types of conditions.

AR has several advantages.86 Employees can interact with experts and specialists, view live feeds, and access real-time data, instructions, diagrams, manuals, and videos—all while working. AR is especially useful for showing employees what they should do rather than just telling them. For example, industrial workers or repair technicians can use eyeware such as Google Glasses to see information on repair records, refer to instructions, access an expert, call up and watch a short training video, and check if they have correctly assembled a product without having to leave the work area. AR can support other face-to-face and technology-aided training methods as well. Employees can complete a formal online or face-to-face class or simulation and AR can be used for on-the-job support. Because training for some roles can become quickly obsolete, AR allows employees to stay up-to-date by accessing the most recent knowledge and procedures without having to interrupt their work.

AR is being used in different industries, including manufacturing, construction, oil and gas, and medicine. Consider how AR is being used at General Electric, Boeing, and Argo.87

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At General Electric, workers use AR that superimposes visuals used to collect more than 100 measurements that are critical for manufacturing gas turbine nozzles. Workers at Boeing are assembling wire harnesses using AR headsets that allow them to see each step in the assembly process in their field of vision.88 At Argo, an agricultural equipment manufacturer, employees building tractors and other farm equipment wear smartglasses that enable them to request information by varying their field of vision or using voice commands. The smartglasses also serve as their safety goggles. AR has contributed to the efficiency and effectiveness of employees’ training. Each employee at Argo has to know how to perform three jobs. Previously, new hires spent 50 to 90 days learning only one job. Using AR, training time has been reduced to 30 to 40 days and new hires learn multiple jobs. Also, the quality of new hires’ work has improved. Finally, AR has helped Argo reduce training costs. Employees previously used tablets that each cost $3,000 and often were broken when employees dropped them as they tried to assemble and inspect equipment. Each pair of smartglasses costs $1,500 and none have been broken.

Despite its advantages, there are significant barriers to the widespread adoption of AR. For example, companies need to invest between $1,000 and $3,000 for headsets or smartglasses, which makes it costly to use—especially for small employers. All forms of AR need a bright display, potentially limiting its application for outdoor work. Battery life can be a concern because AR uses a great deal of power. Although nausea and dizziness mostly occur for VR users, this also can be a problem with AR. Finally, employees may be reluctant to use AR because they are resistant to change or believe it could eliminate their jobs.

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING

Mobile technology allows learning to occur anywhere, at any time. Mobile technology consists of89

Wireless transmission systems such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth that allow transmission of data without the need for physical connections between devices or between a device and an Internet connection.

Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, iPods, iPads, global positioning system (GPS) devices, and radio frequency identification (RFID) chips.

Software applications related to processing audio files, word processing, spreadsheets, Internet, e-mail, and instant messaging.

GPS and RFID devices are used for tracking customers, employees, and property. For example, many cars and trucks are equipped with GPS devices to allow operators to locate drivers. Trucking companies use GPS devices to track loads and to determine expected arrival times. RFID chips are embedded in products to track their movement and to help in inventory control. Hotels are providing mobile devices to allow customers to access information about guest services, dining, entertainment, and accommodations anywhere on the hotel property. Airlines are providing pilots with iPads they can use while in the cockpit.90 The iPads give the pilots easy access to airport runway approaches, real-time weather updates, and runway diagrams. Before the iPads were available, pilots had to carry heavy flight bags (some weighed 35 pounds) with all of the necessary navigation charts and manuals. Besides giving pilots easier access to the information they need, replacing the flight bags with the iPads has

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resulted in the airlines saving on fuel costs. American estimates that removing the flight bags saved about 400,000 gallons of fuel, which is close to a $1 million savings in fuel costs!

Mobile learning refers to training that provides trainees with anytime and anywhere access to instructional resources such as videos, pdfs, games, or courses.91 The instructional resources are accessible through a mobile device such as a smartphone, notebook computer, iPad, or even wearables such as Google Glasses.

Mobile learning shares all of the potential features of e-learning or online learning shown in Figure 8.2. But mobile learning is different from e-learning because trainees can use a greater variety of devices to access instructional resources. Also, mobile learning offers the opportunity to customize the learning delivered based on the features of the trainees’ environment, such as when they are with a client or repairing a machine compared to when they are trying to learn a new skill during their free time.92 One estimate is that slightly less than half of e-learning is delivered using mobile devices.93 Mobile learning can involve both formal and informal learning. Formal learning might include e-learning courses, podcasts, or videos on the mobile device. Informal learning includes engaging in communication and messaging with other employees or experts via Twitter, blogs, or Facebook.

