beyond e learning practical insights from the usa

GLOBAL WATCH MISSION REPORT
Beyond eLearning: practical
insights from the USA
MAY 2006
Global Watch Missions
DTI Global Watch Missions enable small groups of
UK experts to visit leading overseas technology
organisations to learn vital lessons about innovation
and its implementation, of benefit to entire industries
and individual organisations.
By stimulating debate and informing industrial
thinking and action, missions offer unique
opportunities for fast-tracking technology transfer,
sharing deployment know-how, explaining new
industry infrastructures and policies, and developing
relationships and collaborations. Around 30 missions
take place annually, with the coordinating
organisation receiving guidance and financial support
from the DTI Global Watch Missions team.
Disclaimer
This report represents the findings of a mission
organised by the University of Abertay Dundee with
the support of DTI. Views expressed reflect a
consensus reached by the members of the mission
team and do not necessarily reflect those of the
organisations to which the mission members belong,
the University of Abertay Dundee, Pera or DTI.
Comments attributed to organisations visited during
this mission were those expressed by personnel
interviewed and should not be taken as those of the
organisation as a whole.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the
information provided in this report is accurate and up
to date, DTI accepts no responsibility whatsoever in
relation to this information. DTI shall not be liable for
any loss of profits or contracts or any direct, indirect,
special or consequential loss or damages whether in
contract, tort or otherwise, arising out of or in
connection with your use of this information. This
disclaimer shall apply to the maximum extent
permissible by law.
Beyond eLearning:
practical insights from the USA
REPORT OF A DTI GLOBAL WATCH MISSION
MAY 2006
CONTENTS
FOREWORD 4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5
1 PERFORMANCE SUPPORT 8
AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
IN THE USA
1.1 Overview 8
1.2 Terminology 8
1.3 Key findings 9
1.4 Potential impact on UK industry 12
1.5 Summary 13
2 COMMUNICATIONS, 14
PEDAGOGY AND eLEARNING
2.1 Introduction 14
2.2 Communication theory and 15
eLearning

2.3 Learners and mediated learning 16
2.4 Organisational eLearning in action 17
2.5 Conclusions and 19
recommendations
3 THE FUTURE OF BLENDED 21
LEARNING
3.1 Introduction 21
3.2 Blended learning – what’s that? 21
3.3 The changing learning landscape 21
3.4 Key findings 22
3.5 Conclusions 25
4 LEARNING DESIGN: 26
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
IN A CONNECTED WORLD
4.1 Introduction 26
4.2 Instruction design – the need 26
to adapt
4.3 Informal learning and performance 27
support
4.4 Technology trends and their impact 28
on design
4.5 Virtual worlds develop real-life skills 28
4.6 Transfer, reinforcement and the 28
spacing effect
4.7 Conclusions 29
5 mLEARNING 31
5.1 What is mLearning? 31
5.2 Is mLearning a reality? 31
5.3 mLearning use today in the USA 31
5.4 Recognising mLearning 33

opportunities
5.5 Benefits of mLearning 34
5.6 Looking ahead 34
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
6 GAME-BASED LEARNING 35
6.1 Introduction 35
6.2 Overview 35
6.3 In the USA, is game-based learning 35
being used in the corporate and
education sectors?
6.4 Which learning objectives are trying 37
to be met?
6.5 How is game-based learning being 37
used?
6.6 Who is developing the technology? 38
6.7 Is the USA the place where it is 38
happening?
6.8 What can we learn from the US 38
market?
6.9 What are the market opportunities? 39
7 LOOKING TO THE HORIZON: 40
THE CHALLENGES OF
INNOVATION IN eLEARNING
7.1 Introduction 40
7.2 Faster, faster, faster more, more, 40
more
7.3 What are the most significant 40

trends in eLearning to watch for?
7.4 How much will the landscape truly 45
change in the next five years?
7.5 Where do we go from here? 48
8 CONCLUSIONS 49
APPENDICES 50
A Host and contacts 50
B Mission team and ITP 52
C List of exhibits 61
D Glossary 62
E Photo gallery 64
F Acknowledgments 66
G Bibliography and references 67
The objective of Global Watch Missions is to
meet and learn from leading organisations
overseas. This mission certainly accomplished
that. During the course of our week in the
USA we met senior representatives in the
eLearning field from leading academic
institutions and corporations: from MIT and
Stanford to Fortune 500 companies from the
financial services, technology and
pharmaceutical sectors.
This was the first Global Watch Mission to
focus on learning technology. It is a hugely
important subject and vital to our economy:
not only is education the UK’s fifth largest
export, but learning is vital for every
individual and organisation in every industry
to thrive in the fast-paced, globalised market.

This point was made very emphatically in
one of our meetings when Tom Clancy, Chief
Learning Officer for EMC
2
(the leading US
data storage and management company),
described learning as a ‘competitive weapon’
in his organisation.
We are all under pressure to increase
productivity, so using technology to deliver,
support and measure learning makes good
sense: information can be delivered quickly
and cost-effectively to a large and distributed
workforce just in time and in the medium of
choice. From searchable libraries of
on-demand videos and podcasts, to
collaborative tools such as wikis and blogs
through to videogame-like simulations – all
tracked by a new generation of learning
management systems.
Technological progress is matched by a
dramatic change in the needs of both
organisations and learners in recent years.
Performance support for computer literate,
or ‘digital native’, learners is today’s goal and
the best learning is integrated, or ‘embedded’,
into the organisation and workday. To be
successful, learning must be aligned with the
organisation’s and individual’s goals.
We hope this report will help inspire you to

think about learning in your organisation and
consider it as your competitive weapon.
Please also stay tuned to
www.globalwatchservice.com for news of
latest overseas technical developments.
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
FOREWORD
Sarah Turner – International Technology Promoter, DTI Global Watch Service
Introduction
This report is being published to present the
findings of the first DTI Global Watch Mission
to the USA on eLearning. The mission took
place in May 2006, and extensive meetings
and site visits were held in both Boston and
the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, the
mission also benefited from a large number
of North American eLearning experts who
travelled especially to meet with the mission
participants in both of these locations.
As this was the first mission of its kind, the
results help set a benchmark for future
research. eLearning is a complex and rapidly
changing field, and as new approaches and
technology change and affect the industry, it
will be extremely important for UK eLearning
professionals, and the UK industries
supported by eLearning, to continuously
update best practice in order to remain
globally competitive. John Chambers, CEO of

