NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
... but over the Internet, the connection speeds and download times are often much slower than CD-ROMs. More and more, CD-ROM and the Web are being seen not as two different methods, but as two parts of the same method - content delivery. CD-ROM is useful for intensive media and the Web is useful for information distribution.
Combine the two and you have a real solution. Do I need a learning assistant or facilitator like Microsoft's Online Learning Institute (MOLI) has as a part of the learning process? An assistant or facilitator available online can be helpful but your training can be designed without them. An assistant on line can help handle customer service issues or technical problems. A facilitator can help with content issues and can guide discussions. Web-based training -especially within an organization - is usually designed to be a stand-alone process to be taken at any time of the day or night.
Even in the latter case, having e-mail access to a webmaster, course manager, or content expert can be helpful. Can an existing CBT be converted into a Web-based training? The major authoring tools (described in a later chapter) allow you to create both a stand-alone version of the program, and a Web version of the program. Depending on which authoring tool you use to create a pre-existing CBT program, you may be able to convert most of it for delivery over the Web. What special programming languages do you have to know to create programs for the Web? Although you need to be somewhat savvy in all things Web-ish, there are no complicated programming languages you need to learn.
In general, you should be familiar with HTML, although this is not required if you are using one of the high-level HTML editors, such as Microsoft's FrontPage which allows you to create Web pages without knowing HTML. The major authoring programs are nearly the same whether you are developing for CD-ROM or the Web. There are also "object oriented" visual tools for programming with Java, such as Aimtech's Jamba and Symantec's Visual Cafe. How much technical information do I need to know about specific Web languages, like Java? Java is a programming language that allows the developer to create small applications called applets that control specific aspects of a Web-based training program, such as creating interactive animations.
Shockwave is a plug-in for programs developed with Macromedia's Authorware so these programs can be viewed with a Web browser over the Web. There is also the Neuron plug-in, which allows Tool Book II applications to be viewed with a Web browser. You should be aware of what Java is capable of, although the specifics of programming a Java applet are not necessary if you use the right authoring tool. Or send one of your staff off to authoring school. What is Adobe Acrobat?
Do I need to use it? Acrobat is used when existing documents need to be displayed on screen or downloaded in the same format as they appear on paper. Acrobat saves the graphics and font files along with the text of the document so that it always looks exactly the same on the screen no matter where or how it is viewed. Government agencies use Acrobat for electronic versions of reports and papers because they need to make references to specific page numbers. You can use Acrobat to reproduce existing company documents if they need to look the same on the screen as they do on the page.
An Acrobat file can also have hyperlinks within and between documents. Be aware that HTML has similar functionality and is often easier to use. What about the overall impact of the Internet? Someone pretty bright put it well: "The Internet is being over hyped but underestimated. " The Internet will change everything. Should the training be interactive on the Web or should it be downloaded and used off-line? It depends on the type of training and administration that you are after.
Real-time administration, as the user is taking the course, can be achieved while the user is online. Off-line programs can be set up to send completion information and test scores at the end of the course, and, if necessary, download another portion of the course. But if a student is taking a course off-line, he or she may not be aware of any updates to the program that may occur while the course is in progress. If the online course requires a change or update of some part of the data or coding, the student is not disrupted, and does not have to initiate another download of the entire course. Down the corridor on the right. Just past the cubicle with all the Dilbert cartoons.
What kinds of authoring systems are available for Web-based training? Authorware, Tool Book II, Icon Author, Quest, IBT Author, CBI Quick, and many others are currently available, most with training components built in. If you want to start with a simple program, an HTML editor or Web page layout program like Netscape Navigator Gold, Microsoft FrontPage, Claris Home Page or Asymetrix Web Publisher may be all you need. How fast a connection is needed to access Web-based training effectively? If your program utilizes video, animation, and audio, the connection should be as fast as possible. For home office users, this means ISDN or 33. 6 Kbps & 56 Kbps modems.
If the training utilizes limited graphics and no audio or video, then a minimal connection via a 14. 4 modem should be adequate. The actual speed available at the time of the transmission. The more users are on a network, the less bandwidth available for that transmission. How can I calculate how fast my program will be delivered over a network? It is difficult to calculate actual speeds because bandwidth varies so often. One second, your training might be delivered at 6. 5 Kbps, the next it may be 1 or 2 Kbps or even less.