The advantages of mobile learning include that it is an easy way to get up-to-date information to employees; it can be useful for enhancing transfer of training through providing follow-up; it brings training to employees who are constantly traveling, are out of the office visiting customers or clients, or don’t have the time to attend a face-to-face course or program (such as salespeople or executives); and learners can complete training on their own time and at their own pace. Mobile learning allows employees to generate content by creating video, taking photos, or recording an interview and sharing it with others. Also, using mobile devices for learning appeals to millennials. Mobile devices can also provide RSS feeds, shared media (such as YouTube videos), and podcasts. Podcasts are audio or video program content distributed in episodes using software such as RSS. The best use of podcasts is for narrative-based content that inspires the user’s imagination using music and sound effects.94 Podcasts are great for sharing the expertise of SMEs using interviews, stories, and role plays. It is cheap and easy to produce using a microphone, computer with audio software, portable digital recorder, Skype phone recorder, headphones, or speakers. An advantage of podcasts is that learners can listen at any time or place using many different mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, or notebook computers. Through mobile technologies, training and learning can occur naturally throughout the workday or at home, employees can be connected to communities of learning, and employees can learn at their own pace by reviewing material or skipping over content that they already know.95

For example, Infosys BPO, a global business process outsourcing company, has a mostly millennial workforce and wanted its learning to be accessible on employees’ mobile devices.96 As a result, Infosys created a collaborative learning platform on which employees can have discussions, play short learning games, access their training schedule, and review industry news and company updates. Many of the company’s training courses, which prepare new employees to serve as partners to clients, are accessible on mobile devices.

Many companies are providing apps that employees can use to access training. Apps refer to applications designed specifically for smartphones and tablet computers. Apps are being used as the primary training method, to supplement training, to manage the path or sequence of training, and to help employees maintain training records.97 The Home Depot is introducing a mobile app to employees in its gardening department. The PocketGuide

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app provides them with product information and access to learning opportunities while they are out on the store floor. Nationwide Insurance uses its Hazard Spotter app to train employees working in agricultural businesses about safety procedures while they are on the job. The app uses virtual reality to train employees about how to wear protective clothing before completing preventative maintenance and other potentially dangerous tasks.

Some companies are beginning to use apps as primary training. To ensure that learning and transfer of training occurs using these apps, they are designed to catch the learner’s attention by incorporating attention-getting videos, stories, and interactions. PwC provides employees with an app that enables them to access course materials, complete course prerequisites, and access materials on an as-needed basis. More than 9,000 pieces of content have been accessed and more than 36,000 hours of learning have been completed by employees on their mobile devices.

It is important to recognize the potential disadvantages of mobile learning.98 One disadvantage is that developers have to consider the device and operating systems that trainees have in order to make mobile learning accessible. It is costly to customize access to instructional resources for different devices that trainees might use, especially if the company has a “bring your own device” (BYOD) policy. Another disadvantage is that texts, phone calls, alerts, and interruptions from other people at work or at home may distract trainees from learning when they are using their mobile devices. A third disadvantage is that although trainees may be knowledgeable about many of the features of their device (such as how to make a phone call on a smartphone), they may be unfamiliar with other features that are used in a training course, such as how to make videos. Trainees may be reluctant to use mobile learning if they feel they lack the skills required to effectively use the device. Finally, text and video may be difficult to see if trainees are using their smartphone to access instructional resources.

For mobile learning to be effective, it needs to be short, easy to use, and meaningful.99 One estimate is that the course length should not exceed 10 minutes because users likely do not have long periods of time for learning, and attention spans are limited when looking at the small screens on many mobile devices. The screen layout should work with or without graphics. Images should be used only where relevant to the content because download time may be slow due to bandwidth limitations. Images used should be sized so that the user can see them without scrolling horizontally or vertically. Technical requirements due to screen size, web browsers, and mobile operating systems need to be considered, as well as the availability and ability to use plug-ins such as Flash, Java, and Portable Document Format (PDF). Also, simply repurposing lectures by digitizing them and distributing them to employees will not facilitate learning. For example, Capital One created simulated radio shows with phone-in questions and answers given by announcers to create an audio learning environment that is enjoyable and interesting. As with e-learning, training that uses mobile technology may be most effective if it is part of a blended learning approach that involves face-to-face interaction among trainees as well as audio learning.

ADAPTIVE TRAINING

Adaptive training refers to training that customizes or adapts the content presented to trainees based on their learning style, ability, personality, or performance.100 These adaptations include the variety, difficulty, and sequencing of content as well as practice problems.In adaptive training, instruction changes based on trainees’ scores on tests or quizzes completed either before training or at various times as they experience training. This assessment results in adaptations of the content to best help the trainee learn. Although trainers strive to meet the individual needs of learners, this can be difficult using face-to-face training methods. Online training makes it easier to use ongoing assessments to identify the most effective instructional pathways for learners. The major challenge in developing adaptive training is to ensure that the different content customizations match learners’ needs and help them attain the learning objectives.

