Changing It Up

While there is truth in the old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (Bertam, 1977), there is also truth in saying “ whoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times” (Machiavelli, n.d.). A training manager, whose primary role is to deliver practical skills, knowledge, understanding, and motivation to the staff in order for them to carry out work-related tasks, also assumes the secondary role of determining the best practices for doing so. This is done by identifying learning needs and monitoring trainee progress, and, perhaps most importantly, evaluating learning and development programs to ensure they are relevant and meet the learners’ needs (“Training and development,” 2012). Therefore, a training manager who has noticed a decrease in communication with trainees during training sessions needs to determine what needs to be done differently in order to meet the learners on their terms, which for this generation of learners, known as digital natives who are characterized to have shorter attention spans and prefer hyperlinked information and immediate feedback , are resources such as web 2.0 tools that allow for them to simultaneously interact with others and content (Hart, 2008).

When converting materials that were once delivered in a face-to-face environment to materials that will be delivered to learners in an online forum, several things must be considered. It is not simply about transferring content, but about transforming content, a process that is part art, part science. In doing so, it becomes the role of the training manager to determine, in addition to the before-mentioned responsibilities, to determine the best way to present the content while using the strengths of online medium to create interaction between the learners and content, the learners as a whole, and the learners and trainer. Also, as with a face-to-face training, the trainer needs to determine how to assess the success of learning and effectiveness of the presentation and the learning (“Converting to online,” n.d.). However, in order to do this successfully, the trainer needs to understand that his role has changed, and instead of being the one who delivers the training, the trainer’s role now becomes one who facilitates learning by encouraging participation, being objective, making the material relevant, and requesting responses in order to determine not only if learning is occurring, but also to determine what may need to be further addressed in the face-to-face portions of training (Berge, 1995).

The following chart, while not being applicable to every situation, is a guide that can be used to help aid in conversion of a traditional training module to an online training module.

While offering the element of convenience, a hybrid-learning environment lends itself to being a collaborative learning environment that is personalized and individualized to the learning audience (Miller, 2012). So while the concept of training isn’t broken, there is still a need to fix its outward appearance in order to appeal to and meet the needs of those we train. 

References

Berge, Z. L. (1995). The role of the online instructor/facilitator. Facilitating computer conferencing, 35(1), 22-30. Retrieved from http://www.cordonline.net/mntutorial2/module_2/Reading 2-1 instructor role.pdf

Bertam, T. (1977). Retrieved from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/if-it-aint-broke-dont-fix-it.html

Converting to online. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/starting/converting.htm

Hart, J. (2008). Understanding toda'ys learners and meeting their needs through differentiation. Learning solutions, Retrieved from http://c4lpt.co.uk/articles/images/understandinglearners.pdf

Machiavelli, N. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.leadershipnow.com/changequotes.html

Miller, A. (2012, Octiber 12). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/blended-learning-engagement-strategies-andrew-miller

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Training and development manager. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cogent-careers.com/roles/profile&id=11