Trainers Talk Tech

When computers first entered into the training world, we had many different names for the projects, but the most popular name (the one that stuck) was CBT - Computer Based Training. CBTs were delivered on CD-ROMs, had lots of cool graphics and interfaces. Some of the better ones incorporated video and audio. Most of the big, expensive ones were programmed by hand using high-level programming languages or using a program like Authorware. These CD-Based training courses were great, could be very interactive and were a staple for training groups that could afford to have them. They were big, expensive and difficult to create.

Then, the Web arrived.

Follow up:

CBTs were vastly superior to training courses delivered on the web. In 1996, we were all amazed at how easy it was to create web-based training courses. All we needed was some text and graphics and a new category was created: eLearning, Web Based Training(WBT) or online learning.

How did the new WBTs compare to the CBTs? They stunk! In the late 90's, you couldn't add audio or video because of bandwidth issues. Modems simply could not handle the large file sizes and deliver them in a reasonable time. A 1MB file would take 20-30 minutes to download, let alone a 10 MB multimedia experience. WBTs could not hold a candle to the CBTs from a purely creative perspective.

I've always been an advocate of great learning content, regardless of the delivery method. Good content is critical to the success of the learner. From a delivery perspective, however, video and audio and multimedia are great tools a trainer can use. Web-based delivery floundered until high-speed connections came into play.

Broadband connections changed everything. You can hardly surf anywhere without seeing a video ad or hearing an audio file play. I don't know of a single company that does not have broadband connections. According to this article the world is connecting to high speed at a tremendous rate. All the cool training stuff that was only possible with a studio, high end cameras and expensive programmers could now be delivered by weekend HTML programmers and meager budgets. The date "pipe" got so fat and the technology got so easy to learn, that high end CBTs have gone the way of the dodo.

Broadband killed the CBT.

Broadband allows any one of us to create and deliver high-impact, video and audio driven eLearning for distribution anywhere in the world. Give people some development tools, a URL and a web host and they can create some amazing eLearning without writing a lick of code.

That all being said, what does that history lesson have to do with Web 2.0? What the heck is it? Quite simply, Web 2.0 is defined as an "interactive, collaborative web experience." It's not new technology, its not a new infrastructure, its not a style of programming. It's truly thinking about your web sites and eLearning as an interactive, collaborative experience.

Think of a web site...you surf in. You read a little. Maybe sign up for a newsletter if you want and then you get bored and move onto the next site.

A Web 2.0 site has a rating system for the content: "How helpful was this page?" A Web 2.0 site has a place for users to write comments (like this page) or start a discussion. The biggest example of a Web 2.0 site is Wikipedia: A truly collaborative encyclopedia. Each line of content was written by a different human. Wikipedia is a huge list of everything, written by and edited by different people. It is an amazing example of Web 2.0.

What about MapQuest or Google Maps? Back when the web first came out, could you ever imagine getting driving directions on an interactive map? This is yet another example of the interactivity on the web that is Web 2.0.

How does this apply to eLearning? As our users get younger and younger and the technology gets easier to implement, our eLearning must match the functionality and feel of the web sites our users surf every day. If they are getting real time stock quotes or checking the weather in Mexico and watching a web cam of their dog in real time, if their online learning doesn't at least meet that sophistication level, their experience in the program will diminish. The program will feel "stuff" or "old". Even if it is brand new, unless there are spots to ask for help, interact with other learners or the training environment, they won't connect to and learn from the program.

The integration of Wiki type tools in your eLearning could be huge! Adding a threaded discussion groups where people could talk about the concepts in the class could have a huge impact. What about a web safari...where users surf the web looking for content and then add those links to the learning for other learners? Get the users to do more than just read text and click on a few multiple choice answers. Use the power of blogs, pod casts, synchronous web-casting, chat rooms, and commenting to build a community around your eLearning. Reading and watching is not enough.

Perhaps a web portal instead of a single eLearning course. Take your traditional web-based training course and drop it into a portal that has these interactive tools built around it. Instead of just the program, they get to log in to a portal which gives them the ability to interact with other uses outside the program. That could be a quick fix, especially if you have lots of content already created.

The eLearning programmer and instructional designer must take the interactive Web 2.0 concepts to heart when designing training courses. Don't be fooled into thinking that pretty text, graphics, a couple videos are enough. Think out of the box and develop a structure for interaction around that eLearning so your learners gain maximum benefit.