For example, LearnSmart is an interactive and adaptive study tool that is used in some college courses.101 Based on their performance on quizzes throughout the course, students are directed to practice exercises and sections of online textbooks they need to read. LearnSmart is designed to help students better use their study time, as well as improve their retention, their recall of the material, and their grades. Aristocrat Technologies, a gaming machine manufacturer, has replaced online learning courses for its repair technicians with adaptable microlearning modules.102 The modules are sent to their phones so they can review the content between their jobs and answer short quiz questions. The system uses their quiz scores to learn what they know (and don’t know) and uses this information to choose what content to send them next. Technicians have to master each module twice before they can move on to another module. Technicians’ success rates on the modules are tracked, which allows the learning manager to identify where they might need more additional training. For example, the learning manager saw that the majority of technicians were having difficulty correctly answering a set of questions related to meter-reading, which is a skill they are expected to learn on the job. The meter-reading scores were found to be related to error rates on the job, suggesting a knowledge gap that needed to be corrected. As a result, the learning manager added a meter-reading course for all new hires.

Adaptive training also includes intelligent tutoring systems that use artificial intelligence.103 Air Methods, a company that provides medical transportation using helicopters, implemented a cloud-based learning system that uses artificial intelligence to adapt to each helicopter pilot’s topic knowledge based on how they perform on quizzes and games.104 If the pilot is not scoring well on the quizzes for a particular training module, the system will present information in a new way and retest the pilot before he or she can move to the next training module. The use of adaptive training has saved training costs by eliminating 50 percent of the company’s in-person instructor-led training courses and reducing the training time required by new pilots as part of the onboarding process.

DISTANCE LEARNING

Distance learning is used by geographically dispersed companies to provide information about new products, policies, or procedures, as well as deliver skills training and expert lectures to field locations.105 Distance learning can include virtual classrooms, which have the following capabilities: projection of still, animated, and video images; instructor-participant audio discussion; sharing of computer software applications; interactions using instant polling technology; and whiteboard marking tools.106 Distance learning features two-way communications between people, and it currently involves two types of technology.107 The first technology is teleconferencing, which refers to the synchronous exchange of audio,

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video, and/or text between two or more individuals or groups at two or more locations. Trainees attend training programs in training facilities in which they can communicate with trainers (who are at another location) and other trainees using the telephone or personal computer. The second type of distance learning also includes individualized, personal computer–based training.108 Employees participate in training anywhere they have access to a personal computer. This type of distance learning may involve multimedia training methods, such as web-based training. Course materials and assignments can be distributed using the company’s intranet, video, or DVDs. Trainers and trainees interact using e-mail, bulletin boards, and conferencing systems.

Teleconferencing usually includes a telephone link so that trainees viewing the presentation can call in questions and comments to the trainer. Also, satellite networks allow companies to link up with industry-specific and educational courses for which employees receive college credit and job certification. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Milliken & Company are among the many firms that subscribe to the National Technological University (now part of Walden University), which broadcasts courses throughout the United States that technical employees need to obtain advanced degrees in engineering.109

A virtual classroom refers to using a computer and the Internet to distribute instructor-led training to geographically dispersed employees. The potential advantages of the virtual classroom include its cost savings and convenience: geographically dispersed employees can be brought together for training for several hours each week, and content experts can be brought into the classroom as needed. However, the training delivered using a virtual classroom is not the same as the training delivered face to face by an instructor. There are a number of guidelines for developing effective training in the virtual classroom:110

Design short modules and follow up with an assignment that applies the learning to the job.

Make learning interactive and interesting, such as modeling the program after a phone-in radio show.

Include media such as video and audio.

Limit classroom size to no more than 25 learners.

Create a guide providing questions, key points, and activities for facilitators at each site.

Offer learners multiple ways of interacting with each other and the instructor, including webinars, e-mail, discussion rooms, message boards, and blogs.

Test the technology before the first class to ensure it’s ready.

Interactive distance learning (IDL) refers to the latest generation of distance learning, which uses satellite technology to broadcast programs to different locations and allows trainees to respond to questions posed during the training program using a keypad.111 IDL is being used by companies that have employees in many different locations and who lack computers or online access. IDL allows employees in different locations to observe behaviors and see how to get things done rather than just read or hear about them. For example, JCPenney Company, which produces more than 200 different IDL programs each year, uses interactive distance learning to reach every associate. Each store has a training room where up to 12 employees can sign in to the program and watch on a large television screen. Each employee has his or her own keypad to interact with the program. Employees are able to watch the satellite broadcast live or view a tape of the program later. Regardless

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of whether watching the program live or via tape, employees can answer questions such as, “How many square feet does your store have for lingerie?” At the end of the program, managers and trainers can access a report on how every store answered. Evaluations of the interactive distance learning program have been positive. IDL has allowed JCPenney to deliver training to every employee in the company, and 86 percent of its employees report that they have the training needed to perform their jobs effectively.

