Introducing Web Based Training (WBT) to a Web Illiterate Company

Tammy Dewar, Ph.D.
President, Calliope Learning, Canada, tammy@calliopelearning.com

 Gregg McMurchy
President, Opstrain Ltd., Canada, mcmu@telusplanet.net

Copyright 1999.  Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).  Distributed via the Web by permission of AACE.

Abstract:  WBT was introduced to a web illiterate company over a two-year period.   Three regulatory training courses and 17 entry-level technical modules are now delivered over the corporate Intranet.  The implementation design, successes and lessons learned are documented.

1. Introduction

 The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) suggests that the number of companies using Intranet or Internet-based training is growing each year.   The advantages of WBT are well documented (see Gayeski (1998), Pieterse (1998) or Wilson (1999) for example), and concrete examples of implementation projects are becoming more visible (Cohen (1997), Driscoll (1998), Eline (1997), Wynn (1997).  We utilized an action research framework of repeating cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting  (Stringer, 1996) over a two-year period with a mid-sized company to introduce web based training.   Three regulatory training courses and 17 entry-level technical modules are now delivered over the corporate Intranet.  Our implementation design, successes and lessons learned are documented.

2.  Company Description

Technophobe (a pseudonym) is a mid-sized company of 800 employees in the oil and gas industry in Alberta.  Employees are located throughout the province, in seven main centers and numerous smaller offices.  While most jobs in this company were originally hands-on, they now involve a fair bit of computer work on a daily basis.

A computer skills assessment completed in 1998 determined that employees considered themselves novice computer users.  These figures stand in direct contrast to the sentiments expressed by many team leaders and managers that “their employees are computer illiterate and would never use any form of computer based training.”

Despite the general computer skill level of most employees and the presence of a corporate Intranet, most employees were, in fact, quite web illiterate, as we discovered in the computer skills assessment.  Employees rated their web browser use (Netscape) as very little. Additionally, the corporate Intranet was not being used for any sophisticated database or communications applications.  It was mainly a static location for information, much of which was outdated and not accessed consistently by most employees.

Training in this company was split between in house developed and delivered training and training delivered by equipment vendors.  Most training was centralized out of a southern Alberta office and run by a Learning/Training team there.  Training courses ranged from a few hours to five days in duration.  The most utilized training technique was lecture, followed by hands-on sessions in equipment labs.  Training was “grocery store” in that employees would pick from a list of courses offered by the Learning/Training team.   While this team acknowledged the need to move from a training focus to a performance or learning orientation, that shift was taking place slowly, if it all.
 
 

3. Rationale for introducing WBT

The decision to convert training to modules delivered over the corporate intranet was a result of formal feedback received on course evaluations; informal feedback from field employees who had discussed issues with the team’s learning consultants; and informal feedback from team leaders during meetings. Many writers have noted the benefits of web-based training and the organizational issues it addresses.  Gayeski (1998) suggests that "Many of the problems of conventional training and job aid approaches, such as difficulty of updating, cost of distribution and duplication, challenges in scheduling training and finding necessary content, and barriers to providing just-in-time information are now much easier to overcome."  Wilson (1999) suggests that the benefits include cost savings, increased productivity, no fear, fun, and continuous tracked learning.

The issues identified by the employees/leaders in this company were similar to those cited in the literature:

• Time away from work to attend training.  This company, like many others, had undergone several rounds of downsizing.  Taking employees away from their jobs to travel to a two or three day training program was a major concern.
• Travel costs of attending training.  Many employees would travel a day in each direction to attend courses.
• The utilization of training results.  Employees often did not use the knowledge or skills from a course for months and, therefore, would forget what they had taken.
• Requests for training to be held in rural areas.  Due to the above factors, many of the rural areas requested that training courses be held in their location.
• WBT also addressed the following issues from the Learning/Training team’s perspective:
• Difficulty maintaining current training materials.  Because of the traditional labour intensive instructional design approach used by this company, finding the time and resources to keep materials updated on an ongoing basis was a challenge.
• Difficulty in finding instructors to deliver the course.  Most trainers were content experts seconded from their regular positions in the company to assist the Learning/Training team with the development and delivery of courses.  With downsizing, these individuals became less and less available to train.  Many courses were cancelled due to an instructor not being able to keep his commitment to deliver a training course.
• Cost of instructors and meals.
• Course cancellations due to low enrollment.
• Labour intensive aspect of organizing training events.

