Lotus LearningSpace R5.01 Deployment Guide

4 Lotus LearningSpace R5.01 Deployment Guide

1.1 What is e-Learning

e-Learning is technology-enabled. There are many types of e-Learning

technology, for example, the live virtual classroom. It is discussed in a

companion redbook, Using the IBM Lotus LearningSpace - Virtual Classroom A

Best Practices Guide to e-Learning, SG24-6842. IBM uses the IBM 4-Tier

Learning Model to try to clarify these various types of e-Learning. Most people

will use what is called “blended” e-Learning: using a variety of complementary

e-Learning types together.

However, e-Learning is more than just an electronically initiated way of

transferring knowledge. The technology has evolved quickly from simple

download-and-play modules to over-the-Web just-in-time tutorials and courses

that include pre- and post-assessments with the tracking necessary for a degree

program. There are many possibilities for implementing e-Learning.

The great majority of organizations have only begun to search for ways to build

and maintain ongoing capabilities in e-Learning. According to a 1999 IBM

Mindspan Solutions-sponsored Mercer Management Consulting study, most

companies that are using distributed learning today have maintained the

traditional focus on

training (education in preparation for a specific job) and have

not yet expanded their vision to the broader uses and possibilities offered by

e-Learning. These usage patterns will change as three trends emerge:

1. The emphasis will shift from training to

continuous learning, from education in

preparation for a job to education as a continuing activity within a career.

Looking forward, the emphasis will continue to shift to performance support

with the integration of knowledge management capabilities.

2. e-Learning content will expand beyond its current concentration on IT and

certification programs and will focus on meeting business needs: shortening

time-to-market, integrating acquired operations, or implementing new

systems, for example.

3. Customized content will become more important than off-the-shelf

courseware as e-Learning initiatives focus on an enterprise’s structural goals.

Mercer Management Consulting found that there are innovative enterprises that

have moved beyond training to focus on e-Learning as a tool for business

process transformation. Many of these early adopters have had success with

e-Learning as the solution for a specific business process problem. Interestingly,

the champions who have fostered these successes have not always been

directors of training programs. Instead, they have come from across the

organization in areas such as sales and marketing, with e-Learning used to

speed new product rollouts, for example, or to maximize time spent with

customers.