Adult Learning In A Virtual Environment, AHRD 2008

• 1. Adult Learning in aVirtual Environment Rochell McWhorter Donna Mancuso Andrew Hurt Texas A&M University Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt

2. Adult Learning in a Virtual Environment

• Virtual Learning

• Virtual Mentoring

• Virtual Teams

• Virtual Lrng Communities

• Virtual Organizations

• Virtual HRD

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 3. Virtual Learning

• Flexibility of delivery :

• • Delivery of services independent of time and place

• • Ability to reach those beyond the formal boundaries

• Flexibility in the pace of learning :

• • Learning at their own time & space

• • Lifelong Learning

• MacPherson, Elliot, Harris & Homan (2004)

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 4. Virtual Mentoring

• Potential to foster a deliberative, reflective, and thoughtful exchange (p. 559)

• Yields a written record of mentoring process

• Easier to coordinate communication

• • No reliance on travel or face-to-face meetings

• • Reduced costs

• Potential for effective multicultural workforce by providing access to:

• • Women

• • People of color

• • Other minorities

• Bierema & Hill (2005)

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 5. Virtual Teams

• Virtual team members must communicate, plan, problem solve, derive products or solutions and monitor their performance (Workman, 2005, p. 436).

• Takes real commitment from leadership (Moran, 2005).

• Communication is vital (Johnson & Jeris, 2004) & (Dewey & Carter, 2003)

• A new model of group development may be needed (Yoon, 2004).

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 6. Virtual Learning Communities

• Social interaction: Relevant to the learning equation

• Advantages :

• • Sharing common interests

• • Tackling real problems

• Disadvantages:

• • Absence of non-verbal cues

• • Limitation for development of trust

• For development of trust :

• • Selection & utilization of communication methods

• • Provide knowledge sharing(Birchall & Giambona, 2007)

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 7. Virtual Learning Communities (Cont)

• HRD should facilitate the creation of real time virtual communities of practice that are aesthetically informed (Gibb, 2004).

• Online learning communities should include the promotion of critical thinking, dialogue, and collaborationand have the ability to collaborate and create knowledge and meaning communally (Palloff and Pratt, 1998, p. 32).

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 8. Virtual Organizations

• Technology has enabled a continued shift toward virtual organizations (Henderson & Provo, 2006, p. 275).

• HRD professionals should be concerned

• • how people will be motivated in a virtual environment

• • how technology will continue to change the nature of work (Henderson & Provo, 2006).

• Enormous returns in investment for

• creating virtual learning organizations

• (Lewis, 1998).

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 9. Virtual HRD

• Proposed Definition :

• A process for developing and/or unleashing human expertise through training and development (T&D) and organization development (OD) by utilizing a technology-enabled environment for the purpose of improving performance

• • builds on Swansons (2001) definition, and

• • includes the requisite that HRD be conducted within a virtual environment.

• Special Notes:

• • Virtual HRD isnota completely new field or even another definition of but rather a subset of the field as we know it today.

• • Virtual HRD isanother area for exploring our foundational concepts and core values .

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 10. References

• Bierema, L. L., & Hill, J. R. (2005). Virtual mentoring and hrd.Advances in Developing Human Resources, 7 (4), 556-568.

• Birchall, D., & Giambona, G. (2007). SME manager development in virtual learning communities and the role of trust: A conceptual study.Human Resource Development International, 10 (2), 187-202.

• Dewey, J. D., & Carter, T. J. (2003). Exploring the future of hrd: The first future search conference for a profession.Advances in Developing Human Resources, 5 (3), 245-256.

• Gibb, S. (2004). Imagination, creativity and hrd: An aesthetic perspective.Human Resource Development Review, 3 (1), 53-74.

• Henderson, G. M., & Provo, J. (2006). A new world aheadare we ready?Human Resource Development Review, 5 (2), 274-277.

• Johnson, J. R., & Jeris, L. (2004). Leading virtual teams: Three cases.Proceedings of the Academy of Human Resource Development Annual Research Conference , (pp. 1023-1030), Austin, Texas.

• Lewis, B. (1998). Virtual learning organizations: Capitalizing on community knowledge.Human Resource Development International, 1 (1), 13.

• Macpherson, A., Elliot, M., Harris, I., & Homan, G. (2004). E-learning: Reflections and evaluation of corporate programmes.Human Resource Development International, 7 (3), 295-313.

• Moran, L. (2005). Vitual team culture and the amplification of team boundary permeability on performance.Resource Development Quarterly, 16 (4), 435-458.

• Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (1999). Defining and redefining community. InBuilding Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies for the Online Classroom . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

• Swanson, R. A. (2001). Human resource development and its underlying theory.Human Resource Development International , 4(3), 299-312.

• Workman, M. (2005). Virtual team culture and the amplification of team boundary permeability on performance.Human Resource Development Quarterly, 16 (4), 435-458.

• Yoon, S. (2004).Two group development patterns of virtual teams: Linear progress and adaptive progression. In T. Egan, M. Morris, & V. Inbakumar, (Eds.), (pp. 1031-1038).Academy of Human Resource Development Proceedings , Austin, TX.

Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt 11. For more information:

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Copyright 2008 Rochell McWhorter, Donna Mancuso & Andrew Hurt