Cisco, claimed in 1998 that learning was
the
most essential factor for his company's
growth, and the mission results show that
the importance of eLearning to global
competitiveness is almost impossible to
overemphasise.
Objectives
The initial specific objectives for the mission
were to gain an understanding of:
• The latest research and technical
innovation, in particular around the use of
advanced interactive simulations and
mobile technologies (mLearning)
• Business innovations in eLearning
including the use of open source (OS)
software, and improved methods in
demonstrating return on investment (ROI)
• New approaches in using technology for
organisational learning including embedded
learning and performance support
• The potential for international technology-
based collaboration, including joint
research and development (R&D) or
production, technology licensing,
distribution etc
Overview of mission results
The mission found key technology and best
practice in all of the objectives listed above,
and each contribution to the report explores a

specific topic relevant to both the mission
objectives and the author’s expertise.
Charles Jennings of Reuters explores the
uses of eLearning for performance support
and collaborative learning. In his chapter he
clearly defines not just the nature of the field,
but the key issues involved in the shift to
Web 2.0, the emerging learning styles of a
digitally native workforce, and the uses of
eLearning in highly competitive business
environments. This chapter also evaluates
how these changes could impact the UK, and
points to some clear trends in eLearning to
improve competitiveness.
In the second chapter, Jim TerKeurst of the
University of Abertay Dundee explores the
two distinct approaches to eLearning
deployment seen in the USA. The first
approach is to carefully target learners,
simplify materials, and limit types of
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Jim TerKeurst – University of Abertay Dundee
delivery to achieve the best ROI. The
second is to use technology to distribute
materials across multiple technology
platforms and in numerous formats to
encourage uptake by a maximum number of
learners. Each of these approaches has

benefits and limitations, and drawing from
existing pedagogical and communications
theory the author makes suggestions on
which approach might be most suitable
based on the desired learning outcomes.
Next, Alec Keith of Epic Group looks at the
future of blended learning. In his chapter Alec
clearly outlines the changes entailed in
developing new approaches to blended
learning better suited to future learning
applications. Focusing on audiences, learning
and learning design, Alex concludes that
alignment, meeting learners’ needs and
performance support are necessities that
must be supported by volume production,
community learning and a commitment to
identifying organisational change.
In his contribution, Lars Hyland of
Brightwave explores the interrelationship
between learning design and learning
experiences. Building on the six disciplines
approach, Lars argues that designing the
end-to-end learning experience, earning
learners’ attention, making technology
invisible, and using sharing and storytelling
are key ways to link eLearning with
organisational and business development.
Gordon Bull of Learning Forte leaves the
personal computer (PC)-bound world behind
and explores the future of mLearning in his

chapter. Taking a high-level approach, Gordon
considers the use of mLearning in both the
commercial and academic worlds. The
chapter explores how US companies have
recognised the potential and benefits of
mLearning, and concludes that mLearning is
poised for significant growth in the future.
In the following chapter, Euan Mackenzie of
3MRT presents material on the potential for
learning and games. Following an overview of
changes in the games industry that have
made game-based learning applications
attractive to game developers, Euan explores
the harsh reality of game-based learning in the
US corporate and education sectors. The
chapter concludes with a list of
recommendations for future competitiveness
that have substantial implications for UK game
developers working in game-based learning.
Finally, Adrian Woolard of the BBC considers
the future of eLearning, and outlines the
challenges yet to be overcome. The chapter
considers the significant trends that may
affect the future of learning in an
interconnected technology-based world, and
identifies one potential disrupter that could
profoundly alter the eLearning landscape. The
chapter concludes with a comparison of
some potential futures for learning, and
outlines a number of opportunities that UK

eLearning professionals should consider in
positioning their companies for a changing
global marketplace.
Beyond eLearning: the future
Each of the authors in this report has given an
overview of the best practice found in the
USA along with their insights on the future
potential for eLearning in the UK. Beyond
that, the report as a whole presents some
hints at how developing an ongoing approach
of best practice can help the eLearning
industry prepare for what might lie over the
horizon and beyond eLearning. This mission
clearly showed that eLearning has been
embedded into the competitive strategy of
successful US corporations, and their ongoing
commitment to eLearning is founded on the
increased competitiveness that effective
eLearning offers.
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
Make no mistake, the USA is not alone in
seeing the full potential of eLearning: both
Canada and Australia were cited repeatedly
during the mission as exemplars of the future
of eLearning. In a global business
environment, learning is indeed a competitive
weapon and consequently of vital importance
to the UK.
So how can the UK best move forward in this

area? Since the early eighties, digital media
has promised better designed, more
engaging, learner-centred learning
opportunities, yet to date innovative
eLearning has remained elusive. However,
the UK, with its global reputation for
excellence in technology innovation, and
history of developing and distributing
interesting and innovative content, has
considerable potential for success in the
emerging global eLearning future. This report
is therefore a first step on a longer journey, a
journey that with support could see the future
of UK-developed eLearning assured.
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
Exhibit S.1 The mission team in Silicon Valley, L to R: Adrian Woolard, Alec Keith, Lars Hyland, Charles Jennings,
Euan Mackenzie, Doreen Reid (British Consulate-General, San Francisco), Jim TerKeurst, Gordon Bull,
David Gardner; Sarah Turner is behind the camera!
© 2006 Sarah Turner
1.1 Overview
1.2 Terminology
1.3 Key findings
1.4 Potential impact on UK industry
1.5 Summary
1.1 Overview
Over the past 18 months new approaches
and tools have started to impact the way
learning developers and practitioners look at
eLearning’s potential to deliver enhanced

services to its customers. These new
approaches and tools are being rolled out
across formal school and higher education,
corporate training and learning, and
government and quasi-government
organisations on both sides of the Atlantic.
One key trend has been a resurgence of
interest in, and concentration on,
performance support, collaborative learning
and informal learning.
This report addresses findings in these areas
from the DTI Global Watch ‘Beyond
eLearning’ mission to the USA in May 2006:
• Leading-edge developments occurring in
the USA in:
– Performance support
– Collaborative learning
– Informal learning
• Specific initiatives/developments that UK
organisations could learn from
• Specific opportunities for collaboration
between US and UK organisations
1.2 Terminology
Besides various acronyms listed in Appendix
D, the following terms are used in this report:
Performance support
Electronic performance support systems
(ePSS) have been in use for many years.
A description that still applies is Gloria Gery’s
definition in her ground-breaking 1991 book

