The Classroom Trainer In The Online World
The forecasts for the growth of e-learning are becoming more extravagant by the month. If these forecasts are even half right, the effect on the IT training industry will be
enormous
and even the most skeptical classroom trainer must now be looking anxiously over their shoulder. In this chapter, I examine the implications of the e-learning revolution for those who have made their living delivering learning face-to-face, and look at ways for
trainers
to make a contribution in an increasingly online world.
Reality check
“The market for web-based training will exceed $6 billion by 2002 (IDC, 1999).”
“Classroom training will fall from 55% of all training to about 30% in five
years
(Epic/DfEE report, 1999).”
Any classroom IT trainer who’s been ‘treading the
boards
’ non-stop for years, surviving only on
adrenaline
and the
occasional
whiff from their flip chart pen, is entitled to display more than a little cynicism when informed of the amazing
predictions
for the future of e-learning.
“Who do these people think they’re kidding?”
“We’ve seen it all before. Remember videodisc? Anyone still got a CD-I player?”
“It’s just another problem looking for a solution.”
“No-one ever learned anything from a computer.”
“The classroom is the only natural place to learn.”
Sound familiar? Heard it in the bar after the course? Of course you have. But you haven’t participated in these discussions because you’re
open
-minded. That’s why you’re reading this book.
It’s time for a reality check. Just what are the real prospects for e-learning in the field of IT training? If e-learning takes off, what effect will that have on classroom training? Should I be looking for another job?
Causes for complacency
The world is changing fast, but not that fast. Surprisingly, the forces of conservatism can be at their strongest in the training department. We may send our executives on expensive courses at top business
schools
to learn about the management of change, but we’d rather not have too much of that around here, thank you. And even more surprisingly (touch of sarcasm here), the IT department is even more resistant to change. They’d like you to carry on training in the classroom, preferably with an OHP, because then they don’t have to provide any support.
And many learners will be understandably
sceptical
about the prospects of learning from a computer. After all, they’re used to just turning up at the required time and place, smiling nervously and waiting to be
processed
. Rather like the dentists, in fact. Although the idea’s been around a long time, many people have yet to come to terms with the idea of taking responsibility for their own learning and, indeed, their own careers. That requires self-discipline and
facing
the reality of an
uncertain
future.
Causes for panic
Come to think of it, the old truth that applications lag well behind technology is not as convincing as it used to be. A
healthy
dose of bureaucracy and general bloody-mindedness used to slow most changes down to a
snail
’s pace. But somehow the barriers seem to have come down. Change is frighteningly fast. The World Wide Web was only launched in 1992, yet already hundreds of millions are online. And even your granny now wants her own mobile, so she can ‘phone you to come and collect her from the bingo.
Other factors tend to suggest that e-learning will have more than a peripheral part to play in IT training. First of all, it is not
such
a leap of faith to believe that you can use a computer to learn about computers. After all, as enlightened
trainers
, you would agree that we learn best by doing, by getting actively involved. And you don’t need to go to a classroom to find a computer to do that doing. It’s probably sitting there right in front of you. Anyway, this idea that the classroom is the natural place for learning doesn’t stand up to analysis. Ask yourself, how did people learn before schooling became available to all? How much of what you now know and can do did you really learn in formal education? What about trial-and-error, personal reflection, reading, one-to-one coaching, learning on-job, learning by observation? Back in medieval days, the classroom developed as the predominant method for formalised learning, not because it was the most effective, but because it was the most
convenient
and the most practical given available technology. As, no doubt, was the horse and cart.
Unlike soft skills training, IT training lends itself rather well to e-learning. Not only can the medium become the message, but the majority of the learning required is in the cognitive domain and therefore well suited to self-study. Not surprisingly, even prior to the online revolution, the suitability of IT as a subject encouraged the development of self-study materials and publishers such as NETg, SmartForce (now SkillSoft) and DigitalThink already have
extensive
libraries of IT training courses converted from CD-ROM to online delivery. So there will not be a shortage of content to slow down the growth of e-learning.