Category: Distributed & Open Learning

1  Introduction

As the old proverb, it’s never too late to learn, nowadays with the incredible speed of the development of science and technology, it seems that studying will never be stopped. And this situation does not only occur on  individuals, companies need to follow up the wave of improvements to deal with the complex and dynamic business environment as well. This environment not only include the development of technology, but also the increasing of globalization, changeable society conditions and improvements of ways to dissemination of information. To make sure the companies won’t be influenced by bad, and are able to deal with challenges calmly and remain profitable, having a knowledgeable, experienced and skilled working team is the critical factor. So it is unavoidable for companies to help employees to learn the required skills, techniques and knowledge to adapt to the environment. And therefore, the Corporate Training becomes essential for companies and needs to be put more attention on.

In fact, most of the companies have already carried out corporate training and gained some experience. But traditional corporate training still has its own inherent limitations. Since online study is improving rapidly, and also a large amount of online learners occurs, online learning has aroused the attention of training departments of companies and the idea of online corporate training has been put forward and gradually put into practice.

In this article, I am going to introduce what is online corporate training, and the advantages of online corporate training over traditional corporate training.

2 What is Online Corporate Training

To define online corporate training, I need to first introduce three of the technologies and terms in use, which are CBT, WBT and MOOC which are the foundations and elements of Online Corporate Training.

2.1 Computer Based Training (CBT)

Computer Based Training is a new-age way of learning. It is a form of education in which a student learns by using special training programs while on a computer.  CBT can be synchronous and asynchronous, as well as online, web-based, mobile, and distance learning. CBT is particularly useful when training learners on a specific computer application, but can also be built to train learners on general knowledge or skills. This system worked well in the pre-Internet days, but with the explosive use of the Internet, the scope of Computer Based Trainings is forced to expand.

2.2 Web Based Training (WBT)

WBT has many aliases such as e-learning, Internet-based training (IBT) and distance learning. It is a subset of Computer Based Trainings in which the material is made accessible on the Internet by applying Web technologies. Typically, it has text and graphics, animation, audio and video, and needs additional bandwidth and software to work optimally. It presents the latest content of any topic that can be modified and is set in a framework of self-directed and self-paced instruction. WBT is applied by organizations varying in industry and genre, including the military, elementary/secondary schools, colleges, universities and law enforcement. It can also be evaluated and adapted, without a computer platform.

2.3 Massive open online course (MOOC)

                            Figure 1 (From WiKi)

Figure 1 shows the intrinsic openness to make a simple definition for MOOC. The Massive Open Online Course has been used as the most popular way for online corporate training due to its characteristics. This form of Online learning allows large number of learners to access the course. It is not only 100 or 100000, but unlimited, if learners are permitted to access and the course is still exist. And as form of CBT and WBT, it is posted online and might be opened for any learner who has an internet-connected device.  Learners and instructors can interact online synchronous or asynchronous. Nowadays MOOCs are tring to simulate the lectures at universities in order to improve learning efficiency on the premise of maintaining their advantages.

3. What is the advantages of Online Corporate Training

Cost effective:

For organizations, training employees means investing money. The more the number of employees, more the cost of training via the traditional classroom method of training. Training through eLearning means the same resource for 20 employees or 100 employees, this way it is highly cost-effective to an organization.

Enhanced productivity:

Training through the conventional classroom method implies loss of productive hours for the employee and the organization, apart from time and resources spent by the management to organize training. As per a Brandon-Hall Study, training through e-learning typically requires 40% to 60% less employee time compared to a traditional classroom setting, the reason being it can be done asynchronously and whenever the employee needs it, that means work hours are not wasted.

Scalable:

eLearning courses are highly scalable. Any requirements concerning inclusion of new topics, technologies, growing number of target audience, etc., can be addressed with ease at very minimal costs.

Tailor-made courses:

eLearning courses can be designed as per the requirement of the employee/employer to the point, considering the current and expected level of knowledge of the employees. The target audience is kept in mind while designing these courses, hence training requirements can be met accurately. Thus, the unnecessary expenditure spent on in-appropriate training can be cut down by the organization.

Ease of accessibility:

Since the courses are online, they can be accessed 24X7 by the employees, hence they can choose convenient timings to pursue them. Also, with the best translation expertise available with many eLearning designing companies, training courses can be translated effectively into many international languages.

Better employee retention:

Employees feel more confident and valued when equipped with proper training; that way, they sense more responsibility toward the organization that helped them acquire new skills. Hence employee retention can be made easier. Plus, with e-courses being highly interactive and customized, it also adds fun at the working place!

Reason why Online training might not the first choice

ILT Provides Focus

When employees attend a classroom training session, they are able to focus better on what is being taught. The environment demands their complete attention. This is unlike online learning, where employees are going through the course on their desktop or laptop but there are other things to distract them from paying full attention to the course. A colleague may stop by to resolve a work-related query, the manager might need a clarification, and there may be a phone call or a message flashing on the computer screen. These distractions can prevent the employee from fully concentrating on the course and the learner might end up just going through the course, more than once, without learning anything.

