Utilising e-learning in Russian transport logistics sector

210 Int. J. Shipping and Transport Logistics, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2011

Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Utilising e-learning in Russian transport logistics sector

Milla Laisi* and Olli-Pekka Hilmola Kouvola Research Unit, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Prikaatintie 9, FI-45100 Kouvola, Finland E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] *Corresponding author

Eugene Korovyakovskiy and Andrey Simushkov St. Petersburg State Transport University, Moskovsky 9, RU-190031 Saint-Petersburg, Russia E-mail: [email protected], E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: E-learning is grabbing a foothold as an innovative educational method. Its history leads back to the 1940s and the USA; however, the method only started to conquer the world in the 1990s. Since the creation of the World Wide Web in 1991, technology’s role has expanded annually. Today e-learning is widely utilised both in academia and the business world. The main advantages of e-learning are noted accessibility, cost effectiveness and amplitude of data. However, as all new phenomena, e-learning confronts barriers, which typically arise from cultural and technological contexts. Although the e-learning sector has been widely studied, the logistics sector has not gained further interest. This research tries to fill the gap by presenting a distance learning course organised for Russian (St. Petersburg) logistics specialists. Based on our initial experience, distance learning requires some workshop days (with real interaction between lecturers and students) as well as in non-English speaking countries, lectures are given in their mother tongue.

Keywords: e-learning; distance learning; railways; Russia; transport logistics.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Laisi, M., Hilmola, O-P., Korovyakovskiy, E. and Simushkov, A. (2011) ‘Utilising e-learning in Russian transport logistics sector’, Int. J. Shipping and Transport Logistics, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp.210–226.

Biographical notes: Milla Laisi received double Master’s Degree from Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland and Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg, Russia. At the moment she is a Doctoral student at Lappeenranta University of Technology’s Kouvola Unit.

Olli-Pekka Hilmola is an Acting Professor of Logistics in Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), in Kouvola, Finland. Concurrently he serves as a Visiting Professor of Logistics in Univ. of Skövde, Sweden. He is affiliated with numerous international journals through editorial boards, including Baltic Journal of Management, Industrial Management and Data Systems, as well as Decision Support Systems.

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Eugene Korovyakovskiy is the Head of the Logistics and Commercial Operations Department at St. Petersburg State Transport University. He is a Candidate of technical sciences and defended his dissertation concentrated on railway transport in 2003. His scientific interests include transportation of oversized and over weighted cargoes, cargo terminals, ICT in logistics and SCM.

Andrey Simushkov graduated from St. Petersburg State Transport University in 2004. At the moment he is a Doctoral student at St. Petersburg State Transport University. Additionally, he is the Head of ICT Center of JSC Russian Railways.

1 Introduction

Early on, macro economics identified only two production factors, namely capital and labour (Cobb and Douglas, 1928). At that time, knowledge, education and intellectual capital were recognised not to contribute to the factors of production (Bhattacharya and Sharma, 2007). They were the great unknown contributing significantly on economic growth (Solow, 1957). However, the world has changed. Today we are living in a knowledge society, where intellectual and technological capital is devoted towards its own future development. One of the main revolutions was the creation of the World Wide Web in 1991; it provided new ways to transfer data electronically and to train global workforce (Bell, 2007). According to China Internet Network Information Center (2009), at the end of year 2008 in China alone, 298 million people were using the internet. One of the most freshly minted sectors is e-learning, which has suffused during the last decades. Among universities and schools, several business sectors are using e-learning to educate personnel (Rosenberg, 2001). Market intelligence service provider IDC estimated in January 2006 that the world’s e-learning market reached 23 billion dollars from the earlier 15 billion (Bhattacharya and Sharma, 2007). Furthermore, UNESCO has noted the edification of e-learning: The organisation has its own e-learning site, which provides free courses concentrating on various topics, for example innovation management and solar solutions (UNESCO E-learning, 2009).