‘Electronic Performance Support Systems’ as:
‘an integrated electronic environment that is
available to and easily accessible by each
employee and is structured to provide
immediate, individualized on-line access to the
full range of information, software, guidance,
advice and assistance, data, images, tools,
and assessment and monitoring systems to
permit job performance with minimal support
and intervention by others.’
(Ref 1 – see
Appendix G.1)
Workflow learning/embedded learning
Both ‘workflow learning’ and ‘embedded
learning’ refer to learning that is integrated
into the normal daily work. They are similar to,
but sometimes distinct from, performance
support.
Informal learning
Also referred to as ‘self-directed learning’,
informal learning describes a process
whereby individuals acquire attitudes, values,
skills and knowledge from daily experience
and the educative influences and resources in
their environment. Most learning
doesn’t
occur as part of formal training or education
programmes. It occurs through relatively
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA

1 PERFORMANCE SUPPORT AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN THE USA
Charles Jennings – Global Head of Learning, Reuters
unstructured processes and is not
orchestrated or directed by learning
specialists. It is estimated that 75% of
organisational learning is ‘informal’.
Collaborative learning
Learning approaches and environments that
support communication between learners,
communities of learners and other forms of
shared knowledge creation and sharing.
1.3 Key findings
1: Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 are
impacting the development of
performance support, collaborative and
informal learning in the USA
Web 2.0
is at the core of many developments
in the areas of performance support,
collaborative learning and informal learning in
the USA.
The idea of Web 2.0 emerged in 2004 from a
conference session involving Tim O'Reilly
(founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media –
publishers of computer books and magazines)
and Dale Dougherty (O’Reilly VP). Although
the idea was focused on the turnaround of
web-based activities following the dot-com
collapse, Web 2.0 was quickly seen as a
significant step change from the publishing

model of ‘Web 1.0’ (the web, as was known
up to that point) to a model based on
interactivity and services (Ref 2).
Web 2.0 is typified by the move from content
distribution (the prime Web 1.0 focus) to
applications and environments supporting
sharing, communication, collaboration,
syndication and social interaction.
eLearning 2.0
has emerged from Web 2.0
developments. An article by Stephen Downes
– senior researcher at National Research
Council Canada (NRC) – in October 2005 set
the scene for the development of learner-
centric application of Web 2.0 tools and
services and coined the term ‘E-learning 2.0’
(Ref 3).
The key characteristics of eLearning 2.0
(Ref 4) are:
• Facilitation of content authoring – enabling
a more active role of the user/learner
• Knowledge and information sharing –
inherent in many new tools and
technologies
• Diversity of learning content and media –
in part resulting from new tools and user-
generated content
• Ease of collaborative learning – online
learning environments have easy-to-use
tools for interaction and collaboration

Typifying these changes has been the move
for leading learning specialists in the USA to
start to design learning appropriate for the
new breed of ‘digital natives’, and start to
adopt emerging tools such as text, audio and
video blogs, wikis, podcasts and RSS feeds
for educational use.
Companies such as Fidelity Investments in
Boston are actively engaging their whole
enterprise in Web 2.0 and eLearning
initiatives using wikis, blogs and RSS feeds to
share and collaboratively build knowledge.
Fidelity’s heartbeat is dependent on the
relationship the company can build and
maintain with its clients and it sees the
collaborative tools of eLearning 2.0 as being
fundamental in supporting its ability to
achieve this relationship and support and
educate its clients.
SRI Consulting Business Intelligence (SRI-BI) is
researching the development and uptake of
Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 tools and
approaches. Researchers and analysts at
SRI-BI see both as catalysts for change.
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
SRI-BI’s view is that eLearning 2.0 will, in time,
be embraced within the structured training
culture that exists in the majority of
organisations today, rather than bring about

wholesale changes. SRI-BI is asking and
investigating questions such as:
• Will Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 accelerate
the ‘power shift’ from the dominant
training culture with its focus on high
degree of control, formal learning events
and activities, and structured learning to a
bottom-up and less control-oriented
learning culture that focuses on more
informal learning, using unstructured
content, and on community and social-
based learning?
• How can training professionals help enable
and accelerate the practical application of
Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 tools and
technologies to maximise the impact of
learning on business performance?
• Will eLearning 2.0 tools be embraced
within the formal training culture that is
dominant in many organisations and serve
as a bridge to lead convergence towards
the emergent learning culture?
2: US companies are starting to adapt their
learning provision to address the fact
that ‘the workforce of the future learns
differently’
Organisations such as Genentech (number 1
employer in the USA in Fortune magazine’s
2006 poll) and Cisco are building their
learning services on the basis that the

workforce of the future needs to learn
differently. Learning and Development (L&D)
departments (or Learning and Knowledge
Management department in the case of
Genentech) are becoming more agile and
focusing on organisational knowledge and
building human capital.
They are achieving this on process-based
learning principles and performance support
in the same way that their manufacturing
models have moved from batch-based
production to process-based production.
They appreciate the importance of providing
development for jobs that do not yet exist,
and problems yet to be defined, and are
linking learning closely with business
decisions that require learning support.
Cisco takes an innovative view of learners
whether they are Cisco employees or its
customers. Cisco acknowledges that new
graduates entering the workforce today are
very different from those that entered 10, 20
or 30 years ago. The company focuses on key
characteristics of the ‘workforce of the
future’, building its learning on the basis that
(Ref 5):
• They have grown up with technology and
the Internet
• They are natural multitaskers
• They innately use technology to

communicate within and outside of their
working lives. This affects basic skills such
as writing. ‘For young employees living in
an abbreviated instant message type of
world, writing more complex thoughts
down becomes more challenging’, says
Ray Garra, L&D Manager at Cisco
• They have a different understanding of
‘basic skills’ – wanting to get high-level
overviews and return for ‘deeper dives’
when and if needed
• They are global thinkers – technology has
enabled them to have friends all over the
world, and to keep those friendships going
• They are very much just-in-time learners
and they will go to the Internet or other
sources as they need information or skills
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
Cisco offers a range of just-in-time (JIT) and
learning content that supports its various
certification programmes.
3: There is an increasing interest in JIT
learning (performance support,
embedded, workflow etc) and in the
collaborative aspects of learning on
both sides of the Atlantic
Developments in performance support
Performance support is becoming an
increasingly important tool in the armoury of