In general, your files are calculated in bytes (MB, KB, etc. ) and bandwidth is measured in bits (Mb, Kb, etc. ). To determine how many bits your program is, multiply the number of bytes by 8. A program that takes up 4 megabytes of space takes up 32 megabits. If your connection speed is 2 Mbps (Megabits per second), this file would take 16 seconds to download. Alternatively, over an Internet connection of 33. 6 Kbps (. 336 Mbps) your 32 Mb training would take about 96 seconds. All this is assuming ideal conditions.
And, of course, conditions are always less than ideal. Do you need a Web server to provide Internet-based training? A Web server is needed to have the training available to others. The options are a server maintained by your department or information technology (IT) department, or a public Internet service provider (ISP). Once a course is developed, how do you get it on the Internet or intranet? Most of the time it is just a matter of placing your program and its accompanying files on your server, then testing to ensure it works properly.
Ask your network administrator, Webmaster or ISP provider how to upload the files the Web site. After that it is a matter of marketing. How can you charge for courses over the Internet? The most utilized method is to have the users pay up front by credit card, then give them a password that lets them into the program once payment has been made.
Security for taking payment over the Internet is relatively good. For internal programs over an intranet, course registration software can automate chargeback's to the purchasing department. What about security? I've heard about viruses, hackers, etc. Your company's intranet should be protected from hacker intrusions from the public Internet by a firewall. Your IT department or network administrator can recommend virus protection software.
While these problems exists and make big news in the media, the percentage of incidents is quite small and should not deter your work deploying Web-based training. A firewall is a hardware and / or software security measure taken by companies with internal intranets to keep out unwanted transmissions or visitors from the Internet. An effective firewall will keep out hackers, casual users, and accidental queries while allowing access to legitimate users of the company's intranet from a remote location. Some firewalls limit the ability of employees within the company to download files from the Internet to keep out viruses. Interactive Distance Learning and real-time multimedia Interactive Distance Learning (IDL) technology allows for simultaneous, interactive instruction of student groups at up to four locations by providing high-quality video, audio and data communications. IDL is popular and effective because it emulates the traditional classroom experience.
Students ask questions, watch other students on video monitors, and receive responses from their teacher and other students in real time (6). Interactive instruction offers a solution for minimizing training time without sacrificing desired training outcomes. Those organizations that use interactive instruction report reductions in training time when compared to the traditional instructor-led approach for instruction delivery. This reduction in instructional time is typically in the range of 20 - 75 %. The ability of interactive training to save employee time decreases training costs and permits organizations to redeploy the time of its employees to activities useful to the organization (1). Consider the potential benefits of these advanced distance training technologies.
Your inability to understand or deliver advanced training capabilities will compromise your organizations success and maybe the outlook for your own career. You " ll need a systematic approach to their introduction s or you " ll risk the propagation of ineffective use. Successful introduction s of technology are measured by the degree to which users adapt and own its introduction and implementation. This begins with your own understanding. In the next article we " ll look at direct broadcast satellite in detail.
We " ll examine an actual field implementation at other companies. Computer Based Training (CBT) Challenges The purposes of this paper were to examine unique characteristics multimedia brings to the educational experience; to explore ways industry is using multimedia for training purposes; to review benefits industry has discovered through experience; and finally, to consider multimedia technology as a method for presenting the junior level MIS course. Multimedia, as an instructional tool, is finding its way into higher education. Solomon (1994, p. 81) .".. explores the factors that have inhibited widespread use of multimedia... [in]... higher education as well as the factors that are necessary to allow multimedia to thrive. " Sammons (1994) specifically studied the deterrents university faculty have in adopting multimedia teaching methods and recommends strategies for overcoming these problems.
The rate of information doubling is every five years. Toffler (1970) describes the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change. Generally speaking we are approaching and have probably exceeded our ability to make use of all the given information presented to us in a day. Because the amount of information and the ease of its distribution have increased, employees now receive an overwhelming volume of context-free information, mail memos, reports, periodicals, books, manuals, classroom training, and much more.
Employees learn most effectively in the context of a meaningful work environment. Research indicates that 80 % of all job skills are leave on the job (Malcom 1993). Today, on the job means at the PC. Yet we continue to focus all our energy on improving formal training programs while we barely influence the 80 percent of learning that always has occurred - on the job (Malcom 1993). Paradoxically, 80 % of training resources are expended on the 20 % of learning that occurs in the classroom or similar environment. Instructional design is the systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the total process of learning in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and communication. (Gagne, 1990) There are proven methodologies that illustrate how several types of communications media, including the PC, can be combined in various ways to mediate the flow of information between instructor / technology and recipient.