The term e-learning was coined in 1998 by Jay Cross, CEO of e-learning forum (Bhattacharya and Sharma, 2007). Basically, e-learning refers to the use of internet technologies to transfer knowledge. According to Rosenberg (2001), e-learning builds on three underlying criteria:

1 it is networked

2 it is delivered to end-user via computer based technology

3 it extends beyond the traditional learning borders.

A criterion concentrating on networking is based on the idea that the data can be easily updated, changed, retrieved and shared. Due to technology’s instant development, computer-based training (CBT) has extended to web-based training (WBT) and internet-based training (IBT). Therefore, possibilities to transfer data are developing rapidly (Rosenberg, 2001).

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In the university world, distance learning conquered a foothold starting from the USA. Already in the 1970s Florida’s Nova University utilised distance learning methods (Rosenberg, 2001). Today internet is commonplace in universities and colleges. Although army and university world opened the path, e-learning has crabbed other industries’ interest apace. Companies are interested in offering employees possibilities to enlarge their knowledge base. Furthermore, this creates a domino effect by providing customers better service, which leads to increased site loyalty (Rosenberg, 2001). Several major companies, such as Cisco, Sun Microsystems, IBM and General Motors have unique e-learning systems (Revanna, 2005). Vaughan and MacVicar (2004) discovered companies especially acknowledge accessibility, relevance to career progression and user-friendliness. Furthermore, Baldwin-Evans (2004) evaluated 16 companies, which use e-learning as an important component. Overall, the sample included 204 employees in 14 countries and it concentrated on discovering participants’ e-learning experiences. 93.5% enjoyed the learning experience and 98% would recommend it to others. 87% informed they have used the learnt skills in practice (Baldwin-Evans, 2004). Although e-learning has basically been accepted well, some remain averse to implement new technology. As the main reasons have been noted are impersonal delivery and automated processes. However, these obstacles are bypassed by implementing more personalised courses and adding the interaction between teacher and students (Bell, 2007; Ettinger et al., 2006).

Although e-learning technology started the path already decades ago, it has grabbed both academia’s and business world’s interest during the last decade. Various countries have launched e-learning programs, with the main intention to broaden the knowledge base both in universities and companies. The trend boomed in the 1990s, when for example China, Brazil and Russia started the era of e-learning. India followed in 2002. Overall e-learning is noted as a positive trend: via internet is possible to transfer knowledge to areas where universities do not exist. Companies are able to garner information worldwide and transfer it from one office to another (Bhattacharya and Sharma, 2007; Gómez et al., 2009; Russia’s Education Federal Portal, 2009; Zhao et al., 2009).

Cross-border European Union funded project (between South-East Finland and North-West Russia), called Lognet, organised a distance learning course for St. Petersburg area’s logistics specialists in October–November 2009. This initial experiment is the basis of our research material in this work. The objective of the study was to examine the level of e-learning in the Russian logistics sector. This study familiarised with the theoretical knowledge of Russia’s e-learning sector and brought it to the empirical level by investigating an e-learning course organised for logistics specialists. The purpose was to find out how company representatives receive knowledge. Furthermore, the intention was also to observe what kind of method was superior in transferring knowledge. The field of research has not grabbed researchers’ interest in English literature; therefore, there exists a lack of data. This paper tries to fill the gap. By providing data from actual course participants, research provides new knowledge both to academia as well as to business people. Our idea is to display how specialists working in the field of logistics accepted e-learning as an educational method, and this way to promote e-learning to other companies. By developing the research’s main objective, research questions were developed. The research questions of the study are:

• What is the status of e-learning in the Russian transport sector?

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• Why e-learning is seen as an advanced educational method in Russia?

The research is structured as follows: Section 2 presents literature findings concerning e-learning. After overall glance and short glimpses of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) countries, this section concentrates more on the Russian environment. Thereafter, in Section 3 the research methodology is introduced. The following Section 4 presents and evaluates completed Lognet distance learning course. Section 5 discusses the country peculiarities and reflects the results gained from Lognet course on the overall situation. In Section 6 we conclude the research work, and provide suggestions for further research in this area.