learning specialists in the USA, whether
provided through informal e-mail or instant
messaging, or more formally through ePSS
environments.
Instant messaging (IM) is starting to provide
an interesting type of performance support.
The rise of IM alongside the rise of Google
has led to IM having an emerging role in
organisational learning. IM contributes
274 terabytes (TB) of content each year.
Some companies are developing tools to
capture, extract and codify this content so it
can be used for capability-building.
The use of the Ajax group of technologies is
clearly on the rise in both the US and UK
training/learning communities. Companies
such as Cisco are deploying Ajax for learning
and performance support. The key benefit of
Ajax is seen as its ability to support the
development of Web 2.0 applications with
greater levels of interactivity.
A further trend is the emergence of rapid
development tools in the eLearning
marketplace. Tools such as Adobe Captivate
and Articulate Presenter are being widely
deployed in eLearning content production in
both the USA and the UK.
The availability of rapid development tools to
learning specialists and subject-matter
experts is seen as critical for the production

of learning content to support workplace
learning and performance support.
The trend towards the development of
performance-support learning content in
favour of ‘electronic courses’, together with
the emerging use of rapid development
eLearning tools by subject-matter experts and
organisational learning specialists, will impact
bespoke eLearning companies in the UK and
elsewhere. As tools become more
sophisticated and demand becomes more
granularised, learning content will become
commoditised. The value-add offered by
bespoke eLearning vendors for the majority
of eLearning content demand will need to be
reviewed.
Developments in collaborative learning
The growth of eLearning and blended learning
has helped create learning environments that
are suited to collaboration. UMassOnline, the
umbrella organisation for eLearning together
with the University of Massachusetts five-
campus system, are using eLearning and
blended learning to broaden learning
experiences by enabling communication and
communities of practice.
IBM Canada’s Innovation Center and other
North American organisations see current
eLearning environments becoming focused
on personalised, collaborative, workplace-

based integrated learning where context is of
prime importance and search plays a crucial
part in any learner’s strategy.
On the other hand, Fidelity Investments is
using collaborative tools to support education
of its clients through a more proactive ‘push’
approach. Fidelity has started to use RSS
feeds, blogs and wikis to share and
collaboratively build knowledge with its
clients. Although there are some issues
around regulatory controls for blogs, Fidelity
sees expansion of its existing content-sharing
model into more structured support of
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
learning. The drive by Fidelity towards the use
of learning technologies has been brought
about in part by many of its retail customers
who are digital natives and part of the
‘workforce of the future’.
A strong link is being forged between
storytelling (learning from experience and
communicating that learning to others
through stories) and learning technologies.
Production companies and corporate
consumers are both looking at appropriate
ways to use technology to support learning
using a range of storytelling approaches.
‘Learning is not about the technology, it is
about the experience’, says Ed Heinbockel,

CEO of Visual Purple, a highly technology-
focused interactive entertainment company
that produces immersive simulations to
address the needs of its corporate and
government training clients. Despite its deep
technology expertise, Visual Purple
approaches all of its projects from a
storytelling point of view.
Developments in informal learning
Informal learning is in the headlights in the
USA, although use of the term ‘informal
learning’ is starting to be phased out in many
US organisations and eLearning research
institutes. The term is being replaced with a
number of more accurate terms such as
‘self-directed learning’.
With the move away from focus on eLearning
simply as a mechanism to deliver learning
content, there is a greater emphasis on the
importance of informal learning approaches
through collaboration, communication and
communities. Rather than focusing on the
‘what?’ of learning (content-centric), the trend
is to focus on the ‘how?’ (student-centric) by
providing multiple channels to support
learning.
The increasing role of assessment in
eLearning
Overlaying the trend away from content-
centric ‘traditional’ eLearning production and

delivery, a further trend appears to be
emerging with a move away from prescriptive
curricula and programmes of study towards a
greater focus on assessment as the main
driver in eLearning.
A number of leading organisations in the USA
are taking the view that not only should
learning content be available in many diverse
forms and on demand, but that organisational
learning should also be driven by assessment
and the assurance that employees are
capable of performing as required, whether
they spend time working through learning
content or not.
This is not simply a certification-driven
development, but one that is aligned with the
role of accreditation as a key motivator for
learning. It is a very different approach from
the content-driven eLearning model that has
predominated for the past 10 years.
1.4 Potential impact on UK industry
There is clearly a move away from focus on
content as being at the core of eLearning and
a move to greater focus on context,
collaboration and support of communities.
Chris Pirie, Learning Product Group Manager
at Microsoft, describes Microsoft’s journey as
one from ‘content to learning services’. At the
same time, he sees learning as primarily
about ‘community’, with learning content

simply one of the inputs into the learning
process. Pirie points out that it is easy to
monetise learning content but harder to
monetise the emerging collaborative aspects
of learning such as coaching and
communities. He also sees the role of
learning experts as providing the ‘editorial
12
BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
voice’ with some editorial authority to provide
learners with a pathway through the noise of
the many informal networks that learners
need to navigate.
Some US providers are thinking about loyalty
credits and other approaches to monetise
some of the newer, non-content aspects of
learning services. This is a view for UK
learning content providers to ponder as they
evolve their own business models.
The trend toward the increased use of rapid
development tools in the hands of subject-
matter experts as well as in the hands of
learning specialists in the USA is mirrored in
the UK. It is clear that this trend will continue
as new tools become available.
1.5 Summary
• Web 2.0 and eLearning 2.0 developments
(context, communication, communities)
are driving new approaches for the use of
technology in learning and development in

both the USA and the UK. Although the
USA is still leading, the UK is following
closely
• Leading US eLearning providers and
corporates are using the attributes of the
‘workforce of the future’ to drive eLearning
developments
• There is a trend away from focus on tools
and technologies and closer focus on the
most effective ways to achieve
organisational and individual learning
outputs
• Performance support approaches are being
used by US companies as levers to
support closer alignment of learning and
capability-building with the organisations’
strategic intent
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Communication theory and
eLearning
2.3 Learners and mediated learning
2.4 Organisational eLearning in action
2.5 Conclusions and recommendations
2.1 Introduction
An interesting insight from this mission was
the apparently different approaches taken by
the East coast and West coast eLearning
experts. Mission host companies in Boston

