Web based or Internet training is a fast growing educational option. A 1998 survey by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) estimated that by 2000, the market for training delivered via new technologies would be to be 35% of the corporate training market, with web based training accounting for a sizeable chunk. (Bassi 1999)

With this technological bandwagon rolling through the corridors of large companies, (or at least in the training press), strong pressures may exist for managers to leap aboard. Pushing the wheels along, a growing number of authoring software programs are available to design web based training, each with their own enthusiastic advocates. If mangers do decide to go ahead, however, they have almost no role models to follow. Few companies actually use Web based programs. Despite the fanfare, the same ASTD study cited above showed that in 1998, only 10% of American employee training was computer-based, with only 3% of companies surveyed using the Internet. Hence, managers who attempt to develop web based training programs must largely learn by trial and error.

Faced with these forces, what can managers do, particularly if they have a minimal background in technology? If they decide to use a web based system, how can they make appropriate choices about the type of authoring software to use? What criteria should they use to make this decision?

This paper explores some of these questions through a case study of a department in a large company. Although space requirements limit the scope and depth of the analysis, it attempts to provide some guidelines, or at least options to consider. The paper concludes with a recommendation about the type of authoring system that would best meets the needs of the department.

Background

The customer affairs department of a large company (hereafter referred to as "The Department") faces training challenges. A portion of its twenty professional staff rotate in and out regularly, while another group consists of older workers who have been in their positions for over 15 years. The work demands a thorough understanding of the company’s business, as well as complex government regulations. The officers must also deal with often irate customers, usually on the telephone, and less often, in person.

Currently, new officer training is fairly rudimentary. Officers arrive, receive a brief overview of the department from a more senior staff member, then spend the next three to four days reading through old reports and letters. After this introduction, they are "on the phones", dealing with customer inquiries. The thought behind this practice is that new staff will learn best by doing, by making mistakes and learning from them. Officers receive no follow-up training. Everyone is under tremendous pressure: time is constrained, there are too few people to address the complaints received and volume is rising steadily.

This training, or lack thereof, has lead to problems. New officers often make mistakes, so more experienced staff must sometimes deal with problems that have become more complex due to further errors on the company’s part. Managers try to compensate by maintaining stricter control over customer response letters, but this increased scrutiny leads to even slower turn around times. It is difficult to control who responds to telephone calls, a problem worsened by the frequent absence of staff nearing retirement. New officers often are quite stressed, as they try to calm angry customers by defending company policy or government legislation over which the company has limited control.

To address the problems, the department’s managers have developed an outline for a proposed training plan for new staff. It major goals and objectives include:

• An orientation program for new members to the department;
• An ongoing, in-house program to upgrade and update current members;
• A provision for retaining information and training materials for future reference and self-help on an intranet site;
• the eventual development of self-training components through the intranet.

1. Minimize the time required by old staff to train new staff, since "production" remains the overall priority.
2. Develop standard material so that officers can provide consistent information to clients and reduce the number of easily avoided errors.
3. Train officers to deal more effectively with irate and stressed clients.
4. Acquire information from older officers about solutions to unusual problems and the history of policy development before they retire.
5. Train officers to be more efficient and deal with files more quickly.

What Software?: The Managers’ Decision

Having decided to use a web based system, the managers must now select the tools to build it. They have two options:

1. Using a simple HTML editor, HomeSite 4.5, to produce a simple, largely text and graphics program. The Department has a licence for the program and the company provides some technical support for it.

 

 

Product Description: Allaire’s HomeSite is a web site editor. Users must be familiar with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), since HomeSite is code-based. The product is a favourite of developers, since it allows for extensive customization. In 1998, HomeSite 4.0 won the CNET Builder award as the Best Code-based HMTL editor. (Gatlin 2000)

2. Purchasing a more elaborate authoring tool, like WebCT or another commercial product to design a more elaborate (video, audio) course. With such software, the division would have to rely on outside technical support.

Reviews of Web-Based Instructional Tools http://socrates.berkeley.edu:7521/wbi-tools/)

Selecting the Tool: An Analysis

Phillips (1998) and Hall (1997) offer models for selecting appropriate on-line course authorware. Using a blend of their models as a starting point, this section analyzes the circumstances in the Department.

Step One: Assess In-House Capabilities

Phillips and Hall suggest a company begin by assessing its internal resources. These include:

• Course Development Skills¾ does the company already have trainers experienced in computer-based delivery or computer programming?
• Current Software Available¾ has the company already invested significant time and money in an authoring system?
• Development and Deployment Infrastructure¾ Do all sites use the same platforms? Does the software require a special server, or technological "bells and whistles" like sound cards, additional programs or plug-ins on the computers of the end users? Are users capable of installing these additions, or will a technical specialist need to configure work stations?