2 Literature review of e-learning in BRIC countries

In contrast to the long history of distance education, e-learning is a comparatively new phenomenon. Although e-learning is often thought to cover any electronic learning, it has crabbed the world’s interest with the emergence of the World Wide Web in 1991 (Panda and Mishra, 2007). However, the method of utilising technology as a tool in learning was introduced already decades ago. The US Army is often regarded as the pioneer and leading organisation in e-learning. Once preparing for World War II, military leaders realised the skills are spread all over the world, without having a certain way to teach future soldiers. Due to Hollywood’s strong influence, army training films were introduced. Military was satisfied with the outcome, and therefore the same method was pursued for years. The US Army had close relations to universities, and the new teaching method was soon introduced to the educational world. Although television crabbed teachers’ interest, it lacked one of the most important factors in teaching: interaction. Because television provided only one-way information, teachers were not able to interact with students. Therefore, the need for computer-based learning was recognised (Rosenberg, 2001).

As in all new phenomena, e-learning has faced barriers. Cultural and technical barriers are noted predominantly. Cultural barriers include negative attitude towards technology, whereas technical factors relate to reliability and adequate infrastructure. Lack of interaction and lack of time have been recognised as other barriers (Daugherty and Faunke, 1998; Panda and Mishra, 2007; Vaughan and MacVicar, 2004; Zhao et al., 2009). The main advantages in utilising e-learning include accessibility 24/7 and undemanding updating wherefore the data is current and relevant (Babini, 2004; Bell, 2007; Vaughan and MacVicar, 2004). However, the quality of e-learning content also has to be taken into account. While a number of data providers increase, high-quality content is harder to recognise (Ettinger et al., 2006). Although, some universities have developed models for evaluating the quality, overall estimate is that there is still a long way to go in ensuring the quality of e-learning environment (Inglis, 2008; Ireland et al., 2009; Weaver et al., 2008).

According to Bell (2007), e-learning technology’s early adopters in business world have been large city-based organisations. The companies have confronted a need to educate large number of employees in a short time. Online courses are found cost-effective, convenient and straightforward. However, according to Ettinger et al. (2006), presumable e-learning do not replace the traditional learning in business world.

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Their study revealed the dispersion is wide both in current utilisation of e-learning and future predictions: 19 organisations described the current level of utilisation of e-learning is between one to 60%, whereas five to 70% of companies predicted to utilise e-learning as an educational method in future. However, according to their study, e-learning will take bigger foothold in the future; the companies which utilise e-learning today will count as the greatest users also in the future (Ettinger et al., 2006).

Chinese education system has been utilising e-learning as a training method since mid-1990s (Zhao et al., 2009). Education system in China faces huge challenges due to large population base and wide territory. Therefore, e-learning has won foothold from educational system. However, great differences can be seen across the country: Regions located in Eastern part of the country have been noted as ‘developed’, due to experienced teachers, good school facilities and proper teaching methods. In Western parts education is really poor, or there is no education at all. However, the Chinese Government has noted the problems and have started actions to improve the situation. During the last years the government has initiated several projects to upgrade or set up the technology infrastructure in schools. Additionally, numerous online schools and distance education colleges have been established to offer versatile e-learning programs. E-learning is seen as a promising approach as it enables students to interact with teachers, regardless of where they are located (Chen et al., 2009; Gao and Zhang, 2009; Wang et al., 2009; Zhao et al., 2009). In order to learn the newest phenomena of distance education, the Chinese have cooperated with British universities (Forrester et al., 2006). Furthermore, Europe and China has had joint projects in order to transfer e-learning skills to China (Gordon and Lin, 2004). However, according to Zhao et al. (2009), traditional lecturing is still seen as the cornerstone of Chinese education; it is estimated that other methods will not supersede traditional lectures in near future.

