E-Learning for the BC Tech Industry (Third Edition)
An opinionated monthly column exploring the current use, future potential, and commercial value of e-learning in BC’s high tech sector.

E-Learning:
June 30th 2000

By Paul Stacey

"Today's business operates in a real-time world where innovation rules, competitors appear from all corners, knowledge provides more leverage than capital, and the old rules no longer apply." Greg Priest, President & CEO, SmartForce.

E-learning like e-commerce is a major disrupter. It jolts long-held traditions and provides ample opportunity for new players to emerge. SmartForce is an interesting case in point. Formerly called CBT Systems, SmartForce is one of the largest and most successful sellers of computer based training materials to the corporate market. Last year they saw the writing on the wall. They changed their name from CBT Systems to SmartForce and moved their whole line of business to the web. In e-commerce terms SmartForce is an example of a company transitioning from "bricks to clicks".

SmartForce www.smartforce.com is an e-learning content provider publicly traded on Nasdaq (SMTF) competing with other content providers like DigitalThink www.digitalthink.com (DTHK). Relative to DigitalThink, SmartForce has 10 times the revenue but is valued at just under three times as much. Why such a disparity between valuations?

SmartForce is tainted by not having been "born on the Web." Buyers are just as likely to try out a pure dot-com provider as they are a known and trusted corporate player. In addition, if the truth be known, SmartForce has built an excellent web-based front end but their library of content remains largely unchanged in format from its computer based training days. Optimal e-learning solutions are designed specifically for the web. The rules are changing.

The knowledge-based economy puts a premium on intellectual capital. To develop that capital, particularly in high tech, knowledge and skills must be continuously updated and enhanced. High tech workers know their marketability is based on the currency of their skills. Company loyalty is old rules. In the new rules, workers jump from one company to the next for a chance to work on challenging, leading edge projects.

Increasingly potential hires are asking in the interview not just about leading edge work but how the company supports professional development. The heightened competition for skilled human resources is causing organizations to look closely at how recruitment and retention practices affect their intellectual capital and competitive position.

In the midst of all this, e-learning is emerging as a key enabler. For companies, e-learning provides a means for aligning workplace performance with business strategies and for building communities of best practice and expert thinking. For high tech professionals, e-learning provides a new form of professional development that can provide absolutely up-to-date knowledge in small incremental bits that fit around increasingly time-constrained lives. It's a win-win scenario.

E-learning parallels e-commerce. There is a synergy between them. E-learning providers can be thought of as either b2c (business to consumer), targeting e-learning at individuals, or b2b (business to business), targeting e-learning solutions at organizations. As is the case in e-commerce some providers try to do both.

Lets explore e-learning from the b2c and b2b perspective. For b2c we'll think of ourselves as individual purchasers of e-learning. For b2b we'll think of ourselves as a business looking to implement e-learning. I'll provide examples of e-learning b2c and  b2b providers. For simplicity I'll show solution providers as being either b2c or b2b but in truth many are both and the business models on which transactions are based keeps changing. Consider this a snapshot of an ever-changing landscape - June 30, 2000.

B2C (Business to Consumer) E-Learning

I'm a high tech professional looking to advance my career by acquiring new skill sets. To prepare myself for shopping I ask myself a few questions:

  • What do I need to learn about?

  • How much learning do I need? A little? A lot?

  • Do I want the learning to be accredited? If so by whom?

  • How quickly do I need the learning? Right away? Over a period of months/years?

  • How much time can I allocate in my schedule to learning activities? 20 minutes/day? 10 hours/week? full-time?

  • When will I learn? daytime? evenings? nights? weekends?

  • How do I like to learn? Classroom? Hands-on? On-line?

Answering these kinds of questions helps define a set of e-learning requirements in advance so you know what to look for.

OK, lets take two e-learning requirement scenarios, 1. a real-time micro chunk of learning I want right away and 2. a part-time professional development learning solution I want to take for credit in the evenings over a period of weeks.

Real-Time Micro Learning

Lets look at a few of the e-learning providers for those real-time micro learning needs when you only have a few minutes and you need an answer right away.  

http://www.askjeeves.com At Ask Jeeves, you ask questions on the Internet in the same way you would of a friend or colleague. Jeeves then retrieves the information, drawing from an extensive knowledgebase of millions of answers to the most frequently asked questions, from people all over the world. How many questions has Jeeves already been asked, you ask? Try 150 million and counting. Go ahead, Ask Jeeves, "What is e-learning?"

http://www.learn2.com the Learn2.com Web site is home to an e-learning community that provides tips and step-by-step instructions on a broad spectrum of skills, activities and tasks. More than 700,000 people visit this site each month for information on everything from how to tie a tie to how to write a resume. Learn2 enables you to search for free learning tutorials, tips, and Q&A forums on your specific area of interest.

Perhaps the most innovative and intriguing site of all is http://www.knexa.com. Knexa is a knowledge exchange auction where knowledge can be auctioned, bought, and sold. At Knexa you can post a question, browse and respond to others questions, or start selling your own unique knowledge using an auction based model. Knexa, a Vancouver company with offices in Gastown, has created a provocative new model for knowledge exchange in today's economy. In fact I think Knexa has the potential to go beyond basic e-commerce to become an e-market.

