ad info

CNN.com
 MAIN PAGE
 WORLD
 ASIANOW
 U.S.
 LOCAL
 POLITICS
 WEATHER
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 TECHNOLOGY
   computing
   personal technology
   space
 NATURE
 ENTERTAINMENT
 BOOKS
 TRAVEL
 FOOD
 HEALTH
 STYLE
 IN-DEPTH

 custom news
 Headline News brief
 daily almanac
 CNN networks
 CNN programs
 on-air transcripts
 news quiz

  CNN WEB SITES:
CNN Websites
 TIME INC. SITES:
 MORE SERVICES:
 video on demand
 video archive
 audio on demand
 news email services
 free email accounts
 desktop headlines
 pointcast
 pagenet

 DISCUSSION:
 message boards
 chat
 feedback

 SITE GUIDES:
 help
 contents
 search

 FASTER ACCESS:
 europe
 japan

 WEB SERVICES:
Tech

New online training a boon, but won't replace the classroom

From...


June 9, 1998
Web posted at: 12:00 p.m. EDT

by Sandra Gittlen

(IDG) -- Nothing frustrates managers more than the catch-22 of having employees who need training but not having the time or money to let them take that training.

Web-based learning is beginning to solve that dilemma for some managers, according to industry experts. As the availability of software packages and online services swells, more companies are turning to the 'Net to boost employee knowhow.

Web-based training is an application placed on a server that an employee can download to learn more about software packages, educational tools, common tasks or company information such as medical benefits. That application can reside on a company's intranet or out on the Web at a trainer or vendor site.

Many vendors such as Microsoft Corp. are putting together online training packages to accompany software releases or are licensing the rights to the applications out to third-party training groups such as CBT Systems, Inc. or Dataquest, Inc. Some companies are even using their intranets to develop training in-house for company-specific skills.

But experts warn that Web-based training, while expected to grow from 2% of IT training budgets to 14% by 2001, according to International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass., will not replace the classroom experience.

"It's just making it easier for people to get trained quickly," said Christianne Moretti, manager of IT training and education research for IDC Canada. "It is also taking away reasons for employers to object to training.'' Most Web-based training can be done at work and does require travel or time off in addition to course costs. ''Right now, training is an event." In fact, Diane Gayeski, a professor of corporate communications at Ithaca College, said the word "training" is a misnomer. The information people receive will be in the form of quick information bytes, case studies and examples, and will involve very little actual training.

 MORE COMPUTING INTELLIGENCE
  IDG.net home page
  Network World Fusion home page
 Free registration required to access Network World
  Free Network World Fusion newsletters
  Industry Standard daily Media Grok
 Reviews & in-depth info at IDG.net
    IDG.net's bridges & routers page
  IDG.net's hubs & switches page
    IDG.net's network operating systems page
  IDG.net's network management software page
  IDG.net's personal news page
  Questions about computers? Let IDG.net's editors help you
  Search IDG.net in 12 languages
 News Radio
  PC World News Radio
  Computerworld Minute audio news for managers
   

With Web-based training, if an employee is told to perform a task involving an application she has not used, she could quickly go onto the World Wide Web or company intranet and download an interactive tutorial for that application. "Web-based training is making training more accessible for shorter chunks of time at much lower costs," said Leon Navickas, president and CEO of Centra Software, Inc. in Lexington, Mass. Centra develops Symposium, a Web-based learning and collaboration tool. "Rather than stopping working, you get what you need as you go," Moretti said. ''It allows you to assimilate what you need to learn into your work routine."

"Companies are rushing into Web-based training as a way to save money," said Dan Tobin, a consultant and author fo corporate training strategy books. Navickas said Web-based learning is appealing to companies because it does not require expensive videoconferencing systems, CD-ROM packages that quickly become obsolete or satellite hookups. Often, the upfront development costs are minimal compared to preparing the extravagant CD-ROM and video packages, Gayeski said.

In most cases, Web-based training only requires a browser and e-mail, something many employees have at home, in the office or on the road. By using tools that are already in place, companies save a tremendous amount of money, he said.

Also Web-based training usually only requires one package installed on a server, so you don't have to buy hundreds of packages and then keep track of them for upgrades, Tobin said.

He said Web-based training can be delivered in three ways: as a live virtual classroom with an instructor leading the course using conferencing and collaboration tools such as Centra Software, Inc.'s Symposium; asynchronously, with the student working alone but still using streaming and audio and keeping to a certain schedule; or self-paced, in which a student can work along at his own pace. Some companies are even setting up learning centers, she said, so that employees can get out of their cube for a while.

In the IT industry, Web-based training is important because "product cycles have shortened," Navickas said. Bay Networks, a Centra client, uses Web-based training to quickly teach the sales team about products as they are released. Otherwise, Bay would have to schedule a sales meeting, fly everyone in and take a day or more out of everyone's schedule.

Also, with information residing on the Web, sales people can learn about products on the fly, depending on customer need, he said. Having better-equipped and better-trained sales people contributes to Bay's revenues, Navickas said.

There's always a hitch

However, Tobin pointed to some drawbacks in Web-based training. First, with most forms of Web-based training, save the virtual classroom, you lose the ability to ask questions and have your questions answered in real time. "You can e-mail your questions, but it's not the same," he said.

Second, the vagaries of streaming multimedia can slow down training - complex graphics might take too long to download, for example - he said.

Tobin attributes this to Web developers going for glitz instead of practicality in their course designs.

Third, it's hard to weed out the junky courses online because there are so many being offered. "You can't just pick something from what's out there, you have to research it," he said.

Gayeski also points out that if you work at your computer all day, sometimes it's nice to get out, meet other people and learn from them.

Navickas said the next step for Web-based training is to make it "really easy for people to get a learning and collaboration system up and running and to embrace the world's various knowledge bases." This means going beyond only Web-formatted material, he said.

rule

Related CNN Interactive stories:
Latest Headlines

Today on CNN

Related stories at IDG.net:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window Related sites:

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not
endorsed by CNN Interactive.

SEARCH CNN.com
Enter keyword(s)   go    help

  
 

Back to the top
© 2000 Cable News Network. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.