Additional benefits of WBT that we thought would also impact our project:

• Development Costs - The development time for an online module is about the same, but implementation and delivery are cheaper.  The cost of updating materials is substantially less.
• Ease and expediency of updating content.
• Convenience - Anyone can access the modules at any time, so there is no need to schedule events.
• Strategic use of instructors.
• WBT is more interactive than a lecture delivered by an instructor in a classroom.
• Flexibility - Employees can schedule their training in chunks and build it into their work schedules.
• Employees can return to modules as often as they like to review content.
• Large-scale distribution of materials is not necessary; they can be accessed from any location.
• Prepares employees for continuous and self-directed learning.  Training opportunities now exist on the WWW on almost any topic.
• Integrates with other online job tools/processes/company handbooks.

4. Implementation Process

Our implementation started with a “train the trainer” process.  Tammy assumed that educating the current Learning/Training team members and local training coordinators about online education and WBT would facilitate them being able to build in appropriate web solutions as part of their ongoing work.  An 8 week course delivered entirely online through a web based conferencing system was held, but participation was uneven and most people did not finish the course.  The reasons given were that they did not have time to devote to the course.  Upon reflection now, the other reason this approach did not work is that participants were quite web illiterate and needed some kind of concrete example of WBT taken from one of the existing courses already held in the company.  Without this, they could not see how WBT could become a training solution for them.

What did happen, however, is that Gregg was in this course and was one of the few to finish the course.  He put together a number of sample WBT modules from his own work context.  At the same time, a major cross-functional training project was underway by the Learning/Training team, which was being stalled because of implementation issues, many of which are documented above in the “Rationale” section.

We brought together a focus group of employees who had taken this training and showed them the WBT demos.  The suggestion was that we would reduce the 5-day training course to 10 modules delivered over the corporate Intranet, followed by a 2-day lab.  Response was favorable and so we converted ten modules.  The focus group also noted that this would be a great way to complete some of their government mandated safety training - Workplace Hazardous Management Information System (WHMIS) and Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG).

Our initial scope was to convert an existing course manual for use as a self directed online course.  It became apparent early in the project that the material we were to convert had the following characteristics:

• The manual was designed as support material for lecture based delivery rather than to provide a self-study tool.  It was a compilation of information from several sources that had been formatted but not edited for continuity or flow.  There was little or no transition between sections of the manual.  Continuity and flow, apparently, were left to the skill of the instructor delivering the course.
• The objectives had been added to the course material as an after thought rather than being used as a design tool.  Consequently there was often little or no correlation between the stated objectives of the modules and the content provided.
• It became apparent that there was a great deal of information that was either secondary or totally unrelated to the objectives when we finally determined what they were.

Based on basic instructional design theory and the available information on applying it to web based teaching instruments (see for example, Jakob Nielsen's web usability guidelines; the Yale Style Guide; King's suggestions), we decided to re-design the content and delivery to provide the following:
 

• Clearly stated and accurate objectives for each of the modules.
• Frequent learning checks and reviews that would allow learners to gauge their grasp of the content.  These took the form of multiple choice questions that were evaluated by JavaScript routines so that immediate feedback could be delivered automatically.  We also included buttons that displayed remediation if the learner wanted it.  Review questions were interspersed throughout the content and we also compiled them into a module review quiz that was evaluated using JavaScripting and which automatically notified training coordinators of successful completion.  In some cases, the form that was generated on successful completion of the test also updated an online database so learners and coordinators could track a learner's progress through the modules.
• Content that was reduced to main ideas that could be displayed and explained on a single screen.    This was done to reduce the need for the learner to scroll through large pieces of textual material.  This proved to be quite effective but it did require good planning and content layout to ensure that the flow from screen to screen was logical and effectively transitioned.  In some cases, a single idea or concept could not be covered in a single screen.   In these cases, we presented the concept with a bold heading on the initial page and on subsequent pages, the same header appeared in a smaller font in the upper left corner of the page.  The idea here was to keep the learner well oriented.
• An interface that allowed learners to stay well oriented as they went through the course.  We used a three-frame screen layout to accomplish this.
• A side menu frame provided links to each of the units within the module as well as the module home page, feedback form, and module test pages.
• A header frame contained the unit title and the navigation buttons for the specific unit being viewed
• A content frame displayed the actual course content.  In some cases the content frame was further divided to allow learners to use links from an image map on one side of the frame to bring up explanations on the other side of the frame.  This was especially effective when offering explanations of equipment or single line process flows.  The intent from a design perspective was to keep the learner oriented by providing the information without requiring the learner to leave the current page.  In the event that we needed to display a larger text intensive document, we generally presented it in a new window with a header frame to allow easy return to the main course material.