The Indian Government has taken an initiative to develop education and e-learning in India (Nikam et al., 2004). According to Bhattacharya and Sharma (2007), one of the cornerstones was the creation of UGC-INFONET, which provides access to university level literature available in the internet. University Grants Commission (UGC) led by Professor Arun Nigavekar decided in 2002 that universities and colleges should utilise the possibilities which ICT has to offer. As an outcome, UGC-INFONET started its operation in the end of 2004. Although, the creation of UGC-INFONET is considered as starting of e-learning era in India, some actions were completed before. Universities have been offering online courses, for example Jadavpur University started in 2000 its Master’s program, which utilised various e-learning technologies (Bhattacharya and Sharma, 2007). Although e-learning is gaining ground among universities, it has not lived up in revolutionising corporate training in India (Mittal, 2008).

According to Bates (2001), Brazil belongs to group of countries, which should utilise in greater scale e-learning systems, due to lack of qualified teachers. In compliance with Babini (2004), Latin American countries, including Brazil, have strong tradition in information networking. The Brazilian Government noted the feasibility and started to pay attention to e-learning in 1990s. One of the incentives was the creation of electronic theses databanks, which enabled researchers and students to seek information from collected databases (Gómez et al., 2009). Additionally, Brazil has succeeded in creating other international archives of online learning material. Virtual library (‘Biblioteka virtual’) was developed at the Universidade de São Paolo. The collection includes works in Portuguese and those that can be utilised by the Brazilian universities (Bates, 2001).

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The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (2010) states: “Education is process and result of mastering the systematised knowledge and skills.” Although e-learning is not approached in the Encyclopedia, data source handles term ‘modern’. In education modern means methods which are actively utilised; traditionally that is divided into information, supervising and training (Karpov and Romanin, 1972; Molibog, 1971). The history of e-learning in Russia leads back to 1997, when Ministry of Education signed an order No. 1050 on 30th May. The order’s main message was to increase the utilisation of e-learning as an experiment in Russian educational system (Russia’s Education Federal Portal, 2009).

Although e-learning as an educational method is spreading annually, still rather few companies are utilising it: according to Korolkov (2009), less than 5% of companies use e-learning. It is mainly utilised while organising corporate courses, which are classified as commercial secrets. Therefore, it is rather intractable to gather detailed data concerning utilisation of e-learning in CIS countries. However, based on analysis of courses’ and forums’ orders, some overall conclusions concerning CIS countries’ e-learning trends can be drawn (E-learning Technology, 2010):

1 several companies are either planning to introduce e-learning, or the utilisation started one to three years ago

2 often e-learning methods are used to disseminate corporate information, for example IT applications, procedures and regulations, and corporate values

3 e-learning is utilised mainly in courses such as software

4 the main group of employees utilising e-learning are the managers; basic personnel and professional staff are lagging behind

5 in most companies, 7.1%–9.6% of the total budget of training and development is devoted to e-learning

6 e-learning market’s volume in BRIC countries is estimated to value $300–450 million

7 e-learning is not utilised for a long time: only 5% of companies use e-learning more than five years

8 in Russia e-learning is mainly utilised by companies with wide regional network and large personnel base, therefore standardised training is highly needed (E-learning Technology, 2010).

In Russia, e-learning is actively used when educating transport markets’ experts both in universities as well as in business life. For example, companies concentrated on sea transportation are utilising over ten various training technologies (Transas, 2009). However, the railway market does not lag behind. The Russian Railways, state owned joint-stock company, is utilising electronic technologies implemented by JSC ‘NPO Automation’, while training transport departments’ personnel (RZD, 2010; Zheldor Avtomatizatsiya, 2009). Due to railway industry’s strong economical and political importance to Russia, storage of information is located in closed intranet. However, the close interaction between universities and business world is noted in e-learning: for example, the Internet and Intranet Technologies’ Centre of PSTU (St. Petersburg

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Transport University) organises e-learning courses for company’s specialists (PSTU, 2009).

