eLearning Readiness PALAMA eLearning Unit Guillaume Kruger October 2011 Public Administration, Leadership and Management Academy SOUTH AFRICA
eLearning Readiness
PALAMA eLearning UnitGuillaume Kruger
October 2011
Public Administration, Leadership and Management Academy
SOUTH AFRICA
Road map for this discussion
1. Introduction2. Conceptualising eLearning 3. Business advantages of
eLearning4. How does it work?5. What does it take?
• Locally and internationally universities and corporate training and development institutes utilise ICTs for learning
• The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act was passed in Aug 2002– The act started with the basic premise that digital
communications are no less valid than paper-based communications
Introduction
Introduction
• What is eLearning?• What are the business
advantages?• How does it work?• What does it take?
Conceptualising eLearning
What is eLearning?
eLearning is used as an umbrella term to refer to training interventions and
materials that optimally utilise ICTs to
support learning.
Benefits of eLearning include:• Reduced (or no) travel and accommodation costs• Limited time away from the work place• Access to capacity building interventions irrespective
of time and distance• Flexibility in terms of the number of participants
enrolled per course offering• Flexibility in terms of the scheduling of course
offerings
What are the business advantages?
Benefits of eLearning include:• Enhanced retention and throughput
– Interactive course design– Individualized learner support (admin, technical & academic)– Tracking and reporting of learner progress– Flagging of at risk participants and mediation
• Centralized knowledge management• Acquisition of knowledge and skills that can be useful in
other areas of participants’ lives
What are the business advantages?
What are the business advantages?
Actual costs:Material developmentFacilitation of learning
Assessment of evidenceModeration
Ancillary costs:Duplication of materials
CateringTravel and accommodation (facilitator)
Travel and accommodation (participants)
Capacity development costs
between 40 and 60 %
How does it work?
Face-to-face (f-2-f)
Classroom based
Fully technology-mediated
Blend of f-2-f and technologies
How does it work?
Fully technology-mediated
Blend of f-2-f and technologies
Administrative f-2-f supported by technologies
Technology-mediated
supported by f-2-f
Face-to-face (f-2-f)
Classroom based
multi-media on a storage device
web-based technologies
mobile technologies
Learners Facilitators / Administrators
• Access information• Interact
(content/facilitator/peers)• Demonstrate competence
• Orientate learners• Provide access to information• Interact with learners• Assess evidence• Provide feedback• Track and report on learner
activity
How does it work?
What does it take for a Learner?
Know
ledg
e an
d sk
ills
A supportive institutional environment
Abili
ty
Space
Will
Comm
itment, culture and ethos
PERFORMANCE
I can! I want to!
I am allowed!
Basic ICT knowledge and skills
Willingness to participate in
eLearning initiatives
Access to technologies and sponsorship
What does it take for an Institution?
Human Infrastructure
Technological Infrastructure
Organisational Infrastructure
Human Infrastructure
• Course designers, developers, facilitators• Assessors • Moderators• Verifiers (quality assurance body)• M&E practitioners (monitoring and evaluation for
continuous improvement)• Administrators
Human Infrastructure
• eLearning project managers - role is to coordinate the above, ensure strategic decision making to promote the uptake and relevance of eLearning. These role players have to be competent with specific qualifications in technology-mediated learning
• Outsourcing…
Outsourcing…
• Development of effective eLearning materials requires large pools of intellectual capital, diverse expertise and scarce skills, as well as expensive resources including technological hardware and software.
• The formation of such teams varies considerably, depending on the nature of each project.
Outsourcing…
• For these reasons, the technical design and development of eLearning materials are outsourced and rigorously managed.
Outsourcing…
Advantages include the following: • Outsourced solutions can significantly cut costs;• Teams are scalable on demand; • Service provider teams typically work with many
different kinds of projects for various clients. This equips them with the knowledge and skills to propose new inputs, which is valuable in the fast-changing field of ICTs;
Outsourcing…
Advantages include the following: • Service providers are contractually bound to complete
projects according to specified standards; and• Outsourcing allows the eLearning unit to focus on core
strategic goals, such as the alignment of training and development with identified training needs, evaluation of training and development results, future plans and change management.
Outsourcing…
Advantages include the following: • The above-mentioned benefits are based on the
assumption that competent and appropriate service providers can be contracted.
Technological Infrastructure
• Learning Management System (basic requirements of the ETQA) – functional requirements
• ERP (i.e. integrated systems from quotation to certification)
• Large numbers, require automated procedures
Organisational Infrastructure
• Importance of eLearning being mainstreamed (not an additional extra)
• Plan to integrate from the start…
eLearning implementation strategy
Phase 12009/10
• Understand the context• Initiate a community of eLearning practitioners• Develop a short to medium term action plan for eLearning• Match capacity building needs with available eLearning tools and platforms
Phase 22010/11
• Conduct an eLearning environmental scan• Develop a draft eLearning implementation strategy • Adapt and/or develop monitoring and evaluating tools for eLearning• Pilot, monitor and evaluate eLearning programmes• Develop at least xx new eLearning programmes• Establish an LMS for the roll out of eLearning in the public service• Elevate the community of eLearning practitioners
Phase 32011 to 2013/14
• Develop at least xx new eLearning programmes• Roll out piloted programmes to scale• Monitor evaluate and report on eLearning programme performance• Update the eLearning environmental scan• Review and revise the eLearning implementation strategy
• Development costs of highly interactive multi-media materials (e.g. simulations)
• Limited access to technologies for capacity building purposes
• Technophobia• Limited understanding of the success factors for
eLearning• Lack of guidelines and regulatory documents
What are the key challenges?
• Use existing, approved programmes for eLearning delivery– Learner guide– Facilitator guide– Assessor guide
Learning programme materials development
• Employ qualified – Facilitators*– Assessors– Moderators
Learning programme delivery
Main considerations
• Delivery approach• Policy development• Selection of courses for eLearning • Design and development strategies• Implementation infrastructures• Evaluation of eLearning • Change management in the organisation
• Participant orientation (before)• Secure login• (User verification for submission of learner evidence)• Access to information• Channels of communication• Formative assessment with feedback• Assignment drop-box
eLearning platform: functionalities
• Participant support: academic, administrative and technical (during)
• Tracking and reporting– Tracking of learner progress– Flagging of at-risk learners– Record keeping of interaction, submission of
evidence, assessment results and feedback– Follow-up with at-risk learners
eLearning platform: functionalities
• Moderators can access assessed student evidence online
• Verification can be facilitated by means of an on-site visit with a demonstration of the online “classroom” and activities, and/or
• By means of remote access
Moderation and verification
What courses are available?
• Bid Committees (PFMA)• Bid Committees (MFMA)• Inventory Management• At least 10 new courses are being developed for
roll out in the 2011/12 financial year• Fully technology mediated courses include:
– Excellent Customer Service for Frontline Staff– Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation– SCM for the Public Service
The question to ask…
is not if ICTs should be used, but how available technologies can be used most
effectively to support training and development in the Public Service.
Contact details
Director: eLearningGuillaume [email protected]