An advantage of distance learning is that the company can save on travel costs. It also allows employees in geographically dispersed sites to receive training from experts who would not otherwise be available to visit each location. Intuit finds that a traditional classroom environment is good for introducing software and providing trainees with the opportunity to network. Virtual classroom training is used for courses on special software features, for demonstrations, and for troubleshooting using application-sharing features. General Mills uses virtual classrooms at smaller plants where offering an on-site class would not be cost effective.112 Employees have access to courses in product-specific knowledge (e.g., cereal production), general technical skills (e.g., food chemistry), and functional-specific knowledge (e.g., maintenance). FileNet, a software company acquired by IBM, was concerned with how its sales force was going to keep up with new software and software updates.113 FileNet tried self-paced online learning but discovered that salespeople did not like to read a lot of material about new products on the web. Enrollment in online courses dwindled, and salespeople flooded the company’s training department with requests for one-on-one assistance. To solve the training problem, the company decided to use webcasting. Webcasting or web conferencing involves instruction that is provided online through live broadcasts. Webcasting helped spread the sales force training throughout the year rather than cramming it into twice-a-year sales meetings. Webcasting also helped ensure that the salespeople all received the same information. The salespeople liked the webcasts because of the timely information that helped them have conversations with customers. The live sessions were also popular because participants could ask questions. Webcasting has not replaced face-to-face training at FileNet; classroom training is still about 80 percent of training, but that percentage has decreased from 90 percent. Webcasting has also resulted in savings of $500,000 annually (because one of the twice-yearly sales meetings has been canceled).

The major disadvantages of distance learning are the lack of interaction between the trainer and the audience, technology failures, and unprepared trainers. A high degree of interaction among trainees or between the trainees and the trainer is a positive learning feature that is missing from distance learning programs that use the technology only to broadcast a lecture to geographically dispersed employees. All this does is repurpose a traditional lecture (with its limitations for learning and transfer of training) for a new training technology.

To engage trainees in a distance learning environment, it is useful to limit online sessions to 60 to 90 minutes in length, maintain a good instructional pace, avoid presenting unnecessary text, use relevant and engaging visuals (e.g., graphs and animation), and allow trainees to participate using polling devices and small-group breakout rooms for discussion and projects.114 A group spokesperson can be assigned to summarize and communicate the group’s ideas. Weather conditions and satellite glitches can occur at any time, disconnecting the instructor from the audience or making it difficult to show video or other multimedia presentations. Therefore, instructors need backup plans for dealing with technicalissues. Because many instructors have difficulty speaking to trainees in another location without a live group of trainees in front of them, it is important to prepare instructors for distance delivery. For example, a producer who is familiar with the technology can work with the instructor and help facilitate the training session.

TECHNOLOGIES FOR TRAINING SUPPORT: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, EXPERT SYSTEMS, AND PERFORMANCE SUPPORT

Technologies such as artificial intelligence, expert systems, and electronic performance support systems are being used to support training efforts. Both expert systems and electronic performance support systems are not new. However, recent developments in the field of artificial intelligence have revolutionized the types and the power of available training support and will likely continue to do so in the future. Training support means that these technologies are helping to capture training content so that it is available to employees who may not have attended training. Training support also means that these technologies provide information and decision rules to employees on an as-needed basis (i.e., they are job aids). Employees can access these technologies in the work environment.

Table 8.11 shows when training support technologies are most needed. Many conditions shown in the table relate to characteristics of the task or the environment that can inhibit transfer of training. For example, employees may work some distance away from their manager, the manager may be difficult to contact, or employees may need special expertise that the manager lacks. These situations make it difficult for employees to find answers to problems that arise on the job. Training support technologies can assist in transfer of training by helping employees generalize training content to the work environment and by providing employees with information not covered in training.

TABLE 8.11 Conditions When Training Support Technologies Are Most Needed

· Performance of task is infrequent. · The task is lengthy, difficult, and information-intensive. · The consequences of error are damaging. · Performance relies on knowledge, procedures, or approaches that frequently change. · There is high employee turnover. · Little time is available for training, or there are few resources for training. · Employees are expected to take full responsibility for learning and performing tasks.