We coded the main title page to present the content in a bare window (without menu, navigation, or location bars) to allow more screen space for content and also to create a greater sense of being "inside" the course.  Navigation was provided and controlled by the JavaScripting in the header html files.  We also provided a module map in most cases that offered a graphical representation of the module and links to the individual units by clicking on them in the image.

After the conversions had taken place, we set up a pilot where one group of employees took the 5-day training and a second group took the online modules and a 2-day lab.  Feedback from the pilot participants and instructors included the following benefits:

• Employees can work online modules into their “down” time.
• Employees can integrate modules into job shadowing.
• Employees were better prepared for the lab portion of the training.
• Employees could review the modules as often as they liked.
• There was a better retention of information because employees worked through the information in “interactive chunks”.
• Employees liked the modules. Several of them commented on the effectiveness of the animated gifs we used for equipment explanations.  Instructors, who felt that this interactive component was more effective than they had been in presenting some concepts, also noted this.
• There was a more strategic use of instructors for the hands-on, lab portions of the classes.
• Employees outside of the immediate target group for the training were able to access and utilize training.  Some interested head office staff started to access this training and take it.
• Modules were integrated with company manuals/policies on the Intranet.
• Training was tracked online.
• There was a substantial dollar savings.  $14,160 was saved delivering the course with online modules and a 2-day lab as opposed to a 5-day program.

We did not put together any sort of communication plan to inform the entire company of these modules, but word of them spread and we were approached by several other groups to help them use WBT for training they needed implemented.  This eventually included the WHMIS and TDG mentioned above and a Quality Systems training program which was required as part of the implementation of government initiated changes to one of the company's core processes.

While we did have plans to officially roll out this training after our series of pilots, the company went through a corporate merger and all work in the WBT area was halted.  We sent out an email message to team leaders across the company in December 1998 informing them of the online modules.  To date, people are still “finding” the modules and completing them, as evidenced by the online database we created to track participation.
 

5. Issues Encountered

Gayeski (1998) notes that the adoption of new media fail because of an interplay of factors such as technophobia, inhibition of human contact, disruption of legal/economic status, lack of appropriate designs and advice, technology that doesn't work reliably, no standardization, and lack of local production ability.  Many of these factors were at play in our own project and included:

• Computer anxiety encountered by some employees.  Some of the employees had never used a web browser and so we would spend an hour on the phone guiding them step by step to the location of the online modules.
• Effective communication vehicles for letting employees know of the training available.  To date, we have not utilized a company wide roll out of training.  It continues to be “found” by people.
• Perception problems - Leadership must realize that being at a computer is a “legitimate” training activity.   Many employees reported frustration that their team leaders thought they were wasting time while they were going through the online modules.
• There were challenges with some employees who were not self-directed when it came to their own learning.  They were used to being told when to attend a training session by their team leader and being told what was important by a trainer in a classroom.  Taking the initiative to access these modules as part of their own ongoing learning and development was a significant paradigm shift.
• Format limitations for content in current browsers.  This company’s LAN infrastructure was NT based with the standard desktop being a 486 DX 66 PC with no soundcard.  The standard browser was Netscape Navigator Version 3.02.  This prevented the effective use of full multimedia or proprietary plug-ins in the design of training software.  With limited support from the IT department in the early phases of the pilot, it was determined that what interactivity we could build into the software would be developed using client side Java Scripting.  This allowed for a high degree of control by the learner over the flow of the training and for the inclusion of review questions and exercises that could be evaluated and remedied immediately.
• Bandwidth/browser limitations prevent use of full audio/video.  In the absence of video and audio capability, we elected to use animated gifs extensively for those units and modules requiring detailed explanations of the functioning of various types of equipment.  This format had the advantages of simplicity of development and ease of downloading.  The size of the animated gifs used ranged from 30kb to 92 Kb with the majority falling into the range of 40 Kb to 60 Kb.  This allowed relatively short download times when compared to comparable avi or mpeg format animations and required no special software or plug-in to view.
• Some employees do not have reliable access to the Intranet.  A number of northern employees dial in on lines that are not stable.
• Employee assessment is limited and based on the “honour” system.  The primary advantages of the WBT produced were the universal access on a 24-hour basis and the elimination of the need for structured classes and examinations. Inherent in this design is the potential for collaborative answering of exams, or simply having an “expert” enter the answers on your behalf.  Our discussions on this aspect of WBT have led us to the conclusion that employees choosing to cheat will find a way around any of the safeguards the developer can install in a program.  The solution for total security of examinations, for now at least, may reside in the use of scheduled examinations at central locations.  In our experience, the problem has not been considered significant enough to justify the added expense and resources required to resolve it.
• It is necessary to ensure that content in an online course is concise and complete.  Strict adherence to the principles of sound instructional design is critical to success.  Much of the material in modules that we converted from existing courses to WBT was poorly organized and contained a lot of extraneous information.  After beginning the development based on the stated objectives we were told “Don’t go by those objectives; we just stuck them in afterwards because someone said we needed them.”  There were a few issues that had to be worked before the subject matter experts agreed on some realistic objectives and fully grasped the concept that sometimes “less is more”.
• One of the primary advantages of WBT is the ease of access over a wide geographic area.  That can also pose some problems in the area of tracking and recording completions.  A necessary part of each of the modules and courses we developed was the development of the infrastructure to manage it.  We relied on automatically generated e-mail and CGI based administration databases.  Training administrators had to be taught how to deal with these systems.