There is little chance of this happening in a classroom environment, because there are minimum distractions and employees can really focus on the subject. The employee is expected to pay attention and participate in discussions.

ILT for Teaching Complex Information

When teaching complex topics, ILT can provide employees an expert instructor who will guide them through the topic, explain it, and answer their questions. While explaining the topic, the instructor can gauge how well learners have understood and can pace the instruction accordingly. He can either go back to the beginning or advance to the next step, based on the interaction with the learners.

Topics such as leadership, professional development topics, complex technical skills, or business skills training can be taught effectively through ILT because they warrant interaction, engagement, and deep analysis of the topic, and what better environment than ILT to provide learners these facilities. Classroom training provides a context to these learning scenarios.

ILT Provides Opportunities for Practice

Classroom training is useful for training employees on soft skills such as negotiation skills that can be practiced in the classroom through role plays. The instructor can then test the employees to ensure they have learned the skills.

ILT Gives Access to Skilled Instructors

ILT provides access to skilled instructors; they need not necessarily be in-house. You can outsource your training to external facilitators as well. Access to experts on the subject when organizations are able to get the best people in the field as guest speakers gives learners the opportunity to be trained by the best and clarify their doubts on the subject.

A good instructor will be attuned to the varied learning needs of the participants. He can identify and pay more attention to a participant who has specific needs in understanding the topic or applying what he has learned. Good instructors will adapt their training delivery to include updates and revisions in the topic.

ILT Gives Opportunities to Adapt

Classroom training gives instructors the opportunity to adapt the training session based on the needs of the audience. If the learners want to spend more time on a particular topic, the instructor can devote more time to that topic, till the learners have understood it.

Based on the inputs from the learners, the instructor can decide on the content he wants to deliver, adapt to the skill levels of learners, give more in-depth knowledge on a topic, or cover related topics.

ILT or classroom training still continues to hold its sway in training because of the benefits it brings to the training process. It provides focus to learning, makes it simpler to teach complex topics, and provides opportunities for practice and access to skilled instructors. ILT can be adapted to the needs of learners and different learning styles. Finally, this form of in-person training tends to be personalized.

Students should never have to decide between buying a textbook for a class or eating. But they often do.
                                                                                                         ---Jesse Stommel

As a college student, textbooks should be used as a tool to assist me in my study and bring me convenience. But now, the prices of textbooks always make me stressful. Comparing with expensive paper textbooks, the relatively inexpensive  electronic versions, even with some limitations, tend to be my choice when I have to choose to buy one of them. And when I knew that the prices of textbooks had risen by 1000% over the past 40 years, which is three times the inflation rate, I began to be interested in Open Education Resource(OER).

In my daily study, I sometimes participate in editing of some educational materials. Since my major is computer science, I often make websites, programming, design user interface and so on with my colleagues. Some of these materials will be left in some online communities for future learners to refer to, or will be presented to other learners by professors. One of my most commonly used Online Open Education Resource platform is called GitHub.

GitHub
People use GitHub to build some of the most advanced technologies in the world. Whether you’re visualizing data or building a new game, there’s a whole community and set of tools on GitHub that can help you do it even better. GitHub includes tons of materials that can be used in most of the Computer Science courses. And learners can apply for permission to edit the materials to upgrade or find out the bugs. Learners can leave comments to each other or on the edits so that they can share ideas about what should be done and what should not. Most of the materials are free to view and are able to apply for edit. Since GitHub saves recent updates, so that users will always have the safe version to use, in case Some people deliberately makes trouble.

From the above description, I think GitHub is a perfect learning platform in line with the eight attributes of  open pedagogy.

                                   Figure 1

After study this unit, I would like to learn more about how to use the experience of GitHub in Computer Science field into other subjects. How to create a platform like GitHub that could providing learners with a large number of meaningful and free materials and let learners participate in the production of materials at the same time, in order to improve learners’ understanding and practice of knowledge. This sense of participation will also be transformed into the motivation for learners to continue learning.

Link:

Textbooks, OER, and the Need for Open Pedagogy:https://criticaldigitalpedagogy.pressbooks.com/chapter/textbooks-oer-and-the-need-for-open-pedagogy/

GitHub Logo: https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi85s6K1ffjAhXOK80KHUY2Dx0QjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapplitools.com%2Fblog%2Fapplitools-eyes-github-integration-how-to-visually-test-every-pull-request&psig=AOvVaw3YraGOnPxIPKCHrAuFyEnf&ust=1565504557515191

Figure 1: https://wordpress.viu.ca/enhancingpersonalizedlearning/2017/09/12/design-attributes-of-open-pedagogy-by-bronwyn-hegarty/

How to build a successful online learning community?