The exponential growth and commercialization of the Internet presents numerous opportunities as well as challenges: With the development of the World Wide Web, a global distributed information system, accessible information across the Internet has multiplied (In today's world, this could mean high speed connection between intranets). With an estimated 30 million users and 200, 000 connected networks world wide, the Internet is becoming a mainstream public as well as corporate network. (Internet World, 1995) The ability to use this system for training will only get better as we develop technology that assures available bandwidth reservation. With new business models that demand outsourcing, 'just in time" everything, and virtual organizations, integration across organization boundaries by leveraging the Intranet and Internet can improve intercompany productivity. With the adoption of universal conferencing standards, advanced digital compression and more powerful desktop computers, it is only a matter of time before the WWW and Intranet becomes a tool for direct audio and video communication. According to a recent research study, the average corporate investment in proprietary network implementations is $ 245, 000, with an average payback period of more than two years. 80 % of the respondents to this study targeted a single groupware application. A groupware application is characterized by the enabling role it plays in employee collaboration of documents and communication over the network.
On the other hand, WWW applications can be fully developed and deployed for $ 10 K or less. (Source: International Data Corporation). The development of the WWW/lntemet and relatively new focus on the Intranet, leave us with possibilities limited only by the extent to which we are willing to use our imaginations. Since the National Science Foundation gave up control of the Information Superhighway in late 1994, permitting commercial applications on the Internet for the first time, technology development can only be described as exponential. It is clear that the Web and Intranet can be used as an educationalnraining aide, providing available information in moments. And, because it is free of many of the bandwidth problems slowing aspects of WWW/internet development, some useful training applications will be available on the Intranet before they are generally ready on the Web. The advent of Java and the assimilation client side execution languages like VB and Java Scripting are permitting a high degree of immediate interactivity, today.
Objective testing and tracking can now be accomplished over the web. In 1997 Corporate I. T. networks will enable us to use the company's existing PC network to connect with other organizations - from desktop to desktop simultaneously training any number of cc-workers. This is facilitated by the transition to 100 MB ethernet networks from 10 MB ethernet networks. The Ethernet network is a system originally developed by Xerox, Intel, and Digital Equipment Corporation in the early 1980 s.
Many PC workstations are connected using an ethernet cable. A special network operating system manages traffic over the cable for the workstation. The significance in the 100 MB ethernet network is in its ability to carry streaming video and audio without impact to other users on the network, where this would be othennrise impossible with a 10 MB ethernet network. In an Ethernet networked video conferencing solution the audience can see, hear and view material all at once. Participants submit written questions, which appear on the screens of all trainees, or request to speak directly with the instructor. Attendance records can also be maintained.
This will enable a training organization to meet higher demands with fewer resources. Cover more bases with less interruption to the workday. Instant connections will enable your corporation to conduct management seminars, benefits presentations or Q & A sessions from an office cubicle. And, we " ll be able to deliver live and pre-recorded training sessions to people across campus sites - simultaneously. And because we " ll be able to incorporate training into regular work schedules where work is done at the PC, we can relay new or time-sensitive information, work together in groups and conduct seminars more frequently - without increasing staff or budgets. New products such as multipoint to multipoint videoconferencing are evolving into the market now.
With these products your employees will be able to hold a multipoint to multipoint videoconferencing and share documents in a shared whiteboard space using standard ISDN. ISDN, Integrated Services Digital Network, is often evangelized as the telecommunications network of the future bringing digital (as opposed to analog) signals into the home or office. ISDN can provide 64 to 128 Kbits / sec of digital data. Compare this to typical modem rates of 28. 8 Kbits / sec . Many new video conferencing technologies use ISDN. With this exciting technology people in a variety of distant locations will be able to confer and share applications such as Excel or Word.
The video quality delivered is excellent at video speeds of 15 frames per second (FPS), compared to theater movies at 28 FPS, and n/ 30 FPS. The use of Multipoint Controller Units (MCU) will allow " continuous presence' calls with dozens of video enabled PCs. Each person is equipped with full interactivity on a shared 'whiteboard" space. The MCU capability will be brought to us by the telecommunications carders AT&T, Sprint or MCI. Scheduling a multipoint video conference will be as easy as scheduling a teleconference today. With the coming conferencing capabilities, look for Active X video and audio conferencing in the fall of 1996, using H 323 for real-time web communication without high bandwidth requirements.
Long distance contact and application sharing will be commonplace. Trainers and teachers will be able to deliver product real time, from long distances and get immediate true assessment of their teaching effectiveness. This will be most effective outside the formal classroom setting, where asynchronous training philosophy dominates, as a supplement- i. e. teacher student conferences. Before the beginning of 1997, the Web / lntranet will be much more than its present status as more a 'display' medium for research and training aides.