The number of available e-learning courses sharpens annually. Therefore, courses’ quality improves and prices decrease, which provides possibilities for more expansive group of customers. However, this is not the only growing trend. For example, in Russia one of the newest trends is to integrate the educational level into world system of education. One of the good examples is project Lognet, which is described more carefully in Section 4.

According to Verzhbitskiy and Manushin (1999) and Kolganov (2007), people in all social categories are interested in further education. The main objective is to receive a basic or second level degree by increasing the amount of knowledge and proficiencies. Verzhbitskiy and Manushin (1999) have studied the interest towards e-learning in Russia. Altogether 5,650 people were interviewed, representing the age group 18–45 living in 22 regions all around Russia. Table 1 presents the findings. Table 1 Interest towards e-learning in Russia

Social group Percentage

University applicants 100% Company managers 90% Day-time students 80% Teachers 75% Employees of public authorities and administrations 70% Prisoners 70% Disabled persons 60% Unemployed having college degree 60% Citizens living in rural areas 50% Security officers and soldiers 20%–30%

Source: Verzhbitskiy and Manushin (1999)

As Table 1 illustrates, various social groups see e-learning as an interesting approach. Therefore, it can be noted that e-learning plays a vital part in Russia’s educational system. However, the same survey studied the disadvantages of traditional learning systems. According to results, the main drawbacks noted were the limited capacity of traditional education, infeasibility to participate in lectures due to long distances, high tuition fees, infeasibility to attend to lectures due to travel and living costs, and disabilities. Understandably, all these disadvantages can be effortlessly overcome by utilising e-learning as an educational method (Verzhbitskiy and Manushin, 1999).

E-learning provides several possibilities: one of the main functions is the possibility to participate in courses without actually sitting in a class room. All contents are present in electronic form and delivered normally via internet to registered users. The gamut of existing multimedia possibilities, for example drawing, animation, audio, video, presentations, can be utilised. Due to undemanding updating possibilities, content is easy to update and new educational methods and programs are comprehensible.

Understandably, the learning methods utilised depend on target audience. E-learning is often noted adequate for business people, because they have limited amount of time for learning although increasing the knowledge level is highly recommended. For example,

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the Russian Railways, which is one of the largest companies in the world, are utilising three software products.

1 IBM Lotus Workplace Collaborative Learning

2 different cases on the basis of product MOODLE (Moodle, 2009)

3 transport universities’ e-learning facilities focused on the student’s environment.

IBM has launched the first project based on e-learning technologies. The project is called ‘The educational portal of JSC RZD (ОПОРТ)’ (see Figure 1).

Figure 1 The Educational portal of JSC RZD (ОПОРТ) (see online version for colours)

IBM workplace collaborative learning is a portal-based learning management system, which provides learning services in order to help organisations to manage their training programs more efficiently. Integration with Workplace Collaborative Learning delivers blended learning experiences and provides students enhanced tools, such as course discussion areas, document sharing, web conferencing, and chat rooms. IBM workplace collaborative learning system creates and manages classroom-based e-learning activities and curriculums across the companies. Whether the training is organised via online or face-to-face, IBM workplace collaborative learning helps to gather materials, students and required resources. IBM workplace collaborative learning addresses various customer requests to further enhance the user interface (UI), usability, stability, and reliability of the application (IBM, 2008).

Workplace collaborative learning supports a number of different content formats (see Figure 2). A single course may contain a variety of different formats.

• Web-based content: web-based content is designed to be displayed in a web browser. It is usually delivered as HTML files, but may be delivered in a proprietary format that requires clients to install a plug-in before they can launch the content. Web-based content needs to be stored on a web server running HTTP.

• File-based content: File-based content is content that usually runs from a local machine. The files may be accessed from CDs, file servers, or local client machines. Workplace collaborative learning launches file-based content from a web browser.