were keen to maximise their ROI for
eLearning materials, and quite concerned to
make their materials as minimal, targeted
and focused as possible with an extensive
eLearning support network in place for
eLearning users. Conversely, the San
Francisco Bay Area contingent were
enthusiastic about using technology to
disseminate their eLearning materials, and
very interested in developing expert
systems to support their own corporate
technology innovations.
These are, of course, gross generalisations,
but they made an interesting contrast in
approaches that resonates with methods
and trends throughout the eLearning
industry. This chapter investigates these two
approaches, and using pedagogical and
communications theory makes some
recommendations on which approach
may be most appropriate for typical
eLearning applications.
We begin this exploration by considering
what eLearning is. Unlike earlier computer-
based training, eLearning refers to computer-
enhanced learning or training. Typically
utilising PCs and communications
technology, eLearning is unique in allowing
learners to determine the pace, and even
the times, that they wish to learn. With

current communications technology,
eLearning is delivered using mobile phones
(mLearning), personal digital assistants
(PDAs), MP3 players (podcasts) and
television. Internet, e-mail, collaborative
environments, wikis and blogs are also
becoming common elements in eLearning
applications, and the more robust virtual
learning environments (VLEs) – also known
as learning management systems (LMS),
course management systems (CMS),
managed learning environments (MLEs),
learning support systems (LSS) or learning
platforms (LPs). Some of the newest VLEs
are now offering staff talent and
management functions which, if utilised,
could signal a sea change in staff
development and management.
With this plethora of potential approaches,
channels, environments, media and hardware,
every organisation now faces the dilemma of
allocating scarce resources to maximise its
eLearning investment. Typically training is a
key eLearning application, and many
companies have successfully reduced training
time and costs with eLearning. This is
especially important in high turnover
situations like call centres where literally
thousands of new staff may need to be
trained each year.

However, training alone is not enough in
competitive business environments. As
technology and customer offerings change,
eLearning materials can provide broad
support for staff working with customers
directly or solving problems in the field.
Some companies visited by the mission
14
BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
2 COMMUNICATIONS, PEDAGOGY AND eLEARNING
Jim TerKeurst – University of Abertay Dundee
suggested that this continuous support
was, in fact, the key benefit provided by
eLearning as rapid change has made all but
basic training obsolete. This is also
consistent with the development of internal
knowledge bases and expert systems as
expertise and innovation are becoming
increasingly important. Finally, eLearning is
beginning to be seen as a crucial way to
maintain organisational flexibility and avoid
rigid strategies that can lead to a 'tyranny
of success' (Robinson and Stern 1997 –
see bibliography in Appendix G.2).
In addition to tracking learning and
performance, VLEs are also used to help
reduce time to market for new products
that require training, and reduce non-
compliance risks with automation.
2.2 Communication theory and

eLearning
The pervasive nature of eLearning, going
hand in hand with advances in
communications technology, should come as
no surprise. Doug Engelbart suggested that
computers represent a fourth stage of
human intellectual capabilities building on
cooperative technological devices (Engelbart
1962). Advances in communications
technology, tied as they are to increased
information flow with the potential for
manipulation, have driven an entire research
agenda dedicated to understanding the
mediated communication process.
Coinciding with the cold war, with its esteem
of all things technological and a mistrust of
their use, modern mass communications
studies began with the work of Harold
Lasswell, when there was considerable
concern over the role of media in the changing
of beliefs and attitudes (Lasswell 1948).
Focused on message success (not unlike early
eLearning materials), this approach viewed
communication as a sort of hypodermic that
would strongly affect people and attitudes
(see also Shannon and Weaver 1949).
Within a few years other theorists attempted
to understand the potential complexity of
communication, and more sophisticated
approaches recognised that communication

was a two-way process (Braddock 1958,
Schramm 1954) with receivers and their
backgrounds having a considerable impact on
message success. Receivers all had their own
social, cultural and personal environments,
and that meant each made their own
personally based interpretation of the
information. Additionally, information receivers
could decide what information they wanted;
hence motivation and attitudes became
increasingly important. In addition it was now
recognised that too many messages, or
contradictory messages, could lead to a
rejection of the messages altogether.
The rejection of messages, or reception of
too many messages, was becoming an
increasingly important issue. In 1981 the term
'information society' was coined to explain
the enormous amount of information that
was available (Ito 1981). In the information
society world, efficiencies in media
production and dissemination resulted in an
ever-increasing supply of information and
resources (8-10% annually) (Pool et al 1984).
Surprisingly, the researchers found that even
with this growth, consumption was growing
much more slowly, and actual application or
effect remained constant. For people working
in communications, this suggested that much
as they might wish to increase application

and effect, the rapid increase in alternative
and/or competing messages made their
efforts less effective.
To overcome this overabundance of
information and messages, theorists next
developed a large number of alternative
approaches to increase message
effectiveness. Each of these approaches has
its utility, but the approach that seems most
applicable to organisationally based eLearning
carefully identifies the target group, accounts
for competing information (or disinformation)
15
BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
and tailors the message, medium and
communicator to achieve a desired result
(Nowak and Wärneryd 1985). Using this
approach, goals must be clearly defined and
related to a specific definition of success for
the target group, and an overall theme that
ties the messages together carefully related
to the media that is being utilised. For
eLearning, this suggests that the internal
learning or training goals should be carefully
aligned to both the internal goals of the
organisation, and the external promotion of
the organisation to the public.
While apparently an obvious conclusion, this
is, in fact, an incredibly complex and difficult
undertaking. Most organisations use

eLearning as a resource, and reorienting their
eLearning approaches to fully integrate with
the business, management and marketing
strategies in a synergistic whole requires
considerable rethinking. However, this
approach will become an absolute necessity
for large organisations in the 21
st
century.
2.3 Learners and mediated learning
There has been an enormous body of
research done on pedagogy, teaching and
learning. Typically, the research is grounded in
one of four approaches:
• Cognitive: studying the processes of
learning and how the brain works
• Emotional: the study of motivation,
engagement, reward etc
• Behavioural: examining behavioural
change and development
• Social: looking at peer support and
pressure, collaboration and interactions
that stimulate learning
Each of these approaches has exhaustive
literature and research available that
interested readers should explore.
However, as an exhaustive overview is
beyond the scope of this work, only a small
selection of material considered relevant
will be mentioned.