Step Two: Assess Learning Content Needs

The second step is to determine the objectives of the educational content, then try to match the authoring system to its demands. As Phillips wryly notes, "Design and delivery should follow the demands of your content, rather than the desires of your design team to use a new system because it boasts a "cooler" animated spin feature for the company logo." (p. 4)

The Department:

In its plan, the division identified three broad areas for officer training. These include:

• Knowledge of Policies and Procedures: Background on divisional and corporate policies and procedures, overview of legislation, the company’s key relationships.
• Dealing with Customers and Issues: Case management of complaints, dealing with customers, other departments, outside agencies.

• Computer Software Training-case management software, word processing, spreadsheet, Internet search skills.

Step Three: Assess Audience/Client Needs

As Wolfe (1990 cited in Fahy 2000) and Levison (1990) note, successful technology adaptation depends on the response of the implementers to the needs and desires of the users. Hall and Phillips suggest that companies review such variables as:

• Reception Capabilities: How big is the "pipe" or connection that will deliver the program to users? Will users rely on the company intranet, or will some access the program using the generally slower and less reliable Internet?
• Audience: Who are the users? What is their technical background and familiarity with computer or web based training? Readiness for it? Will adding technology based training increase their stress levels? Where will they take the training? (eg. In a special lab or at their desktop?)
• Time frames: When does the training need to occur? When does the solution need to be implemented and the results realized?
• Course Management and Administration: What kinds of reports do managers need at the end of each training activity?

Given that formal training in the department is almost non-existent, most newer officers would welcome any innovation that provided more information in a readily available fashion. For them, the innovation would likely relieve some of their stress. For older officers, though, the system might increase stress. These people generally have weak computer skills, and see no reason to learn word processing or Net browsing shortly before retirement. They would have the least need for the system’s knowledge components, and in fact would likely be net contributors to their development. They could likely make use of any computer skills training made available.

Departmental management has set no time frame for the training project. Reporting requirements would likely be minimal, since managers must deal with daily crises and lack the time to monitor individual progress or performance on training tests and tools.

Step Four: Assess Potential Costs

Training costs can vary considerably, depending on the amount and sophistication of the media used. (See Bates, 1995 for a fuller discussion of these issues.) Barkdale and Lund (Cited in Hall 1997) suggest developers consider a variety of administrative, development, personnel and travel related costs. Matkin (cited in Fay 2000) and Phillips (1998) have also developed Return on Investment (ROI) models. Most developers believe that an ROI study is unnecessary for a small pilot project, although they offer no specific figures as to what might be regarded as a "small project". (Webb 1999)

The Department: The Department’s web based training will initially be for about 20 people. Such a small number would not seem to warrant an extensive ROI study. In addition, since the division has spent little on training in the past, it would be difficult to develop measures to use as a basis for comparison.

Recommendation

With this analysis in hand, which way should the Department proceed?

We recommend that the managers proceed using the simpler HomeSite tool. Indeed, while space prohibits a fuller discussion, a more traditional CD-ROM based course or even a knowledge management system might better meet the Department’s needs. Two of the great strengths of web based training are its potential for interactivity and the ability for designers to make up to the minute changes. With time and training personnel in short supply, these attributes may be largely wasted in web course designed for Department staff.

Perhaps the best reason for choosing a simple, existing tool is that the entire training project has a high risk for failure, or more accurately, non-implementation. The Department lacks a training culture and managers have had no time to implement the plan they drew up. Further, as outlined above, only certain modules are suited to web based training. Even if the designers were able to get the project underway, it is unclear if many officers will use a computer based tool, particularly the older ones. (Their reluctance may be quite typical. Weiss (2000) reports that some companies have retention rates of less than 10% for internal web based courses.) As seems to be the case in many companies, designing an elaborate web based training program might be like giving expensive chocolate to a group of toddlers¾ they may or may not bite, and if they do, they might have no appreciation for the quality they are receiving.

Can it be argued that, however many the users, a more powerful program would enable the creation of more attractive training? In the case of the Department, the designers face limitations. The officers’ work stations have no audio or video capabilities. It is unlikely managers would invest in upgrades until they had evidence that officers liked the web based model. So, the designers would have to rely primarily on text and graphics to deliver the training content. A tool like Web CT might enable them to deliver this material more easily, but they would have little need of its more powerful design or record keeping functions. Further, if a managerial goal is to reduce staff time spent on training, it is unlikely designers would gain ongoing access to a "training guru" to provide tutoring and respond to on-line questions and concerns. Students could pose questions, but would probably receive a delayed response, or never hear from anyone.

In fact, one of the few reasons for buying Web CT or a similar tool relates, in this case, to the needs of the designers. Web CT is meant to be easy to learn and use. Rather than thrashing about with often awkward and confusing HTML coding, the designers could point, click and drag their way to an attractive course in short order. This option would no doubt be of interest to the design staff with minimal technical background in Web design and programming.

In conclusion, we believe the right choice for the Department is to keep it simple¾ and cheap. As Wolfe 1990 (Cited in Fahy 2000) notes, readily available, technologically less sophisticated tools may accomplish an organization’s goals as well as complex ones. HomeSite may be a bit clunky for the job and contribute to a longer development period, but it will accomplish what the Department needs, for now.

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