• Virtual classroom content: The virtual classroom contains activities that students and an instructor work on simultaneously at a prearranged time. They are associated with

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virtual classroom sessions created in the authoring tool or in the Lotus® Virtual Classroom interface (available as a separate IBM® product). Virtual classroom sessions are run in web browser and the files are stored on a Lotus Virtual Classroom server.

Figure 2 IBM Lotus workplace collaborative learning system in Russian Railways (see online version for colours)

Although some companies are utilising e-learning as an educational tool, basically there are not enough resources in public internet concerning e-learning possibilities in logistics in Russia. Therefore, under the Lognet project a new course was constructed, which utilised modern learning technologies in the field of logistics. The Lognet distance learning course is presented in Section 4.

3 Research methodology

Due to the nature of the topic, the best way to evaluate the e-learning progress is to investigate a distance learning course. As part of the Lognet project (development of logistics for supplier net models), a project consortium led by Lappeenranta University of Technology, Kouvola Research Unit, Finland, developed an e-learning course. The course was completely developed by consortium partners, and target audience was the logistics specialists working in the St. Petersburg area. The project was funded by the European Union neighbourhood program, called Tacis.

The development of the course was started in the beginning of 2009. The main intention was to transfer academic knowledge to business people; to combine two aspects of the field of interest. Therefore, the whole course material was done by professors and

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researchers. During spring and summer 2009 altogether nine lectures were recorded, providing true classroom learning experience. Naturally, because the course was a distance learning course, the whole course material was available in the internet and participants had a 24/7 access. In addition to lectures, the materials included reports providing dozens of articles.

While promoting the course, several methods were used. The information about the course was distributed via Russian logistics sector’s internet pages. Additionally, persons involved in organising the course contacted colleagues in several companies and informed about the course. Overall, 12 participants signed to the course. Course participants represented major logistical companies: the course had one participant from the Russian Railways, Transgarant and DHL, six persons from large transport and logistics company Huolintakeskus and three representatives from medium-sized freight forwarders. Among the students were managers, specialists and two Chief Executive Officers (also owners of their companies). The course started in October, and participants had a possibility to study the course materials via internet, whenever, wherever. To strengthen the knowledge level and providing a possibility for further cooperation, two workshop days were organised in St. Petersburg. Before receiving a course diploma, participants had to pass a course exam. In the end of the course a feedback form was given, in order to find out the course’s strengths and weaknesses.

4 Empirical results of Russian e-learning course

Lognet (development of logistics for supplier net models) project started in March 2008 and terminated in November 2009. The lead partner was Lappeenranta University of Technology, Kouvola Research Unit, Finland, and the other partners were St. Petersburg State Transport University, Russia, North-Western Russia Logistics Development and Information Center, ILOT, Non Profit Research and Training Center of Adult Education, Protey and Innorail-organisation from Kouvola, Finland. One of the project’s objectives was to develop and implement a distance learning course for St. Petersburg area’s logistics specialists. The main intention was to transfer academic knowledge to business people via interactive environment. Therefore, Moodle system was chosen as distance learning course’s backbone. The course web page was created to internet under the address http://www.lognet-project.ru (see Figure 3).

Lognet distance learning course webpage provided various kinds of data. The main concentration was on lectures, which operated as the main teaching method. Course topics covered various themes between basics of logistics to engrossed aggregates, for example over-sized cargo had its own lecture. All lectures were done by Finnish and Russian professors and researchers. Because course language was Russian, Finnish lectures were re-done by Russian trainee (importance of language in other non-English speaking countries, see for example Xue et al., 2005). This ensured good language quality in all provided lectures. Among the Russians, lectures were also available in English. The lectures were recorded by using Camtasia program: Voice was recorded, while showing power point slides per each topic. This strengthened the studying experience. In addition to recorded lectures, web pages provided various data; students were able to read reports and notes, and see videos. For example, the lecture ‘information technology in logistics’ consisted of seven sectors, is presented in Table 2.