The concept of community is expanding. Apart from representing the country, state, and city, any human groups formed by people’s common ground, such as ideal, hobby, belief, etc., can be called community. And because of the development of science and technology, the community has broken through the geographical restrictions, so that people can form a community through any form of social media or information transmission. As learners, the existence of the community is particularly important. We can think of the school as a big community. In this large community, because of the different fields of study, it is divided into many smaller communities. In these small communities, students form more intimate communities for various reasons. In this community, learners can learn together, share knowledge and help each other to achieve better learning results. Because of the positive impact of community on learning, as online course designers, we need to provide help for online learners to build their communities. In the book “Teaching Online – A Guide to Theory, Research, and Practice”, the author provides us with six strategies to help students build communities:

strategy #1: present a social presence and have students do so as well
strategy #2: create opportunities for sharing information and expertise
strategy #3: create a safe classroom by establishing rules and norms
strategy #4: create common space
strategy #5: use tools that allow community to form
strategy #6: use collaborative learning

And also the instructor’s behavior can affect the cultivation of learners’ community in online environments. Based on Todd Conaway’s experience, teachers themselves should be active learners, as role models for students. And also teachers should lead students to contribute to the community, which helps to enhance students’ sense of responsibility and participation in the community.

Here comes the question:

There is no doubt that the online learning community is very important for online learners. But is any social media suitable for creating such communities?

To answer this question, I listed three of my most commonly used social media and drew some conclusions based on my personal experience.

1.Youtube
I have recommended YouTube as an online learning tool in my previous post. But after my in-depth study, I found that there are still significant limitations in applying YouTube, a video website, to online education.
Even though YouTube has plenty of resources, most of which are free, it still doesn't have any function that could build complete communities. As a learner, the only way to do this is to leave am under the relevant videos, to complete asynchronous communication with other learners or video creators.

2.Facebook/Messenger
As the most popular and famous social media application, Facebook has a complete set of community-building functions. Whether it is building a community on Facebook about a project to attract people who interested in the project to join the community, or creating a private chat room through messenger, these functions are very suitable for online learners to communicate with each other. But because of the popularity of Facebook, there is a lack of supervision in public communities. In communities without rules, students may lose their enthusiasm because of various reasons such as cyber violence. And for the more private function, the Messenger chat room, the limitation of communication between groups in the online learning community still exists.

3.Slack
Slack, as a software specializing in an online community, not only has the complete function of creating community but also alleviates the limitations of Facebook/messenger in creating an online learning community. Communities in Slack simulates the tree structure which means that teachers build a large community(the root) to accommodate all students and teachers, in which students can set up their groups(Branches) to communicate with their closer classmates. This structure satisfies the existence of small groups in the community, realizes the communication between groups and enables teachers to keep track of students' progress and provide appropriate help.

In conclusion, the online learning community has the advantages of promoting communication between online learners, enhancing learners’ enthusiasm and helping learners understand the knowledge. Because of the importance of community, as an online course designer, we should help students create a safe and helpful community. Take our behaviors as models for students, choose the right tools to create the community, and lead students to integrate into the community, to achieve better educational results.

Double-edged Sword — Personal Information, Data and Privacy

Just as Sherlock Holmes can judge people's gender, height, weight and even some habits by their footprints, the digital footprints we leave on the Internet can also be collected and processed into our personal information. To a certain extent, those information have facilitated our lives, enabling these machines to adapt to our needs and habits. However, when those information are used for some other purposes, are our privacies still safe?

• Technical Support for Digital Footprint Processing

Suppose that you hover your mouse over an item while browsing an online shopping website for a long time. That may result in that on the next day, you will see a large number of advertisements for that kind of item on other websites. 

Technically, the capture, collection and processing of digital footprints is feasible and not difficult for professionals. We are not talking deeply about how those really work in computer programming, but let’s check this site: http://clickclickclick.click. In this website, you can see that the movement, action of your mouse are all captured, that’s only the start. Actually, there’re 143 kinds of action that website can capture (If you have time, try to unlock them all! ). It’s almost certain that, for no matter what purposes, your behaviors on other websites can be easily captured intentionally.

• The value of our personal information

How Much Is our Data Worth? Have you ever thought about that your personal information one day becomes a product or a commodity? Who is going to buy them? How are they priced?

$240, this is the value of your personal information. How do we get that number? I quoted the methods and results from Wibson’s article,’How Much Is >Your< Data Worth? At Least $240 per Year. Likely Much More.’. In this article, they use Facebook as an example. By calculating the advertising revenue of Facebook, the number of active users, the total revenue of the U.S. electronic advertising industry and the proportion of Facebook, generally, we get the approximate value of personal information per capita.

• How do we protect our personal information

With sufficient motivation (the value of personal information) and technical support, it is hard to ensure that moral constraints are still strong. As online learners, how could we protect ourselves?

• Protect your passwords.

This is the most basic method, it can not prevent all kinds of information disclosure, but it is still not neglectable.

• Verify the web site you are on is safe

Pay attention to the security tips provided by browsers to avoid excessive operations on unsafe websites. At the same time, reading TOS will also help to understand the security of websites.

• Pause the automated backstage personal data collection service

Some services open automatically when you use a website or application. Most of them are for the purpose of improving the function of the application, but the possibility of information disclosure can not be ignored. The safest way is to close unnecessary services.

reference:

1. Wibson(2018, January 18th), How Much Is >Your< Data Worth? At Least $240 per Year. Likely Much More., Retrieved from https://medium.com/wibson/how-much-is-your-data-worth-at-least-240-per-year-likely-much-more-984e250c2ffa