I would like to start my article with a few economic facts
which could lay a background for the message I want to get
across.
The political agenda of making Europe the most competitive
global economy by 2010 has not been matched by developments
over the past five years. Demographics show that Europe will
continue to have a shrinking workforce between now and 2020
with older workers forming the core of the European workforce.
Currently 80 million EU citizens are low-skilled. By 2010
it is estimated that half of all additional new jobs on the
labour market will require tertiary education and almost 40%
upper secondary level. Logically, the job prospects for the
low skilled will decline. So we are currently confronted with
the situation where half the EU workforce (some 100 people)
require upskilling.
This in my view cannot take place in the back to the classroom
scenario, Learning and upskilling must be integrated in the
workplace.
These unsettling prospects must also be seen in the current
European economic structure. Small and medium-sized enterprises
are the European Union. They account for 99% of all businesses;
they provide employment for 74 million people.
Elearning through the flexibility and facility of access it
offers is seen - at least politically - as an important enabler
of lifelong learning. However, while we can observe an increase
use and impact of elearning in large European companies -
up to 60% of the training needs of key players in the ICT
sector is now provided by elearning) the uptake in SME's is
at best slow and does not meet initial hopes and expectations.
A recent study carried out by Cedefop and the European Commission
shows that elearning has had a limited impact on SME's in
terms of those who use it and what it is used for, The use
was almost always limited to managers and ICT based staff.
The case studies carried out showed that in five European
countries there were a number of factors decisive in influencing
the development of ICT for learning in SME's. The most significant
were:
the total lack of training culture within the SME
lack of appropriate learning materials
the attitude of individual managers
and lack of access to sufficient bandwidth to ensure
high quality training.
Broadly speaking and with few exceptions, despite spawning
a number of new technology companies and numerous government
and European sponsored programme's the uptake and efficacy
of learning using ICT has been less than convincing. The development
of learning in Europe has been dominated by the metaphor of
the virtual classroom and the virtual university, it has equally
been dominated with an obsession with technology and very
little attention has been paid to vocational and occupational
learning or the development of elearning environments in less
formal learning contexts.
Like it or not, research suggests today that most learning
takes place in every and work social situations, In other
words, most of our learning is informal and takes place in
a variety of social contexts. Work is carried out in a social
context - this is particularly the case in small and medium-sized
enterprises and plays a very important part in people's lives.
If elearning is to make a contribution to changing the traditional
learning paradigm - institution based phase and stage related)
it must become embedded in the work organisation.
The use of ICT in the broad sense for learning is considered
a major factor in implementing the paradigm of lifelong learning
and in providing staff from SME's in particular with access
to continuing vocational education and training.
The main objectives of ICT supported learning should take
forward the following objectives:
it should increase access to learning opportunities through
increased flexibility of delivery modes and by overcoming
geographical barriers to participation,
it should enhance the quality of the learning experience
in terms of content and teaching
ultimately it should increase the efficiency of the organisation
by reducing costs and increasing productivity.
So what are the obstacles to making elearning happen in SME's
Firstly I believe that people are ready to learn when they
realise that they don't know something that they need to knowin
order to accomplish a goal they wanted to approach. Thus there
is little use in a philosophy of one size fits all, To date most elearning has been an attempt to put books on computers
interrupted by a multiple choice test, The advocates of elearning
have not spent time trying to understand how the new medium
changes the educational experience. They are simply trying
to replicate what is there now while leaving out some of the
important parts such as the teacher. The value of a computer
may seem at first to be its ability to deliver information
anytime anywhere but its value in education is much more important.
When the air flight simulator was invented what was important
was not the fact that it could be used in any remote location.
It enabled pilots to learn to fly without risk and to accumulate
the experience but not be harmed by it Today, to give another
example, most university courses are lecture courses. Lectures
are evidence of the inertia that exists in education and still
reflects ancient educational considerations. ELearning needs
to be about learning by doing, also using the computer to
evoke simulated experience. One should learn to run a business
by running it rather than reading or hearing about how to
do it.
The emphasis in the elearning industry has changed somewhat
over the past five years from a technological to a pedagogical
perspective.
So first and foremost there must be a broader understanding
of what elearning really is and that it impacts largely on
how, where, what and how the learner progresses.
Secondly, I would return to the issue of the learning culture.
What is the motivation of the learner in the SME. Are their
incentives - tangible or intangible for improving his/her
competences. ELearning cannot be removed from the whole debate
of the learning organisation, of managing human capital and
recognising the assets of the company are largely in the heads
of its employees. Workplaces need to be designed to facilitate
learning and learning infrastructures. This requires examination
of what forms of work organisation are needed to support elearning
in SME's and how skills gained from formal and informal learning
activities can be applied in the workplace. In this domain
current research is weak.
The third issue I would touch upon is the question of pedagogies
and learning cultures. Work is still outstanding in defining
and analysing the training and learning needs of SME's and
of its managers and employees. In an elearning context there
is a need to develop effective pedagogies, materials and eresources,
Fourthly the issue of elearning materials and infrastructures.
We need a much broader understanding of how electronic media
and applications can be used to support elearning. This should
go hand in hand with an audit of what elearning materials
are actually available to SME's, how does it fit their real
learning needs. This would led me on to the issue of localisation
of software but that I shall leave aside for the present.
Point number five. That elearning is a cheap learning solution
is a myth. On average US estimates put costs of one hour elearning
instructional material at 20 000 dollars - in some cases as
high as 80 000 dollars. If materials can not be recycled, if learning materials cannot be adapted to specific
learning environments, it learning materials have not complied
with technical standards, then there use is limited and the
return on investment non-existent.
And perhaps the last point I wish to make. What about the
models and frameworks to support elearning in SME's. There
are growing national and regional initiatives, and here I
would point to Scotland as one outstanding example for networking
and support to the SME looking for elearning opportunities.
For SME's I believe in terms of financial resources, the most
convincing model is one based on learning regions and partnerships.
The issue of open standards is essential it elearning is to
be a feasible investment = particularly for SME's. Similarly
there is a need for a lifecycle model of learning content
covering all aspects of content from creation to delivery
storage and retrieval.
The issue of the changing role of the trainer or educator
is equally important. They potentially play the key role as
change agents. Their continuous professional development is
essential and work we have carried out at Cedefop shows that
there is major concern among teachers and trainers that they
are not equipped to support technology in the learning environment
To conclude, I think I have tried to advocate the view that
the issue of how a culture of lifelong learning should be
developed and supported in SME's is a complex one. It is unsure
to me if present national and European policies promote access
to continuing learning as a pubic right or. a private good,
What is the balance between the responsibilities of the public
and private sectors regarding elearning. And this raises the
vital question of funding. Already there are substantial differences
in access to lifelong learning and elearning for different
occupational and social groups. This in turn raises the issue
of social exclusion.
I am afraid that my article raises more questions that provides
answers to the issues of elearning in SME's. But if such issues
are not addressed at all levels - European, national and regional,
the promise of elearning as a driver of economic growth and
performance in Europe could easily turn into a myth.
Colin McCullough works at a European level for increasing
awareness of technology supported learnng. He has consulted
for a number of companies including http://www.modusvivendi-design.com
