Workplace Training Technology

Adhering to the correct workplace safety practices may literally mean the difference between life and death. In a workplace environment time and cost constraints may not allow for totally shutting down operations to conduct training exercises. This is where distance education technologies come into place to enable effective yet cost conscious training solutions. 

An industrial workplace such as a biodiesel plant which has experienced safety lapses will need to train its workers to avoid these events. Morrison, Ross Kalman and Kemp (2011) identify recommend a combination of demonstration, practice and elaboration as essential when planning for procedural knowledge transfer. Safety operations will necessarily involve knowledge of step-by-step procedures. To achieve these objectives, a narrated online PowerPoint presentation involving images, verbal and textual information could be uploaded to Slide Share  for the trainee workers to observe.  Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Svacek (2012) discuss Dale’s Cone of experiences which categorizes how media conveys information. The Slide Share presentation involves using symbols and observing, which, though not particularly interactive nor hands-on may actually more effective because of the distractions and in this case safety issues involved in using real machinery. Though fairly low-tech, presentations are a viable way of delivering training and are widely used as can be seen at the Washington State Department’s Labor and Industries website.

Given the importance of the knowledge to be gained, however, more realistic demonstrations could be viewed via online video presentations. These may be retrieved from the company’s website, from outsourced training providers, or from various government entities concerned with occupational health and safety.  Oak Grove Tech is a training and consulting firm which produces customized training solutions. The company’s Industrial Workplace Safety Demo is an online sample of the type of training videos the company can produce.

Using cost effective tools such as online presentations and videos organized within an instruction plan, a company could provide training for many workers. Using what Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Svacek (2012) note is a hybrid model, i.e., up to 79% of the training would be completed online via distance education, after successful completion of the modules, the trainees could be assessed by an actual SME on real equipment. This final section of the course could be used for summative assessment to certify that the participants have gained the requisite skills and can actually use the equipment safely.

Morrison, G. R., Ross, S. M., Kalman, H. K., & Kemp, J. E. (2011). Designing effective instruction (6th ed.) Hoboken, NJ: John Willey & Sons, Inc.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Web Sites

Oak Grove Tech: http://www.oakgrovetech.com/content/about-us

Slide Share: http://www.slideshare.net

Washington State Department Labor and Industries:  http://wisha-training.lni.wa.gov

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/

  

Defining Distance Learning

It seems I had been participating in distance education decades ago. As a small child I remember eagerly waiting with others in my classroom in hushed anticipation for the weekly Rediffusion programme that would bring exciting new orchestral pieces and songs to us. Rediffusion was a British based company that delivered audio and audiovisual programmes to several Commonwealth countries. In Jamaica during the 1960s into the 1970s the urban primary schools were equipped with wired radio-like speakers in each classroom. These provided a channel for government-sponsored programming that may otherwise never have reached so many students.

Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek (2012) note that one definition of distance education involves interactive means of communication among tutors and students; being conducted by institutions, involves a geographical distance between the tutor and the students and involves video, voice and other modern means of sharing content. Although I would be hard pressed to describe those ancient speakers from my past as “interactive,” I can clearly recall the teacher’s voice singing new songs line by line with rhythmically timed pauses for us to imitate the previously sung line. He would even encourage us with the occasional, “Very good!” It certainly seemed interactive to me.

Fast forward to the 1990’s when the Internet had blossomed unto the scene as an educational force.  By then I was taking online courses in Web design from Sessions.edu. It was going well until tragedy struck by way of the fatal illness of a family member which caused me to focus on other more urgent matters. The same family member also had been participating in distance education, as I saw it then, by way of a snail-mail photography course. He would dutifully follow instructions for his photo projects and mail these back to the institution (I cannot recall the name) for assessment and further instructions.

My definition of distance learning before beginning the Distance Learning class at Walden University up to this point involved any learning in which the instructor and learner were separated by distance. To me the method of delivery, whether interactive or non-interactive did not play a role.  

With ever evolving Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, podcasts, social bookmarking and others which allow for easier collaboration and creation Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek (2012) note that definitions for distance learning continue to change. One challenge from the past, that is the relative lack of interaction among the learners, is receding. Perhaps a more contemporary definition of distance education, should include interaction among the learning community.

Although I use “learning” and “education” almost synonymously I think “education” carries a greater institutional feel as it implies a more traditional social learning setting. Speaking in a vodcast “Distance Education: The Next Generation” (Laureate Education, Inc., n.d.) Dr. Michael Simonson notes that self-paced learning online is not distance education. Simonson insists that distance teaching is an essential element of distance education.

Bearing all this in mind my current definition of distance education includes instructors who are physically separated from their learners; learning resources and the learning community which are interactive with the resources and among themselves, an institution responsible for certifying the learning outcomes and interactive means of communication.

I believe that as technology becomes increasingly able to provide more life-like educational opportunities, there may be greater opportunities for learners to increase abilities from a distance which are not possible today. I am thinking especially of skill-based learning which is quite challenging with today’s technology. I do not think at this time a piano tutor could conduct lessons entirely online although technology could really enhance his or her classes by measuring finger pressure on the keys, for example. Also, at the K-12 level where the physical presence of a caring and observant teacher can make a significant positive difference in a child’s life, a complete adoption of distance education is not feasible no matter how capable technology becomes.

Dr. Simonson believes distance education will not entirely supplant face to face teaching but will supplement it and will become a regular feature of academic and corporate training classrooms.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer) (n. d.) “Distance Education: The Next Generation.”

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

http://www.rediffusion.info/

http://www.sessions.edu/