6. Lessons Learned

• Employees are more eager than management.  We initially looked to management for a go ahead on this training, but their perspective was that employees would not want to and did not have the skills to complete training this way.  In fact, once employees were given an orientation, they were quite happy to complete it via the Intranet, as it reduced their travel time and allowed them to spend more time at home with their families.
• The online modules must be rolled out with a face to face (f2f) orientation.  Initially, we tried to use email to inform people of the training and get them to try out the modules.  This had limited success.  We should have done a “road show” to every main area in the province and done a f2f demonstration.  Whenever we actually showed employees the modules, they were quite keen and followed up.  Whenever we would send out an email, it was largely ignored.
• Start with a quick win first.  We stumbled across the mandatory training halfway into our project.  In hindsight, choosing a course that can be developed relatively quickly and must be done every year may be the sort of quick win to kick-start WBT.  Choosing a project that is comparable to the CBT training that many companies use for common regulatory training has the added advantage of providing a realistic assessment of relative development costs.  A WBT course on WMHIS, for example, might cost $8,000.00 to develop online as opposed to $40,000.00 for traditional custom developed CBT produced using proprietary development software.
• Involve as many employees/trainers as possible in the pilot sessions.  We found that once people viewed the online modules they were quite excited by the potential and they then became initiators of future projects.  These projects (e.g. WHMIS, TDG) have been well received and easier to implement than the ones that we initiated.
• Look to the change management and organizational development literature for guidance when introducing WBT to a company.  We didn’t realize at the time (although it seems quite obvious now!) that what we were trying to do was a significant change initiative in a company, not just a slightly different way of delivering training.  The actual conversion of materials to WBT was the easiest part of the project!

7.  Future Considerations

Our project was halted before we could implement some solid evaluation in terms of learning outcomes.  Although we have anecdotal reports that WBT is as effective or even more so than some of the f2f training sessions held in this company, we do not have any solid data to substantiate this.
 

8.  References
 

Cohen, Sacha (1997) Intranets uncovered. Training & Development.

Driscoll, Margaret (1998) How to pilot Web-based training. Training & Development.

Eline, Leanne (1997) IBT's place in the sun. Technical Training.

Gayeski, D. (November, 1997) Predicting the Success of New Media for Organizational Learning: How Can We Avoid Costly Mistakes? Educational Technology.

Gayeski, D.  (1998) How to Use the Internet and Intranets as Learning and Performance Tools in Silberman, M. (ed). The 1998 McGraw-Hill Training and Development Sourcebook.

King, Kathleen. (June, 1998) Course Development for the World Wide Web in  B. Cahoon, (ed). Adult Learning and the Internet, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Pieterse, Johan (1998) Web-based Training in a Nutshell.  Finance Week.

Stringer, Ernest (1996) Action Research:  A Handbook for Practitioners.  California:  Sage.

Wilson, Jack. (1999) Internet training: The time is now.  HR Focus.

Wynn, Pardner (1997). Delivering quick-response IBT/CBT training.  Info-Line.

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tammy@calliopelearning.com
http://www.calliopelearning.com
10/6/99