Views From the Gulch

The Australian Flexible Learning Framework has develeloped a business planning framework to assist people implementing e-learning.  The tool provides a strategic approach and structured guide to the development of flexible learning options.  

One of the tools included is a tutorial on, and template for an  Business case e-learning resource .  The tutorial is clear and concise, covering each part of the busines case and providing some useful tips for its completion.   It is a great tool for people who are new to developing business cases, and as a refresher if you haven’t written one for a while.

There are also a number of useful links from the website to other resources for implementing e-learning. 

Well worth a look and tagging for future reference.

 In my recent meanderings through the wealth of information on e-learning I came across Marc Rosenberg’s “E-Learning Readiness Survey“.According to Rosenberg the questions in the survey “represent some of the most important strategic issues organisations face when transitioning to e-learning.”  While a few years old now, the survey is a useful tool to help people focus their thoughts on implementing e-learning in their organisations and to identify areas of strength and potential weakness in the process.

 The University of Houston Department of Health and Human Performance recently released a report that supported the effectiveness of blended learning.  Hybrid classes which combine instructional technology and in-class lectures were found to result in greater student involvement and academic performance than traditional classes.

This report supports my own feelings on e-learning – that to be most effective there needs to be a mixture of electronic content and interaction with other students and the presenter/facilitator.

The report also offers support for the proposal I am developing for additional online courses in my workplace – there will be an online theory component followed by a face to face session that involves practice and reinforcement of the knowledge/skills acquired and an assessment to ensure that the learning outcomes and required level of competence have been achieved.  The topics I am exploring for this approach include water, soil and pesticide sampling.  Participants will all be environmental scientists who are developing specialised skills in these areas for environmental protection purposes.

With the increasing demand on resources in the organisation I work for there is an growing interest in e-learning amongst staff – both those who as subject matter experts are presenting training in addition to their daily duties, and staff who are keen to access courses more regularly than our face:2:face training calendar currently allows. 

My increasing comfort with e-learning is spurring me  on to follow this through.

We currently have two online courses available – both have taken 18 months to get off the ground,  due  to a variety of constraints within the organisation.  The increasing demand for online courses means that this timeframe has to change dramatically.

So, my next challenge is three-fold:

- encourage senior management to support online courses

- attempt to resolve some of the policy and procedural issues that slow down the process

- negotiate the release of the subject matter experts to work with our provider to modify the face:2:face courses into an engaging online format

There are so many other organisations that seem to have embraced online learning.   I’m wondering what some of the strategies for achieving this have been and how I can modify these to help me in this aspect of my journey?

Three things happened this week that got me thinking about what I post and who reads it.

First, an article in the “Illawarra Mercury” (Crashing Facebook Party, 29 March 2008) talked about the concerns some Facebook users have about the increasing number of older users and how information they posted in their teens may now be viewed by their bosses and the effect this may have on their careers.

Second, this website was “pinged” and quoted on another website.

Thirdly, the newly chosen Olympic swim team were recommended to review their Facebook sites

This all started me thinking about who’s reading my site and where the information will end up.  Exposure to using a weblog has increased my confidence and level of self disclosure on the site.   This weeks events have got me re-thinking this level of comfort.

Further to this, I have been considering using a social network site as part of a network for trainers/assessors I work with.  One of the things that I will need to address is ensuring the users are aware that what they write really becomes part of posterity and is open for many other users to read – it’s not a “private conversation”.  Something else to build into my development and education plans for the proposed site.