Source: Based on A. Rossett, “Job Aids and Electronic Performance Support Systems,” in The ASTD Training and Development Handbook, 4th ed., ed. R. L. Craig (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), pp. 554–577.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to a system such as a computer, a computer-controlled robot, or software that thinks intelligently like humans.115 This includes mimicking how we reason, make decisions, ask questions, and determine value. AI is developed by studying how we think, learn, decide, and work while trying to solve a problem, and then using this information to build intelligent software and systems. For example, you may be familiar with Watson, the artificial intelligence–based computer who was able to beat the best human Jeopardy! players (including Ken Jennings, who won more consecutive episodes

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of the game show than anyone in history) by quickly extracting the correct answer from huge datasets of information.116 Watson can understand natural language, including puns, slang, and jargon. It “learns” by reprogramming itself as more information is presented and it makes mistakes. Watson provides not one but multiple answers ranked by the probability they are correct. A pop-up window provides support for each answer. Watson has since been applied to providing financial advice, helping complete tax returns, providing entertainment, and treating cancer. For example, Watson helped IBM develop an adviser for oncologists who treat lung cancer. Watson was given more than 600,000 medical files and 2 million pages of medical journals and results of clinical drug trials. Doctors can ask Watson a question and Watson will provide treatment recommendations. Watson has also been used to curate the biggest sights and sounds from Wimbledon’s tennis matches to create “Cognitive Highlights.” The AI platform took key points from the tennis matches (like a player serving an ace at 100 mph), fans’ cheers, and social media content to help create up to two-minute videos.

As shown in Table 8.12, AI is being used in business for process automation, cognitive insight, and cognitive engagement.

TABLE 8.12 Business Needs Supported by AI

Process Automation: Automation of digital and physical processes	Examples: replacing lost credit cards; “reading” legal documents; benefits enrollment
Cognitive Insight: Using algorithms to detect patterns in data and interpret their meanings	Examples: Identify credit card fraud; predict what a customer is likely to buy
Cognitive Engagement: Engage employees and customers using natural language processing chatbots, machine learning, and intelligent agents	Examples: Intelligent agents that offer customer support; health treatment recommendation systems; sites for answering employees’ questions about benefits, HR policy, or technology

Source: Based on T. Davenport and R. Ronanki, “Artificial Intelligence for the Real World,” Harvard Business Review (January–February 2018), pp. 108–116.

Expert systems (discussed below), machine learning, and chatbots are three ways that AI is being used to provide cognitive insight and cognitive engagement in training.

Machine learning refers to artificial intelligence systems that learn. The systems learn by applying algorithms to data to identify user trends and patterns that inform future suggestions and data searches.117 In training and development, software can monitor what trainees do and how they engage with online training content and then “learn” what types of other training courses to suggest, when to provide training content, and what format (audio, video) trainees prefer. Machine learning can be used to create a more personalized and customized learning experience for trainees, similar to how Netflix and Spotify work for television and music, respectively. This helps motivate trainees to learn because the training content is more meaningful for them. It also reduces training time and costs by ensuring employees are receiving the training they actually need.

Chatbots refer to AI systems that create an automated personalized conversation with human users.118 You may be familiar with chatbots if you have ordered a taco using the chatbot feature on Taco Bell’s website or used Expedia’s chatbot on Facebook to book a hotel room. Chatbots are being used to help facilitate transfer of training. 119 In training, chatbots can be used to provide trainees with messages reminding them of concepts they

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learned in training; send reminders about learning goals and ask about progress toward meeting those goals; ask learners about successes and difficulties in applying learning on the job; provide additional learning resources; and to quiz learners on course content.

Expert Systems

Expert systems refer to technology that organizes and applies the knowledge of human experts to specific problems.120 Expert systems have three elements:

A knowledge base that contains facts, figures, and rules about a specific subject.

A decision making capability that, imitating an expert’s reasoning ability, draws conclusions from those facts and figures to solve problems and answer questions.

A user interface that gathers and gives information to the person using the system.

Expert systems are used as a support tool that employees refer to when they have problems or decisions that exceed their current knowledge and skills. They can also be used to help employees make sense of different conditions and problems and keep track of tasks that need to be completed.

For example, at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, data from patient records and monitoring equipment is integrated and available to intensive care unit staff on a tablet computer.121 The system shows staff what tasks need to be done and when to perform preventative measures for surgical complications and alerts the staff to situations when patients may be at risk, such as when drugs may interact to cause medical problems. Color coding alerts the user to whether an urgent action needs to take place (red), a task needs to be performed soon (yellow), or a necessary task has been completed (green).

Although expert systems are discussed as a technology that supports training, expert systems can also be used as a delivery mechanism. Expert systems can be used to train employees in the decision rules of the experts. For example, a financial company dramatically increased the portfolio of products that it offered to customers.122 The sales force needed to be prepared to introduce these products to clients and to make sales. The company developed an expert system to capture the sales processes used by top sales performers. This web-based expert system allowed salespersons to access information on each financial product, alerted salespersons to information they needed from the customer, and used expert logic to identify opportunities to introduce new products to customers based on data entered by the salesperson (the expert system matches general client characteristics with specific customer characteristics).

