In recent years, the topic of workforce development and training has garnered a great deal of attention and press coverage. The underlying fundamental labor force and economic dynamics of an aging Baby Boom generation, the relatively small size of the baby bust cohort, the impact of global competition, the changing face of manufacturing and a mismatch between workforce skills supply and demand will pose significant workforce challenges during the decades ahead.
Perhaps nowhere is this moreevident than in the greater Dayton region where, in spite of high unemployment levels, especially among those formerly employed in the manufacturing sector, thousands of jobs go unfilled because the skills requirements for these jobs do not match those of the displaced and unemployed workforce in the region.
Furthermore, of the 15.3 millionnew jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects will be created between 2008 and 2015, the strongest growth is projected to be in the professional and business services, health care and social services sectors, categories that will require technology competencies, a Bachelor’s degree or higher and/or substantial on-the-job training (T. Alan Lacey and Benjamin Wright, Occupational employment projections: 2008-2018: Monthly Labor Review Online, November 2009.).
In the face of a challenging economic climate, tight budgets and other resource constraints, public and private organizations alike are looking for more cost effective and efficient ways to address workforce development needs and are increasingly turning to technology to assist them in their training and development efforts.
At a national as well as a state and local level, there is no shortage of workforce development and training initiatives that seek to address the systemic workforce challenges and technology is playing an increasingly critical role in the effectiveness and success of these programs. The focus of this article will be on the various ways technology is being used to facilitate and enhance the effectiveness and cost efficiency of workforce development and the delivery of workforce training.
Technology-Based Learning and Workforce Development
According to Workforce Management Magazine, quoting from the American Society for Training and Development’s 2009 State of the Industry report, approximately one out of three hours of US workplace training is now being delivered using some form of technology, and we expect that ratio to climb in coming years. They go on to point out that technology based methods now account for just over 30% of all learning hours, which is up sharply from 11.5% in 2001.
In their 2006 Technology-Based Learning report, Social Policy Research Associates define technology-based learning as “the learning of content via all electronic technology, including the Internet, intranets, satellite broadcasts, audio and video tape, video and audio conferencing, Internet conferencing, chat rooms, e-bulletin boards, webcasts, computer-based instruction, and CD-ROM.” Enabled by advances in computing power and connectivity, greater bandwidth, and increased use of multimedia applications and capabilities, private as well as public organizations are rapidly embracing technology based learning methods and tools, taking advantage of the reductions in cost and training time as well as other benefits including greater pedagogical effectiveness, access and ability to reach broader and more diverse audiences.
Technology-Based Methods and Tools
As previously mentioned, technology-based learning leverages a variety of delivery methods and hardware and software tools to deliver learning content. Some of the most common delivery methods and tools used include:
Tutorials – self-paced training programs delivered online or from a CD-ROM.
Web Conferences – usually centered around a website where visual and text content is displayed, and include audio and sometimes video.
Online Forums (also called bulletin boards, discussion groups, or news groups) – allow learners to interact with each other and the instructor through threaded discussions by posting messages on specific subject areas, starting new threads and sub-threads, or posting replies to others.
Electronic Mailing Lists (also called listservs) – allow members to send messages to other members of the same mailing list to pose and answer questions and provide input, feedback and answers on various topics relevant to the subscribers.
Wikis and Virtual Collaborative Workspaces – allow members of a group to share a virtual space on the web where they can store reference documents add and edit documents and track progress on a collaborative work effort.
Blogs (Weblog) – web-based journals that are usually a component of a larger personal or corporate website. As par of an online learning environment, blogs can take on the role of a learning journal.
More advanced and emerging methods and applications include delivery of training materials to mobile devices, and the use of simulations, goal-based scenarios and gaming that allow learners to model or role-play in various scenarios, missions or tasks as well as artificial conflict as a way to practice or test learning.
At TDH Marketing, our use and application of learning technologies has steadily grown both for our own use but especially for our clients. In addition to our own use of web based or CD ROM based tutorials, web conferences and various online sources such as listservs, online forums and blogs to develop and enhance our own competencies and knowledge, we have implemented a variety of technology based learning tools to deliver training to our clients and enable them to provide cost effective and efficient training to their customers.
As you can imagine, with a national and international client base, we also utilize audio and video conferencing and webcasts routinely in communicating, informing and sharing critical information as well as providing mutual, interactive training.
As another example, recently, TDH worked with the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and Sinclair Community College on the development and launch of the ChooseDayton.com program. The interactive website is intended as a talent retention tool allowing area employers to easily connect with potentially displaced NCR and other company employees to match workforce needs against available skill sets.
For a number of our clients, we have developed and implemented sales and product training videos which are made available and delivered online via their web sites. At the same time, we are increasingly using web conferencing, in combination with interactive training videos and documentation to train our web clients worldwide in the use of content management and analytics tools, and also make these training materials available to TDH clients via our password protected extranet.
There are myriad examples of how technology is being leveraged in the workforce development and training arena and, as organizations continue to look for cost efficiencies and higher returns, the use of technology in general and its application in workforce training and development is likely to continue to expand.
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