This week's highlighted research:



Forrester Research. "Vignette makes a bet on eLearning."



Datamonitor. "Workforce optimization 2005."

Gartner. "Findings from the 'emerging technology trends' research meeting: Usability as a tipping point."

Company training sessions used to involve going to off-site seminars, having long lunches and drinking beer afterwards before getting back to the office ten minutes before closing time. A great time for the employee as I recall, but definitely a productivity-killer from the company perspective.

Elearning, distance learning, computer-based training, or any one of a dozen other euphemisms for taking classes on a computer has definitely taken off. With work-based training, the employee can stay in the office and learn when it's more convenient to both worker and supervisor. In the collegiate environment, students can earn entire, legitimate college degrees over the Internet. Collaborative technology even makes it possible to replicate much of the interaction that takes place in a conventional classroom. I do remember fondly however, sitting with classmates and professors in the campus coffeehouse, sipping espresso and discussing Tolstoy at my old alma mater of UCSC, which still makes me wonder if those who get online degrees aren't still missing out on something. But be that as it may, elearning is here to stay, and has found a productive place both in academia and the corporate learning worlds.

Forrester's report highlights Vignette's recent announcement that it would create a dedicated business unit for its enterprise learning solution. The move underscores the growing importance of learning in the information workplace. Forrester says that elearning is moving away from niche vendors who in the past targeted HR and training departments, and is moving towards mainstream IT vendors, who deliver learning on a "just-in-time" basis within the context of other business applications.

Datamonitor takes a look at workforce optimization technologies (WOT), and how it addresses efficiencies in the call center environment. As part of this report, Datamonitor says it is vitally important for the growing number of call centers to ensure that interactions between customers and the call center meet high quality standards. Part of this optimization comes in with elearning--delivering online training to agents to improve their performance in key areas. In the call center arena, elearning should be used in conjunction with quality monitoring and agent analytics.

Gartner notes a major surge in Web content creation, highlighting areas where better usability could trigger widespread adoption. Gartner examines several areas including home networking, P2P file transfer, teamworking, and integrated storage of digital media, but notes that access to, and navigation of distance learning opportunities are major contributing factors to the increase in distance learning opportunities. Elearning has come a long way since the first applications of it, which were little more than on-screen text. New elearning interfaces make the experience easy, and often come with innovations such as adaptive testing, monitoring, and collaborative electronic classroom environments.

ITworld.com

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