It will be a fantastic alternative for actual delivery of Rich Multimedia Content (RMC), effectively supplementing more focused delivery media like multipoint videoconferencing and interactive television, which will continue to be the best alternatives for planned presentation of classroom content. DBS is a one-way broadcast network offering information and video delivery to IBM compatible PCs. DBS uses a full Ku-band transponder on a satellite to provide 12 Mbps digital broadcast channel. 12 Mbps or 12 Megabits per second transmission is equivalent to 30, 000 time faster transmission than your 28. 8 kilobits per second modem! A transponder is analogous to an antenna. Ku-band transponders are high powered digital broadcast antennas on the satellite. Ku-band differ from C-band transponders, lower powered analog broadcast antennas on older satellites.
New Data Encryption Standards (DES) and certification systems enable authentication of broadcast recipients. In simple terms, this conditional access capability ensures that a receiver PC may only access data that it is authorized to receive. While old C-band transponders require 1. 2 meter dishes or larger, Ku-band transponders require much smaller dishes because their signals reach closer to the earth and therefore require a smaller receiving "footprint" or dish. Today's Ku-band-ready dishes are as small as 18 " to 24 ." Hughes Network Systems pioneered this technology in 1995 and introduced the now familiar DirecTV system as an alternative to traditional cable TV programming. The DirecT/ dishes are 18 " and cost as little as $ 600. 00. Soon every PC owner will be able to own their own satellite dish.
They will watch N quality video at their PC and surf the internet at blinding speed. Examination of DBS is key to understanding the enabling role it can play in delivering distance learning to the desktop. Today DBS is an ideal medium for Interactive television. Interactive Television (INJ is a satellite based one-way, point-to-multipoint live video broadcast service. It transmits a television quality signal to any number of remote classroom locations. Classrooms can be equipped with keypads connected to dedicated phone lines.
Participants view the program on standard TV sets at remote classroom sites, equipped with individual keypads, allowing participants to ask and respond to questions and offer comments during live broadcast. Over the course of the next 12 months the technology will evolve such that ITV be delivered to the desktop PC. in this implementation a satellite dish connects to the PC via a standard coaxial cable. The cable in tum powers the dish. The cable connects to the PC through a standard PC TV tuner card that can be purchased at the local computer store for under $ 100.
The student will interact with the broadcast facility through keypad emulation software residing on the internet. Tele training is an integrated system for the planning, design and delivery of live and stored audio / video to a student. An " on demand" system interacts with and queries a database of video indexes on a server and plays back stored video broadcasts as opposed to live broadcasts. For example, Joe, our new hire can dial into an internet server populated with corporate videos of sales orientations, stockholders meetings, company archives, and more. Joe requests the server to transmit the sales orientation video to the small satellite dish connected to his PC. A small dish satellite solution will significantly reduce training and travel time; and travel, hotel, instructor, postage, printing, and other expenses associated with live 1: 1 instruction are practically eliminated.
For example, instead of sending an army of marketeers on the road to demonstrate the company's latest products, the product demo can be taped or broadcast live to a number of remote classrooms, hotel sites, or corporate networks connected to PCs and equipped with a DBS dish. There is only the one time development cost, and the cost of deployment decreases the cost per recipient with each broadcast of the same marketing material. satellite services can supplement or even extend our terrestrial-based services to give companies a competitive edge. Because it reduces cost, while increasing system availability satellite technology is a valuable business tool.
In future articles we " ll thoroughly examine small dish interactive television implementations, its purpose, its service, architecture, technical specifications and key benefits. The intention is not only to examine the solution architecture but elicit some forethought and insight as to the many possible benefits derived from integrating small dish satellite into current training activities. The aim is to demonstrate a correlation between the small dish business model and the requirements to deliver communication, training, and information through it - anytime, anywheRe! For further reference check out ATT's homepage at web Future-state designs now must encompass learning systems at a number of different levels. The corporate level or the centralized learning center is only one version. Workplace learning systems of various varieties are equally as important, and networked learning systems via networked information technology are a must.
No modern T&D strategy is complete if the future-state design does not create a specific role for information technology and training delivery technology. Most training organizations today do not have consistent information technology linking them together across an organization, nor do they have common delivery technology platforms that enable easy transit of learning ware across the business. Benchmarking or best practices visits can be a very powerful tool in developing a T&D strategy, particularly if executive sponsors are personally involved. It can be particularly powerful if executive sponsors lack a rudimentary understanding of what the role of T&D is in a modern corporation and what a world-class training system looks like. The drawback to including benchmarking or best practices visits in a strategy project is the lengthening effect that it typically has on the project schedule, since getting executives calendars together in both the host company and the company doing the strategy project can be a logistical nightmare.
