nigelpaine.com

Hey Nigel and all,

Just completed the Managing eLearning Masterclass in Melbourne. Great two days - such a luxury to have that time to just think about approaches, issues, strategies and to step back from the day to day getting-it-done stuff.

Working in the education field (currently South West Institute of TAFE in Victoria), the shift to talking about business is a tough one. Teachers are often uncomfortable with the idea that they are in a business, producing a product. Images of sausage factories spring to mind!

I'm getting more comfortable with the idea that student = client, whether they are colleagues in my organisation or people enrolling in courses from the community or from industry. The competitive tendering model of funding in Victoria makes it pretty clear that this is how we have to think.

Is education industry oxymoronic? Whether we like it or not, this is the game now. It's an international market.If we don't produce good education and training locally, someone from somewhere else will swoop in and snatch our clients away from under our noses. And why not? If someone else can produce a good online product that meets the needs of learners better thanthe local TAFE college can do, why wouldn't the customers go that way?

Our CEO gets it. We're very lucky in that. Now the job is to move the whole organisation along in a way that brings the best of what we do well and leaves behind what no longer works - and that maybe never did work so well. Good teaching is good teaching anywhere, anyhow.

Regarding the shift to thinking of education as a business, I reckon most Australian COEs in post-secondary education have got this now. I think a lot of teachers in this sector are getting it, because it's impacting directly on them through their workloads and the type of work that is available.

TAFE teachers with trainees can't really help getting it. They are out on the road going from business to business visiting their trainees. Classroom teachers are probably going to get it more slowly - not surprising really.

I don't know how this is panning out interstate in Australia at the moment. Other states have less competitive delivery models within their TAFE sectors, but there is still competition with private training providers.

What interests me is thinking about how we are going to respond to this climate. I wonder if there is going to be a spilling of blood, people baling out, or whether people will dive in and give it a red hot go? I'm wondering what the sector will look like in another say five years. There is so much scope for growth right now if we go for it. Is the key skill going to be change management?

Web 2.0 stuff makes it so easy for anyone to get in and have a go at eLearning. Eevn if your organisation is not very responsive, individual teachers can set up their own eLearning environments. Hey - that's how I got started with this stuff! I learnt HTML, got some web space and started putting my materials and activities there. Now you don't even need to learn HTML!

But doing this in isolation is hard. A good LMS helps keep your admin tasks manageable. It takes all sorts of issues off your hands - data security, backups, authentication etc. So getting it right into the organisation is a good move. For those who like eLearning that is. And not everyone does.

So... how do you deal with people who don't like it, don't understand it, don't want to engage with it, or maybe want to do it on their terms but not yours? How does an effective change agent work in this context?

I just wanted to offer a Resource relevant to this topic for those in the group whose organisations are not already established in E-learning
http://www.ninelanterns.com.au/files/9L/pdf/eLearning-Landscape.pdf

It is a white paper that compliments the learning from the masterclass and outlines steps needed for implementation.
Jane

I am not sure learning and development has made the quantum leap that many are suggesting. We continue to see in Australia many people who attain competence in vocational education and yet they cannot apply these skills in the workplace.

Many are moving to more of a role-based learning environment where people are equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to perform their role, as opposed to vocational qualifications. (Don't get me wrong, I fully support vocational education). The issue tends to be that there is no support after the learning is over. No support in the workplace, supervisors may not operate according to best practice. I am sure we have all seen this at some time. I am not sayng this is the case with all or even a majority of organisations. It is a reality though.

I certainly agree with linking learning to business. I work in a Commonwealth Government organisation where 'training' is the so-called answer to all problems. The reality tends to be systems, culture, communication, leadership - and not necessarily in that order.

I like to think of learning and development in the following way; what behaviour do we want to change, or what will be better as a result of training. If this cannot be defined, you may not have a learning issue.

I can certainly relate to a programme orientated environment. Some of the programmes we offer in our organisation are being offered because.. "We have always offered these programmes". When asked the benefits, you get "people enjoy the programme and want more of them". As you can see - not linked to any business imperative. Too many times this is what happens. Money wasted on 'sacred cow' programmes that provide no value other then to make the candidate feel good for a short period of time.

I approach learning and development from a busines perspective, even to the extent I take my team through a PEST and SWOT analysis, we have a business plan, we conduct various staff surveys and apply other Learning Needs Analysis (LNA) methods (work samples, skills assessment, government reports, etc.) to identify the learning requirements in the immediate and medium term. This is still hard going though because not all staff come with the same skillsupfront and most learning programmes are generic i.e. time management, project management, report writing, contract management etc. Not all APS6 or EL1s in the public sector are equal, thus learning needs to consider; organisational, position and individual perspectives.

Hope this insight proves worthwhile in the forum.

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