Robert Gagne noted that gaining the learner’s
attention is the first step in any learning
situation (Gagne 1985). As a mediated form,
eLearning can easily do this, but it must be
remembered that dull material will eventually
lead to inattentiveness. Motivation has long
been another crucial component to learning,
especially the optimal level of motivation (or
arousal) for productivity (Yerkes and Dodson
1908). Within an organisational environment,
relating eLearning materials and learning
events to staff development and promotion
can maintain motivation (see Weiner 1990).
However, many organisations require a stable
workforce or have little need for promotion. In
these cases, other means must be found to
maintain learning motivation.
As an approach for adult learners, andragogy
1
(Knowles 1984a, 1984b) was developed
specifically for motivated and responsible
adults. Using andragogy there are four key
aspects that must be incorporated into the
training. First, learners must know why they
need to learn the material and see
immediate value. Additionally, it is important
that the learning is experiential and problem
based. Case studies, simulations and role
playing are ideal using this approach.
Criterion-referenced instruction (CRI) links in

well with andragogy as it ties in with the
specific objectives and perceived value that
adult learners prefer (Mager 1975, 1988).
Using CRI goals, tasks and performance
objectives are clearly identified and related to
evaluation and feedback.
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
1 Andragogy, a term originally used by Alexander Kapp (a German educator) in 1833, was developed into a theory of adult education by the American educator,
Malcolm Knowles (1913-1997). Knowles held that andragogy (from the Greek words meaning ‘adult-leading’) should be distinguished from the more
commonly used pedagogy (Greek: ‘child-leading’).
The learner’s background is also a key issue in
developing eLearning approaches. A learner’s
existing knowledge and experience and
background has been shown to influence
attention (Neisser 1967) or become a
hindrance to learning (Hovland, Janis and Kelly
1953), and considerable research has
demonstrated that learning which undermines
existing competencies and beliefs can cause
debilitating emotional issues and result in
decreased performance and efficiency (Gopnik
and Meltzoff 1997). Communications
researchers have referred to this problem as
cognitive dissonance (Festinger 1957), and it is
worth noting that there are some established
ways to deal with this problem.
Considering eLearning as communications,
a considerable amount of research has been
done on the impact of mediated learning

materials.
2
The problem with mediated
learning has often been the simple fact that
most people only pay attention to one thing
at a time (Broadbent 1958). If there are too
many information sources, or they are poorly
structured, learners will only focus on the
stimulus they find interesting (often
something entirely unrelated to the
suggested learning). Another concern when
using media is that a person’s learning
preferences are related to their previous uses
of media, the learning context and the task
itself (Salomon 1977, 1981; Salomon, Perkins
and Globerson 1991). One proven solution to
both these problems is utilising a combination
of non-redundant typological (language based,
taxonomic, schema based) and topological
(visual and variable) material that facilitate
learners developing new schemas for relating
the information (Lemke 1999).
John Bransford and the Cognition and
Technology Group at Vanderbilt University
have done an interesting study on the use of
media in support of/relation to learning.
Using a method they call anchored
instruction (Bransford et al 1990; Cognition
and Technology Group at Vanderbilt 1990),
the group has developed a series of

interactive videos designed to facilitate
complex realistic problems. The videos
become the anchors for the learning, and
unlike entertainment video are designed to
create engaging contexts that encourage
active knowledge construction.
In a similar fashion, eLearning materials
should be the anchors for learning, and many
of the more advanced learning approaches
are now having the learners themselves
create the eLearning content within a
provided framework.
2.4 Organisational eLearning in action
Currently there is a wide selection of VLEs
available for use. Typically developed using
either Java or .NET, these platforms serve a
variety of purposes well beyond their original
content and assessment repository use. In a
nod to the business-focused nature of these
programs, some have even begun referring
to themselves as talent management
solutions (TMS). Because of the complexity
of many of the current VLEs, the next step
in this analysis will be considering some VLE
features and relating them to pedagogy,
communications and practice. After all, it
only makes sense that learning, like
eLearning, and for that matter appropriate
pedagogy, is situational (apologies to Lave
and Wenger 1991).

Undoubtedly the most common use of
eLearning tools the mission found in the USA
was in call-centre training. Often referred to
as call management information systems
(CMIS), these eLearning applications were
often developed to reduce the time and/or
cost of developing staff, and are designed to
17
BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
2 Even within academia, the rhetorical or instructivism approach of standing in front of a group of students and disseminating truth and knowledge is now
outdated (Reynolds, Caley and Mason 2002)
orient them to the company and their role
within it. Productivity and ROI were the
watchwords at this level, and as offers and
customers changed continuously, there was
a continuous need for updated information.
An obvious pedagogical choice for developing
materials in this area would be functional
context theory (FCT) (Sticht 1976). Originally
developed to enhance fundamental skills in
training, FCT stresses that training should
relate to the learner’s existing knowledge and
work context, with contextually appropriate
training materials and equipment. As staff in
these work environments have a fast-paced
yet varied workload, communications theory
would suggest that small, very specific
learning events be integrated directly into the
work environment. Reducing any distraction
or dissonance is crucial, and learning

elements integrated into an ongoing
workflow to fill unused time would be most
effective. Once again, to reduce any
dissonance, any assessment done by
learners must be both content and context
specific. In these situations, information
support is also a primary concern, but
knowledge of rapidly changing information
should be considered separately from the
integrated training.
Rapid access to information and knowledge is
an absolute necessity in many industries, but
rapid changes in information, combined with
rapid access, creates special issues that must
be addressed. The first of these has to do
with expertise. Expertise or subject mastery
is a key outcome of learning (Slavin 1987),
and considerable evidence suggests that this
can be a substantial eLearning outcome.
However, individual learners will vary in their
capabilities, and unrealistic expectations of
learners can turn subject mastery into a trap
(Cox and Dunn 1979).
If subject mastery is crucial, how can it be
developed within eLearning? Merely
demonstrating expertise is one solution, but
showing expertise as a learning tool isn't
necessarily the best way to present the
information (Michael et al 1993; Salomon
1981). Firstly, as the integrated knowledge