Expert systems can deliver both high quality and lower costs. By using the decision processes of experts, the system enables many people to arrive at decisions that reflect experts’ knowledge. An expert system helps avoid the errors that can result from fatigue decision biases and the inability to make sense of large amounts of information. The efficiencies of an expert system can be realized if it can be operated by fewer or less skilled (and likely less costly) employees than the company would otherwise require.

Electronic Performance Support Systems

An electronic performance support system (EPSS) is an electronic infrastructure that captures, stores, and distributes individual and corporate knowledge assets throughout an organization to enable individuals to achieve required levels of performance in the fastest

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possible time and with a minimum of support from other people.123 An EPSS includes all the software needed to support the work of individuals (not just one or two specific software applications).

An EPSS can be used to help transfer of training and to provide just-in-time performance support that substitutes for training. Microsoft’s Office software has “wizards,” a help function that recognizes the task that the user is starting to perform (e.g., writing a letter) and offers information related to that task. Also, retailers such as Sephora are supplying employees with iPads that they can use as a product-reference guide (a performance support tool). SNI, a company that supplies negotiations skills training, uses performance support as a means to help transfer of training.124 SNI provides its clients with a checklist of seven negotiating tactics they can pull up on their smartphones. Although these tactics are covered in training, the checklist is available to aid clients’ recall and transfer of skills to real negotiation situations. Rather than train employees on infrequently performed tasks, ADP provides employees with “Learning Bytes,” two-minute learning solutions demonstrating how to perform these tasks. The Learning Bytes have helped reduce calls into ADP’s service center. United Services Automobile Association provides employees with WalkMe, an interactive tool that shows employees how to complete several common tasks without having to read a job aid or ask a peer for help.125

To use EPSS as a substitute for training, trainers must determine whether problems and tasks require employees to actually acquire knowledge, skills, or abilities (learned capabilities) and whether periodic assistance through an EPSS will be sufficient.

LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS: SYSTEMS FOR TRAINING DELIVERY, SUPPORT, AND ADMINISTRATION

A learning management system (LMS) refers to a technology platform that can be used to automate the administration, development, and delivery of all of a company’s training programs. LMSs can provide employees, managers, and trainers with the ability to manage, deliver, and track learning activities. Some of the features of LMSs are shown in Table 8.13. LMSs provide the ability for users to search the database and their company’s intranet simultaneously for information on training courses; contact experts who are identified by the company as topic experts; enroll in all courses related to a certification or particular training topic at one time; and use simulations to determine whether employees are complying with ethical standards and skills that they have been trained in using by the LMS.126

TABLE 8.13 Features of LMSs

Trainee management and reporting	Track and report on trainee progress and activity.
Training event and resource management	Organize courses and learning events in catalogs; manage and track course resources such as classrooms and instructors; support communications among administrators and students.
Online course delivery infrastructure	Deliver online courses; register and track trainees.
Authoring tools	Create new courses; promote consistency in courses.
Skills assessment	Create, edit, distribute, and deliver assessment tests; review trainee achievements.
Professional development management	Track and compare trainee learning against goals, based on the trainee’s job or function.
Knowledge bases	Integrate links to learning references that supplement online learning.
Personalization	Engage employees in learning through the use of target courses, references, and e-mails.
Link to human capital management systems	Link to performance management, career development, and talent management systems.

Source: Based on S. Castellano, “The Evolution of the LMS,” T+D (November 2014), p. 14; “Learning Management Systems: An Executive Summary,” training (March 2002), p. 4.

There are a number of reasons LMSs are being used. An LMS can help a company reduce travel and other costs related to training, reduce time for program completion, increase employees’ access to training across the business, and provide administrative capabilities to track program completion and course enrollments. LMSs allow companies to track all learning activity in the business. For example, McDonald’s used to print and ship paper training manuals to its thousands of franchisees.127 Today McDonald’s has an LMS that can be accessed by smartphone or tablet computer, cutting costs and making it easy for employees to access training videos and manuals.

Learning management systems are also important for human capital management. Human capital management integrates training with all aspects of the human resource function (e.g., performance evaluation, human resource planning) to determine how training

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dollars are spent and how training expenses translate into business dollars for the company. Some of the reasons that companies adopt an LMS are to centralize management of learning activities, track regulatory compliance, measure training usage, measure employee performance, and help in talent management.128

LMSs are also important for companies to be able to track the number of employees who have completed courses that are required to meet state, federal, or professional regulations (compliance training).129 These courses cover a wide range of topics, including financial integrity, health and safety, environmental protection, and employee rights. For example, various regulations mandate that companies be able to prove that employees have completed courses in sexual harassment or defensive driving. Employees from a variety of for-profit businesses, including financial services, oil refining, and pharmaceuticals, as well as employees in nonprofit organizations such as government agencies and hospitals, have to complete certain required courses. Consider how the LMSs at Ferguson Enterprises and Guckenheimer support the business by helping to manage human capital and track training.130 The LMS at Ferguson Enterprises serves several purposes. As a planning tool, the LMS helps track how many training courses have been accessed, course enrollment and completion, training hours completed, and differences in manager and nonmanager involvement in training. The data are used to help determine how training supports the business. Data from the LMS are also used to determine which days and times employees participate in training. This helped ensure that training supporting a new customer service initiative was available during the times employees were available to complete it. Guckenheimer uses its LMS to track assignments, completions, and compliance. Automatic assignments are available in the LMS to ensure training is accessible the day an employee is hired or promoted to a position. The LMS allows the company to track which employees have completed assignments and required compliance training, as well as the renewal of certifications.