Our general recommendation is to conduct benchmarking and best practices visits as a matter of routine, and then incorporate the results of those into the strategy project when that strategy project is done. Planning to spend the time to do the necessary communications during and after the strategy formulation is a very important issue for the strategy project. If a T&D strategy results in a significant departure from the way T&D is organized or conducted today, a great many people will require communications regarding the proposed future state. Many of these will be important stakeholders that must be briefed in person and should not be briefed via memos, E-mail, company news articles, and so forth. Intel designs, manufactures and markets microprocessors. The Logistics Systems training group previously offered traditional classroom instruction for learning new applications.
The group decided to begin providing embedded training in the applications themselves, thus eliminating the need for training. Comparison of hours off the job for training on the LEUCIE Project at Intel Corporation showed traditional classroom training would have required up to 12 hours, while embedded CBT training required up to 2 hours. Intel Corporation is the world's largest supplier of microprocessors for use in personal computers. The logistics department at Intel consists of 800 people worldwide responsible for coordinating the movement of materials and supplies in and out of the company. The Logistics Education and Performance Support Team at Intel is responsible for providing training on new software applications. While the group historically provided traditional classroom training for new programs, the group now provides embedded training in the applications themselves.
Users of the new applications can click on an icon to bring up a training module which provides instruction that is designed as just-in-time and just-enough for the task at hand. Rod Ibieta, manager of the Logistics Education and Performance Support Team, reported that development required working closely with the software programmers to have the training modules appear seamless to the user. The LEUCIE project (Logistics End User Computing Information Enabler) is a new report generating application. Development involved three instructional designers working with the software development team to provide ideas for the user interface design and content. The resulting Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS) included traditional online help, Step-by-Step Cards (on-screen instruction windows that stay resident on top of the application while enabling the user to still interact with the software), and simulations of the software (mini-training modules). The program runs on Intel-based PCs.
The training program / electronic performance support system (EPSS) was developed using Macromedia's Authorware Professional. Intel has replaced the estimated 8 to 12 hours of classroom training typical for such an application with 1 to 2 hours needed to complete the embedded training modules. The program managers report that in addition to the time savings, there has been an increase in accuracy. Their project report quotes Gloria Gery as saying research shows classroom training on software results in 78 % average accuracy, versus 98 % average accuracy with embedded training built into an electronic performance support system. The project report (Smiley, 1994) provided the following information: "Providing a comprehensive performance support system eliminated the need for any classroom training. A course on how to use LEUCIE would have been 8 to 12 hours, so the team estimated saving a day of the users' time.
In addition, the users benefit from having the simulations and other PSS elements available at their desktop, and can access these tools whenever necessary. Since the LEUCIE application is being implemented worldwide, users have 24 -hour access to the training and support information regardless of their location or work schedule. Use of the LEUCIE PSS is being tracked automatically through the networks it is installed on. Markers in the LEUCIE software count whenever a user accesses one of the PSS tools. User reaction to the PSS is being tracked via a survey following their initial use (1). " Bibliography: Bibliography web Corporate Multimedia and the MIS Course. web CBT Prices.
web Training Companies. web Trends in Training & Development. web Brandonhall Training Home Page. web Interactive Distance Learning. Additional Information ISP: The Internet Connection (TICNET), Dallas, TX. Hardware Configuration: Compaq Presario 5020 System, Compaq MV 500 17 Monitor with Compaq IJ 700 Printer.
References Breaking, Ira. (1995). Why satellites will grow in info delivery. Investors Business Daily. October 3. Cole, Jeff. (1995) Star Wars, In new space race companies are seeking dollars from heaven. Wall Street Journal October?
O. Gagne, Robert M. , Leslie J. Briggs and Waiter W. Wager. (1992).
Principles of instructional design. Orlando, Fa, Harcourt Brace Jovanovic h College Publishers. Gery, G. (1995). Electronic Performance Support Systems.
Boston: Weingarten Publications, Inc. JSB Computer Systems. (1996). Malcom, Stanley, (1993) Reengineering Corporate Training. Training. 29 (8). 57 - 61. Toffler, Alvin. (1970).
Future Shock. New York. Random House. Anderson, David L. and Post, Gerald V. (1997), Management Information Systems: Solving Business Problems With Information Technology, Irwin McGraw-Hill, (1997).
Free research essays on topics related to: intel corporation, based training, programming languages, traditional classroom, distance learning
Research essay sample on Computer Based Training Business Interchange