and techniques of the expert may be opaque
to the untrained, but also because experience
is learned as well as learned from.
From a pedagogical perspective, scaffolding,
when learners get assistance or support that
allows them to achieve something they
couldn’t have independently, would be the
most appropriate method (Wood et al 1976).
Using scaffolding, learners develop their
knowledge and skills in cycles of assessment
and adaptive support as the scaffolding
gradually fades (is no longer available) or
becomes invisible (no longer used). Once this
process is complete, the learning is complete
and subject/skill mastery is complete (Stone
1993, 1998a, 1998b).
However, in the rapidly changing technology
industries, learning is part of a process, and
scaffolding to provide crucial information and
skills is both vital and permanent. Some have
referred to this permanent scaffolding as
distributed cognition (Hutchins 1995) or
distributed intelligence (Pea 1993, 2002).
Others, however, have recognised that rapid
change leaves little time for scaffolding
(Sherin et al 2004).
One solution to the scaffolding dilemma is
the development of collaborative
environments. Research has shown that
collaboration can serve as a scaffold for better

problem solving (Johnson and Johnson 1981).
However, collaborative environments, like
wikis and blogs, have some interesting
problems of their own. In all of these
environments a substantial amount of
mediated material is made available to
learners, and it has been shown that a
substantial amount of learning from media is
indirect or implicit and determined by how
the material is presented. Being unaware of
this, media users fail to recognise the
18
BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
persuasive power of indirect media messages
regarding appropriate behaviour or advertised
products (Glascock 2001; Petty et al 2002;
Trappey 1996).
Even in live unmediated situations people
learn without being aware of it, and this
socially based learning has been shown to
have both positive and negative implications.
On a positive note, some view informal
learning as a boon to knowledge and culture
(Gee 2003), or even as evolutionary as it
helps with adaptation. Conversely, others see
informal learning as the propagation of naive
understanding and misconceived ideas
(McCloskey, 1985) or the degrading of culture
(Healy 1991).
However, it is important to consider that the

mediated social participation offered by
collaborative environments, wikis and blogs
could be enhanced to guided participation
(Rogoff, Matusov and White 1996). For real
success in these areas, facilitation is crucial
for guided participation, and the tools can
then function as an evolving form of learner
scaffolding.
This approach on mediated social support for
learning can also help enhance learners’
responses to change and the development of
originality. Flexibility, change and originality are
now a normal part of organisational survival,
and the facilitated reconstruction of knowledge
required for change can be accomplished using
collaborative environments to manage case-
based multiple interconnected and complex
materials (Spiro et al 1988; Maltzman 1960).
Facilitating this is not an easy task, but learners
use these sorts of materials to develop more
flexible schemas of understanding and develop
new knowledge.
Finally, an often neglected aspect in
eLearning is the social support required.
Learner acceptance needs recognition that
model behavior is reinforced by rehearsal and
valued outcomes that are perceived as high
status (Bandura 1977). Managers will need to
project this ideal behaviour if they want their
eLearning programmes to succeed, and

recognise that the community that learners
interact with helps them define not the
physical or mental skills but rather the
meanings of the skills as defined by
community members (Becker 1953). For true
eLearning success, not just the learner but
their team, their managers and the
organisational goals must be aligned.
2.5 Conclusions and
recommendations
Even by name, eLearning will always be a link
between communications technology,
learning objects and learners. However,
learning is not a stand-alone application, and
the proper support and guidance are vital for
learning events to build into learning
outcomes: from the little-and-often approach
that works well for training and transaction-
based skills, to the more socially-based
guided learning required for the sustained
inquiry needed for higher-level concepts with
multiple potential solutions.
Regarding the original question, technology
isn’t always better, but appropriate technology
that learners have used in the past and can
relate to, does help address the varied
learning preferences of individuals. More
important than which technology, however,
is that eLearning developers recognise the
affect of both mediated and unmediated

materials on the learning process.
Based on the mission, here are a few
recommendations for the future:
• Align and integrate eLearning to both the
internal goals of the organisation and the
external promotion of the organisation to
the public
• For organisational competitiveness, focus
on dialogue, interaction and collaboration
19
BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
• Even in a large programme, focus on the
small bite-size learning events and how
they aggregate
• Content is less important than the learning
outcome
• If a proper framework is in place, content
can be developed by the learners
• Within rapidly changing information
environments, scaffolded learning is
inappropriate as immediate access to
information is the primary criterion
• A wireless world will make mobile and
PDA-based solutions more attractive
• Highly complex learning requires a more
formal environment for sustained
interaction
• Complex eLearning outcomes need
exponential increases in social facilitation
and support

20
BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
21
BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Blended learning – what’s that?
3.3 The changing learning landscape
3.4 Key findings
3.5 Conclusions
3.1 Introduction
This chapter looks at what’s new in the world
of US blended learning, focusing on corporate
users. In order to promote debate, the
approach starts with two premises:
1 Most eLearning isn’t actually used, and…
2 When it is used, rarely achieves the
desired business benefits
So what can be learnt from the US blended
learning experience? What works and what’s
coming next? And what are the lessons for the
UK in terms of addressing these premises?
Below is a summary of mission findings. To
prevent previous assumptions and prejudices
affecting the conclusions, all examples,
quotations and case studies are restricted
solely to those gathered during the week.
3.2 Blended learning – what’s that?
On the face of it, the task seemed simple –
discover what works in US blended learning
and publish the findings. However, it became

clear very early that blended learning is old
news – ‘Blended learning is just a means to
an end’, and ‘Blended learning is still in the
literature, but not discussed seriously’, the
mission was told.
So, before we can learn any lessons from
what’s happening in the USA, we must first
understand how the nature of US learning
itself is changing.
3.3 The changing learning landscape
The increasing pace of change in US markets,
regulatory environment and technology,
together with a new learner profile, is affecting
what’s required of blended approaches. The
traditional approach of discrete, one-size
learning events, perhaps sandwiched with
eLearning, is being replaced with something
radically different. The new world blurs the
distinction between learning and
communication and delivers mass-volume,
business-led community solutions that engage
learners in a continual learning process.
Exhibit 3.1 summarises the old and new world,
with key findings and conclusions below.
3 THE FUTURE OF BLENDED LEARNING
Alec Keith – Senior Learning Consultant, Epic Group plc
Old world New world
Audience
Single channel Multichannel
Staff Customers/partners/public