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An LMS can help a company understand the strengths and weaknesses of its employees, including where talent gaps exist.131 Also, an LMS can be linked to other human resource systems, such as performance management or employee development systems, to identify learning opportunities for employees to strengthen their performance weaknesses. To maximize its effectiveness, an LMS should be integrated with talent management systems. The interfaces between the systems should provide basic employee information such as business unit, geographic location, and job title. Information about which courses employees have completed and are eligible to complete should also be stored in the LMS.

Consider how the learning management systems at VCA Animal Hospitals, Vanguard, and Keller Williams Realty contribute to the business, encourage employee participation in training, and integrate talent management practices and systems.132 VCA Animal Hospitals has a geographically dispersed workforce with over 10,000 workers in over 500 animal hospitals across 40 states. VCA Animal Hospitals’s LMS provides engaging training methods, including video clips of veterinarians discussing medical practices, simulations, online collaboration between learners and learners and between learners and the instructors, and safety inspection checklists. The LMS is used for online courses, registering veterinarians for classroom-based courses, and tracking who has completed training and how well they scored on post-training tests. Vanguard, the financial services firm, uses an LMS that allows its employees (known as “crew members”) to get learning recommendations from Vanguard’s University based on their career interests, development goals, and relevant content for their current jobs. It also makes it easier for crew members to find and access videos, audio clips, interactive flash demonstrations, and articles, as well as enroll in classes. The LMS categorizes informal learning sources, such as podcasts, articles, and video clips, with formal learning solutions, including online and classroom-based courses. Informal and formal learning solutions, as well as outside courses offered by vendors, can also be found using a keyword search. KWConnect, the LMS at Keller Williams Realty, is a central place for all of its training programs and materials. It also includes user-generated content from its agents and leaders who upload videos, audio files, and links; a question and answer forum where agents can ask questions and provide answers; and a searchable calendar that employees can use to find and register for instructor-led training classes.

Some companies also include a learning portal as part of their LMS or as a dedicated area on the company intranet. A learning portal refers to an online access point to training resources.133 The learning portal might be organized in several different ways. One way is that different groups of employees, such as new hires, new leaders, or engineers, can access specific courses or resources. It can also be organized by content area or skills, such as customer service training or leadership skills, that employees can access depending on their needs.

CHOOSING NEW TECHNOLOGY TRAINING METHODS

Table 8.14 compares technology-based training methods based on the same characteristics used to compare traditional training programs in Chapter Seven. Several trends are apparent in this table. First, these methods require considerable investment in development. Development costs are related to purchasing hardware and software, as well as developing programs and transferring programs to new media (e.g., smartphones using apps).

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However, although development costs are high, costs for administering the programs are low. Advantages of these methods include (1) cost savings due to training being accessible to employees at their home or office, (2) reduced number of trainers needed, and (3) reduced costs associated with employees traveling to a central training location (e.g., airfare, food, and lodging). Moreover, with the exception of distance learning and mobile learning, most of the important characteristics needed for learning to occur (practice, feedback, etc.) can be built into these methods. Note that only a limited number of studies of the effectiveness of several methods (e.g., mobile learning, social networks, adaptive training, and MOOCs) are available because companies are just starting to use these technologies for training.

TABLE 8.14 Comparison of Technology-Based Training Methods

Recall the discussion in Chapter Six of how to determine the costs and benefits of training programs. Caterpillar has found that it spends approximately one-third as much for e-learning as for classroom instruction because of the reduced number of instructors, the lower costs associated with course materials, and the reduced travel expenses.134 For a one-hour course with a class size of 100 trainees, e-learning is 40 percent less expensive than classroom training ($9,500 versus $17,062, or $76 per trainee). And, if the number of trainees is increased to, for example, 40,000 trainees (Caterpillar has more than 70,000 employees worldwide), the company’s cost savings are 78 percent ($1.1 million versus $5 million, or $99 per trainee).135

You might assume that e-learning is superior to other methods, but this is not necessarily the case. Its major advantage is that web-based programs can offer collaboration and sharing (connecting trainees to other trainees, experts, and chat rooms) and links to resources available on the web. Web-based training also allows the learner to be given assignments requiring open-ended responses (e.g., write a report on a customer’s needs) rather than only yes/no or multiple-choice responses. In web-based training, the instructor can read the assignment and provide detailed feedback. However no training method is inherently superior to other methods. Rather, for any method to be effective it has to create a positive learning environment and aid in training transfer. Face-to-face classroom instruction can be ineffective for the same reasons as online learning or distance learning. For example, the material may not be meaningful, there may be limited opportunities for practice, and managers may not support the use of training content on the job.

