e-learning capability requirements

Do VET practitioners need professional development in e-learning, asks John Mitchell.

The following article featuring Michael Wallace, General Manager of First Impressions Resources recently appeared in Campus Review.

ACPET thanks Dr John Mitchell and Campus Review for permitting ACPET to publish the article in its entirity.

E-learning is a contentious arena, for a number of reasons. One reason is that technology is used for e-learning and technology keeps changing, challenging decision makers to decide which technologies are appropriate for learning. Another reason is the temptation for decision makers to hope that smart technology will replace teaching skills and no professional development will be required.

E-learning in the VET sector is affected by such contentious issues, as demonstrated by the axing several years ago of the national professional development program for e-learning, LearnScope. Why was it axed? National research I conducted recently showed, to a level of validity of 95% or higher, that VET practitioners across Australia rate e-learning as the area in which they require most professional development, both now and in the future. Practitioner capability is the critical issue, not technology functionality. And that capability is at risk.

The following case study of the effective use of e-learning demonstrates that educators need to exercise considerable professional judgment in deciding on which technology, or combinations of technology, to use. It also demonstrates that staff capability in the use of technology is pivotal for effective learning.

Over the last few years, success with e-learning has become increasingly commonplace for First Impressions Resources, a private provider in the retail training field, with headquarters in Brisbane and staff spread around every state of Australia.

General Manager Michael Wallace explains that one success, funded by the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, was a project with the national retailer Tradelink, involving the development through the Tradelink intranet system of a set of e-learning activities in workplace health and safety, aligned with a certificate IV.

In 2010 another national retailer Best and Less approached First Impressions Resources (FIR) because it wanted to implement the Diploma of Retail Management program for its management team across its large network of stores.

Normally the delivery of this diploma involves managers attending face to face sessions in State capitals, said Wallace. “However this was a problem for regionally-based managers, so we suggested running live, facilitated classes online, using the Elluminate platform.

“Best and Less did not have the e-learning technologies in their stores to provide for this and so we agreed that FIR would run these two-hour sessions first thing in the morning, from 8-10am, to allow managers to participate using their home computers, before going to work.”

The FIR trainer for this program is based in Sydney and course participants are spread from Townsville and Cairns in Queensland to Warrnambool and Shepparton in Victoria to Broome and Geraldton in Western Australia.

“The program is now over halfway through and is going really well. There has been virtually no drop-out and this looks set to have a very high completion rate.”

To enhance the learning experience, FIR uses the Moodle course management system to “provide online support such as discussion groups and a richer learning environment for all”.

Staff with specialist skills

This success influenced the educational design of a new program for KFC in Queensland with regional managers participating through Elluminate and supported through Moodle.

FIR is using Moodle to facilitate some of the assessment activities, providing online documentation and the facility for participants to upload completed assessment materials and workplace documents. “We can also include additional resources, such as a podcast from the CEO explaining the company’s strategic plan.”

“This delivery method has other advantages, such as the ability to record the online sessions so that absentees can catch up or participants can go through parts again that perhaps they did not quite get the first time.”

As a result of these successes, FIR appointed a new instructional designer who is able to design online resources. FIR also has equipped its trainers with the e-learning technologies required for remote delivery.

“Those are the things we now have to think about. Our trainers need to have the technologies to be able to participate.”

FIR is now looking differently at its staff and programs. “If we have a trainer in one area who might be a little light on for work, we can utilise them in other states if we’re able to use that technology platform, provided they have the skills we need.

“In terms of our capability development, as well as the other sorts of skills sets that our trainers need to have for workplace delivery, we need to have a group of staff who have the specialist skills required to handle the online environment.”

This brief case study illustrates that technology is best used as the servant, not master, of the skilled educator. LearnScope, or another similar national professional development program in e-learning, deserves urgent reconsideration.

 Contact mikewallace [at] fir [dot] edu [dot] au (Michael Wallace)

 Dr John Mitchell is a VET researcher. Click here