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Figure 3 Lognet distance learning course main page (see online version for colours)

Source: http://www.lognet-project.ru

Table 2 Sectors in lecture ‘information technology in logistics’

Sector Type of content

1 The review of information technology in logistics File 2 Information technology’s interoperability in logistical

chains; the exchange protocol EDIFACT File

3 Realisation of information interoperability between port and railway operators

File

4 The video lecture ‘common information space of logistics’ Video lecture 5 The lecture ‘common information space of logistics’ Power point presentation 6 The video lecture ‘the problems of IT implementation in

logistics’ Video lecture

7 The lecture ‘the problems of IT implementation in logistics’ Power point presentation

As illustrated in Table 2, all lectures included basic files, video lectures and power point presentations. Figure 4 represents the main page from ‘information technology in logistics’ lecture.

Figure 4 introduces the lecture’s main page. In the middle are listed all available teaching materials. Columns on the left side provide contact details to professors, links to other sources, for example discussion forum and other students.

Due to Moodle system’s versatility, numerous functions were offered to students. For example, discussion section, news and e-mail possibility enabled close cooperation with organisers. This further strengthened the learning experience. Although course was done mainly interactively, in order to strengthen the cooperation between different actors in the field of logistics and provide recent information concerning logistics programs, two workshop days were organised. During the evening lectures Finnish and Russian experts shared the recent research knowledge and familiarised the participants with several programs. In addition, workshop days included course test and participants’

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presentations. Representatives from several third party logistics companies participated in the course (national and international).

Figure 4 Main page of course ‘information technology in logistics’ in Lognet distance learning course main page (see online version for colours)

Source: http://www.lognet-project.ru

Table 3 Course participants’ feedback and satisfaction percentages

Applied working methods supported learning experience 90% Course fulfilled may expectations 93% Data was useful and actual 92% Materials’ quality was good 93% Teaching methods were suitable 90% Course was interesting and important to me 95% I had a clear understanding what was expected from me 88% Course gave a clear picture about current themes in logistics 83% I gained new knowledge 83% I can use the applied data in practise 90% Topics covered during workshop days were interesting and useful 95%

According to gathered feedback, participants were satisfied with the course proceedings (see Table 3). In order to further rate the feedback, 11 key issues were chosen to be evaluated. Five-point rating scale was utilised to rank the outcomes. All 12 students rated 11 key characteristics by giving rates from one (poor) to five (excellent). Therefore, the total sum was 132. Participants ranking is presented in Table 4.

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Table 4 Course rating by participants

Score Amount

1 0

2 0

3 6

4 50

5 76

As Table 4 presents, participants were satisfied with the course’s outcome. Excellent – 5 gained 76 points, whereas very good – 4 received 50 points. The lowest ranking noted was average – 3, which got six points. Course was noted as interesting and indispensable; several participants noted that the course gave a lot of content for their daily work. Participants requested the possibility to organise further courses. Therefore, it can be concluded the logistics specialists were satisfied with the course and its implementation.

Although feedback was mainly positive, participants pointed out a few sectors which could be improved. According to results, lectures could provide more in-depth information. In addition, few participants informed due to the fact logistics is rather practical trade, logistics evaluation should be done more practically, instead of utilising complex mathematical and economical aggregates. This illustrates also that the Russian citizen’s viewpoint: more attention is paid to the technical side of business, rather than strategic objectives.