Part-time Professional Development for Credit

When it comes to accredited learning, colleges and universities have typically been the main providers. This is still true today, especially as it pertains to acquiring an undergraduate or graduate degree. Universities and colleges are increasingly players in the e-learning field and in my view have been the early pioneers and innovators in how to do e-learning successfully. However, there are new players in the learning for credit field and over the past few years there has been an explosion of technology vendor "certification" programs. Here I'm talking about programs like A+ Certification, Microsoft Certified System Engineer, Cisco Certification, and so on. Certification programs tend to be focused on concentrated skills acquisition over a 6-10 month period of time. Certification programs are also now being offered on-line. Lets take a look at a couple of the offerings available for professional development credit, all from local organizations:

http://www.gofcs.com goFCS is the commercial storefront for FirstClass Systems Corporation. First Class Systems is located here in Surrey and has been a long term provider of computer based training (CBT). FCS is now transitioning its library of CBT into e-learning offerings. Have a look at their site and check out all the certification programs available. In addition to Microsoft Certification you can become a Sun Certified Java Programmer, a Certified Lotus Professional and even take e-learning courses to develop your professional and business skills.

I like the e-learning model Royal Roads University uses for their MBA and other Master degree programs.

http://www.royalroads.ca/mcpa/aboutrru/default/htm Royal Roads University in Victoria B.C. has masters degree programs targeted at working adults. They integrate 3 week long residency periods with on-line learning over a 24 month period. Using e-learning to get a post graduate degree while still working is a tempting proposition.

B2B (Business to Business) E-Learning

For b2b you have to stop thinking of yourself and start thinking how e-learning can benefit your whole company or organization. From a company perspective e-learning provides the following benefits:

  • Distribution of content to the entire organization - Allows organization to rapidly deploy learning to everyone thoughout the organization without being tied to the constraints of the classroom.

  • Time shifting - Allows learning to occur at times of schedule flexibility. Also allows those who rarely take training, such as more senior personnel or mobile workers, to participate in learning.

  • Cycle time - Allows the organization to quickly roll out a small piece of targetted learning that focuses on solving an immediate business problem.

  • Granularization - Allows learning to be broken down into discrete units. Reduces time in classroom taking complete courses when the learner only needs a small piece of the course content.

  • Performance support - Allows organizations to provide "in-situ" learning focused on workplace performance support.

But just how do you go about implementing e-learning at an organizational level?  

There are many routes to implementation. At a recent Business of On-Line Learning event in Seattle www.masie.com Elliott Masie laid out a number of methods for the adoption of e-learning in the corporate environment which rang true for me. Lets look at a few of them.

Strategy Centric

The most profound e-learning implementation approach is strategy centric. Some organizations are convinced the knowledge-based economy puts a premium on intellectual capital. These organizations are adopting e-learning as a deliberate strategy to help maximize intellectual capital and increase their organizations learning rate of speed. Strategy centric adoption is usually centralized, led by CEO mandate and implemented by a learning division or Chief Learning Officer.

In terms of b2b, strategy centric organizations are focused on developing an e-learning process before buying e-learning product. Strategy centric organizations are buying consulting time to define an e-learning strategic plan prior to implementation. This is also where we see organizations pursuing knowledge management, a whole new field that I believe is on path to converge with e-learning sometime in the next year or so.

Eduprise www.eduprise.com is a good example of a strategy centric e-learning services provider. Finding a technology neutral vendor in this space is tough. Almost all the providers of advice have a vested interest in a particular technology, usually their own.

Infrastructure Build

A second model for adoption is infrastructure build. Organizations pursuing this method want to buy a learning management system that links to their enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) or provides a means to track employee learning (track learning requests, manage sign-up and registration, track who takes what, who completes what, ...). An infrastructure build e-learning adoption model is primarily concerned with tracking and learning management. These kinds of initiatives are often lead by HR and IT departments. The learning management system is seen as the key piece to be put in place before content. E-learning infrastructure build companies include:

Portals

Portals are another implementation option. Rather than investing dollars in building an e-learning technology infrastructure, portals enable you to quickly provide off-the-shelf learning solutions to all employees with a minimal up-front investment. Portals are  e-learning Application Service Providers (ASP's) providing infrastructure, content, and tracking.

E-learning portal providers include:

Other methods for the adoption of e-learning in the corporate environment include:

  • building e-learning into a line of business

  • building e-learning out from Computer Based Training (CBT)

  • extending the classroom through e-learning

  • and others

Conclusion

 

E-learning parallels e-commerce. The business of e-learning is an education disrupter out of which new learning opportunities are emerging. Learning will become an e-market and e-learning components will plug in to and be a part of all businesses - b2c and b2b.

Paul Stacey is the Director of Corporate Education and Training at the Technical University of British Columbia, a long time education professional in the high tech private sector, and an e-learner. Contact: Paul Stacey


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E-Learning: An opinionated monthly column exploring the current use, future potential, and commercial value of e-learning in BC’s high tech sector.

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