Single task Multitask
Insular thinkers Global thinkers
Deep knowledge Broad knowledge
Clear Ambiguous
Individual Community
Learning
Event Process
Long life content Perishable content
One-off Continuous
Formal Informal
Training led Business led
Training Performance
Produce and consume Search and retrieve
Quality Quantity
Learning design
Trainers Consultants
One size Personalised
Fixed Scalable
Fixed choice Menu options
Content Access
Full solutions Small chunks
Exhibit 3.1 The old and new worlds of learning
3.4 Key findings
Audience
Before we can design, develop and
implement effective programmes, it is vital to
appreciate the nature of the new-world
audience. The following summarises some
key features identified during research.
Widening base

US organisations recognise a new target
audience – not just staff, but customers and
partners. This is particularly true of fast-
changing firms such as IBM, Microsoft and
Cisco that have rolled out major programmes
to channel partners and customers supported
by accreditation and certification. Cisco
launches one or two new products every
week, supported with eLearning nuggets
downloadable from its website, whilst
Microsoft supplies eLearning vignettes in all
new products, such as how to implement
parental controls on operating systems.
The growth of new technology allows these
organisations to reach far wider audiences
than previously. Cisco communicates,
collaborates and educates employees,
partners and customers worldwide via
Internet Protocol (IP) multicast and unicast
streaming, repaying the investment in a
media studio within 12 months.
What’s more, many US organisations have
embraced the concept of corporate
responsibility, ie ‘giving something back’, so
widening their audience to the general public.
This includes eLearning programmes aimed
at developing digital literacy and basic skills,
but also in global warming, the environment
and so on. Cisco has recently launched
‘Preparing to Breastfeed’, having recognised

the need for major corporates to take the
lead in educating the widest possible
audience. The Cisco range also includes
‘Peter Packet’, teaching networking basics
and social awareness to children. Similar
initiatives are stirring in the UK, particularly in
the oil industry for instance, and we should
expect more to come.
Global, digital thinkers
The new-world audience grew up with the
Internet and uses technology instinctively to
communicate. They are also global thinkers –
many have friends around the world,
communicate across geographic and time
boundaries and naturally share knowledge.
The opportunities for exploiting new
technology to leverage this sense of
community are huge. It demands a shift from
traditional training events to a more
integrated approach using technology to
communicate, knowledge share etc. This is
explored in more detail below.
Broad, not deep
The pace of change and demand for new
knowledge means today’s audience requires
a huge quantity of knowledge, much of which
is perishable. In general, learners want lots of
information, but not depth. Unlike the old-
world audience, new learners are content
with ambiguity – it is breadth/volume that

counts. This has major implications for the
structure and delivery of learning solutions,
discussed below.
Learning
‘It’s no longer about training, but
performance.’ Blended learning isn’t about
one-off events – solutions must be part of
learners’ everyday working lives. Cisco’s aim
is to ‘weave learning into the fabric of your
day’. This changes the emphasis from trainer-
led delivery, focused on content, to an
informal performance-led approach, focused
on the audience’s needs.
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA
Aligning L&D with the business
The increasing importance of aligning L&D
closely with business needs is clear. L&D
professionals cannot expect to spot learning
needs from afar; they need to integrate totally
with their audience in order to deliver solutions
when they’re needed. A good example is how
EMC Corp (supplier of enterprise-wide
intelligent storage and retrieval technology)
reduced its investment in eLearning from
$7 million to $1 million per annum with
improved results simply by identifying what
the business wanted, rather than what L&D
professionals thought they wanted.
Gearing up for community learning

Community/collaborative learning is hot.
Numerous examples were given of the
effectiveness of group learning and the
opportunities presented by collaborative tools,
such as discussion forums, blogs, wikis etc.
Examples include the success of sites such as
Wikipedia and Flickr – user-generated content.
Jetblue has taken the concept one stage
further with customers creating the
company’s advertising copy! Community
learning is still in its early days in the corporate
world, but all organisations the mission met
have started. Genentech (biotechnology
research company) is experimenting with
dynamic FAQs, learning cafés and
communities of practice. Sun Microsystems
has 2,000 active bloggers sharing experiences
and war stories on project work.
Informal learning
It is estimated that 80% of learning is
informal, ie out of the learning paradigm. To
date, L&D professionals have been anxious
about informal learning – by its nature, out of
their control and difficult to measure. But in
the USA the anxiety is disappearing. As
outlined above, new learners can cope with
ambiguity. There is no need to remember
anything, you can always ‘Google’ it or use
new technology to ask – anyone, anywhere,
at any time, including complete strangers.

And IBM has started measuring informal
learning, such as the frequency of data
sharing, recognising and rewarding
individuals/teams accordingly. Informal
learning is on its way and we must gear
ourselves up for it.
Quantity, not quality
This may not be what any L&D professional
wants to hear, but it’s true… to a point.
Organisations like Cisco, Microsoft and EMC
Corp have delivered business benefits by
producing volume, easily accessible solutions.
Genentech’s approach is ‘all about providing
information to the rest of the company’. EMC
has delivered results through a ‘simple but
effective’ approach with huge libraries of
content as VILTs (video instructor-led training)
and VODs (video on demand), easily
accessible/searchable by staff, partners and
customers. However, there is still a market
for high-end quality solutions, such as games
– Cisco’s virtual hands-on lab/interactive
simulations, for instance. What we’re seeing
is a shift from ‘produce and consume’ to
‘search and retrieve’ – ‘Googlisation’.
Performance support
Training and performance support are
merging. Numerous examples of online, JIT
performance support were identified. Cisco,
for example, uses Ajax technology to embed

context-sensitive support/instruction in its
products. Fidelity’s vision is to include online
nuggets/content-based instruction in all new
devices, forms, templates and applications.
Vodafone uses performance-support tools,
with search and retrieve functionality to teach
product knowledge in Italian call centres.
However, State Street (a financial services
provider) warns of the effort required to build
ePSS into the learning culture. It mustn’t be
assumed that all users will embrace this new
way of working.
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BEYOND ELEARNING: PRACTICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE USA