How do new technology training methods relate to the traditional training methods discussed in Chapter Seven? Simulations and games and adaptive training are best suited for teaching complex processes related to operating machinery, tools, and equipment. These technological methods are extensions of role plays, business games, experiential learning, and team training. Online training and MOOCs are best suited for teaching facts, figures, cognitive strategies (e.g., how to hold an effective meeting), and interpersonal skills (e.g., closing a sale). These are technological extensions of lectures and role plays. Both online training and simulations can be useful for training interpersonal skills if the content and interactions are realistic. However, it is important that simulations, games, and online learning are used together with face-to-face instruction to ensure skills are learned and practiced in real work situations. Augmented reality is likely best used after learners have attended training, as part of a blended learning approach, or for performance support. Mobile learning is probably best suited for teaching facts due to the limited personal interaction and interaction with the content using many mobile devices. Currently, mobile learning and social media are best used as supplements to face-to-face instruction too

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facilitate learning and transfer of training. Social media are also good tools for knowledge management because they facilitate collaboration on documents, reports (wikis), and personal interaction (blogs, Twitter, and Facebook).

Although traditional training methods can be effective, managers and trainers should consider using new technology training methods under certain conditions:136

Sufficient budget and resources will be provided to develop and support the purchase and use of new technology.

Trainees are geographically dispersed, and travel costs related to training are high.

Trainees are comfortable using technology, including the Internet, the web, iPads, and smartphones.

The increased use of new technology is part of the company’s business strategy.

New technology is being used or implemented in manufacturing of products or service processes.

Employees have limited or no time for training.

Current training methods allow limited time for practice, feedback, and assessment.

Use of new technology fits into the organizational culture or business strategy.

The best uses for classroom instruction may be when trainees need face-to-face interaction, instructor support, or visual cues. It is important to note that many companies recognize the strengths and weaknesses of both traditional training methods and technology-based training methods and are using both in a blended learning approach. Technology-based training methods including MOOCs can be used to provide consistent delivery of training content involving transfer of information (knowledge and skills) to geographically dispersed employees who work at their own pace, practice, and collaborate with the trainer and other trainees online. Then trainees can be brought to a central location for face-to-face training using traditional methods (classroom, action learning, games, and role play) that emphasize the application of the knowledge and skills through the use of cases and problems. Face-to-face instruction is also more useful for facilitating interaction among trainees as well as for collaboration, networking, and discussion. For example, at Pitney Bowes, a mailing equipment provider, e-learning is used for content that many geographically dispersed employees must know, such as legal compliance requirements or new product training.137 Learning that requires interaction with others—such as leadership management training, problem solving, or decision making—requires face-to-face classroom instruction or a blended learning approach.

Summary

This chapter provided an overview of the use of new technologies in training delivery, support, and administration. Many new technologies have features that help ensure learning and transfer of training (e.g., e-learning). If designed correctly these technologies can create a positive learning environment by appealing to multiple senses and allowing employees to pace themselves, receive feedback and reinforcement, and find information from experts on an as-needed basis. Mobile learning methods (such as iPads) allow employees to participate in training from home or work on a 24-hour basis. Employees control not only the

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presentation of training content but also when and where they participate in training. Simulations and virtual reality also can create a more realistic training environment, which can make the material more meaningful and increase the probability that training will transfer to the job. Serious games make learning fun, competitive, and realistic. Augmented reality allows employees to learn while they are on the job. Artificial intelligence, expert systems, and electronic support systems are tools that employees can access on an as-needed basis to obtain knowledge and information. Social media help capture the knowledge that employees gain from training and facilitate their sharing of information. Learning management systems make it easier to store and record training information such as course enrollments and employee training records. This makes it easier for employees to participate in training and to retrieve training-related information for managerial decision making.

Most new technology training methods are superior to traditional methods in one way because they allow trainees to participate in courses at any time or place. However, similar to traditional training methods, technology-based training methods will be ineffective if they do not include interaction, feedback, practice, and other features of a positive learning environment. Considerations in choosing a training method include monies for development, geographic dispersion of employees, employees’ difficulty in attending training, and whether new technologies are part of the company’s business strategy. Rather than choosing between face-to-face and technology-based training methods, companies are often choosing to use both in a blended learning approach.