5 Discussion

E-learning has gained grounds as an innovative educational method. Although its pre-history leads back to 1940s, during the last decades e-learning has pervaded worldwide. One of the main reasons was the creation of World Wide Web in 1991 (Panda and Mishra, 2007), which provided a possibility to distribute and transfer knowledge electronically. Numerous countries have started to utilise the possibility to transfer knowledge via internet; China was among the first countries which started to build an active e-learning environment. Due to China’s size and class distinctions between rural areas and cities, e-learning enabled studying regardless of person’s physical location. The same trend has continued during the last years: the Chinese Government has started several projects to upgrade or set up the technology infrastructure in schools. Another interesting example is India, where the country’s government has taken an initiative to develop education and e-learning (Nikam et al., 2004). According to Bhattacharya and Sharma (2007), one of the cornerstones was the creation of UGC-INFONET in 2002, which provides access to university level literature available in internet. In the university world one leader besides the USA is Russia, where several universities have online courses. One of the trendsetters is Moscow State University of Railway Engineering (MIIT), which offers great amount of courses via internet. In addition to students, MIIT educates thousands of business representatives annually. The need for courses is great in the field of logistics, due to changes in legislative demands. Therefore, logistics specialists were noted as a good target for e-learning course.

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Lognet distance learning course provided a distance learning course for logistics’ specialists. E-learning course’s backbone was Moodle (internet based course management system), which provided a good platform to transfer academic knowledge to business people. Although participants were satisfied with the outcome, some barriers were noted. The main barriers confronted in Lognet course were technical of nature: Sometimes internet is not working properly in Russia, which impeded the learning process. Additionally, lack of time was noted as a barrier: All participants were working, which reduced the possible time for learning. However, distance course via internet was noted as the best solution for studying, mainly because material was available whenever and wherever. Because all participants use computers daily, cultural barriers were not noted. However, the fact Lognet was a blended course (including two workshop days in addition to internet based lectures), participants were able to interact with professors and researchers. This was noted as a good solution; as many researches have shown earlier (see for example Jara and Mellar, 2009; Zhao et al., 2009), blended course is often noted as the most efficient model (Hilletofth et al., 2010).

6 Conclusions

E-learning has provided new insights into learning. According to latest studies, it is a cost effective way to transfer knowledge. Other main advantages include 24/7 accessibility and undemanding updating, wherefore provided information is current and relevant. However, as in all new phenomena, e-learning faces barriers: Cultural and technical barriers are typically noted as predominant. Additionally, lack of interaction and lack of time were noted as barriers. Although e-learning has basically been accepted well, some remain averse to implement new technology. The main reasons have been impersonal delivery or automated processes. However, these obstacles are bypassed by implementing more personalised courses and adding the interaction between teacher and students.

Although e-learning has spread worldwide, there exist discrepancies in countries’ utilisation rates. Although e-learning has obtained a secure foothold in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), there exist country characteristics. Brazil has collected extensive thesis databases, whereas India started the process in 2004 via UGC-INFONET. China has collected erudition from Europe, in order to spread the education to all areas. Although Russian e-learning sector is not widely studied, it has provided courses to both academia and business world for more than ten years.

One of the best functionalities in e-learning is its possibility to enable business people to gain new knowledge. Due to great accessibility, materials can be studied outside normal university hours. Especially in trades where information changes rapidly, e-learning has opened a new world. One of these fields of expertise is logistics. Although many organisations in Russian logistics sector are utilising e-learning, concentration is on companies’ internal e-learning environments. One example is the Russian Railways, which has rather sophisticated e-learning environment. However, there has been a lack of e-learning course combining various actors from the field. Lognet distance learning course tried to fill this gap. The course’s main intention was to transfer academic knowledge to business people. In addition to internet based course, two seminar days were organised in order to strengthen the interaction between professors and business people. Because the course gathered 12 specialists representing several major transport companies, participants were able to meet and discuss about sector’s current status.

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According to received feedback participants were really satisfied, which reinforced the idea that more such courses should be organised. Furthermore, received feedback explicates e-learning course was noted as a functional way to educate personnel; it can be highly recommend to other companies as well as to divergent business industries.

For further research in this area, several interesting topics were unfolded. A country comparison providing new insights could explicate the national discrepancies in education. Furthermore, evaluating e-learning experiences from companies operating in various fields could provide interesting information to both academia and business world.

Acknowledgements

Constructive and value adding comments from two referees are gratefully acknowledged.

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