eLearning Readiness PALAMA eLearning Unit Guillaume Kruger October 2011 Public Administration, Leadership and Management Academy SOUTH AFRICA

Road map for this discussion 1.Introduction 2.Conceptualising eLearning 3.Business advantages of eLearning 4.How does it work? 5.What does it take?

Locally and internationally universities and corporate training and development institutes utilise ICTs for learning The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act was passed in Aug 2002 – The act started with the basic premise that digital communications are no less valid than paper- based communications Introduction

What is eLearning? What are the business advantages? How does it work? What does it take? Conceptualising eLearning

What is eLearning? eLearning is used as an umbrella term to refer to training interventions and materials that optimally utilise ICTs to support learning.

Benefits of eLearning include: Reduced (or no) travel and accommodation costs Limited time away from the work place Access to capacity building interventions irrespective of time and distance Flexibility in terms of the number of participants enrolled per course offering Flexibility in terms of the scheduling of course offerings What are the business advantages?

Benefits of eLearning include: Enhanced retention and throughput – Interactive course design – Individualized learner support (admin, technical & academic) – Tracking and reporting of learner progress – Flagging of at risk participants and mediation Centralized knowledge management Acquisition of knowledge and skills that can be useful in other areas of participants’ lives What are the business advantages?

Actual costs: Material development Facilitation of learning Assessment of evidence Moderation Ancillary costs: Duplication of materials Catering Travel and accommodation (facilitator) Travel and accommodation (participants) Capacity development costs between 40 and 60 %

How does it work? Face-to-face (f-2-f) Classroom based Fully technology- mediated Blend of f-2-f and technologies

How does it work? Fully technology- mediated Blend of f-2-f and technologies Administrative f-2-f supported by technologies Technology- mediated supported by f-2-f Face-to-face (f-2-f) Classroom based multi-media on a storage device web-based technologies mobile technologies

LearnersFacilitators / Administrators Access information Interact (content/facilitator/peers) Demonstrate competence Orientate learners Provide access to information Interact with learners Assess evidence Provide feedback Track and report on learner activity How does it work?

What does it take for a Learner? Knowledge and skills A supportive institutional environment Ability Space Will Commitment, culture and ethos PERFORMANCE I can! I want to! I am allowed! Basic ICT knowledge and skills Willingness to participate in eLearning initiatives Access to technologies and sponsorship

What does it take for an Institution? Human InfrastructureTechnological InfrastructureOrganisational Infrastructure

Human Infrastructure Course designers, developers, facilitators Assessors Moderators Verifiers (quality assurance body) M&E practitioners (monitoring and evaluation for continuous improvement) Administrators

Human Infrastructure eLearning project managers - role is to coordinate the above, ensure strategic decision making to promote the uptake and relevance of eLearning. These role players have to be competent with specific qualifications in technology-mediated learning Outsourcing…

Development of effective eLearning materials requires large pools of intellectual capital, diverse expertise and scarce skills, as well as expensive resources including technological hardware and software. The formation of such teams varies considerably, depending on the nature of each project.

Outsourcing… For these reasons, the technical design and development of eLearning materials are outsourced and rigorously managed.

Outsourcing… Advantages include the following: Outsourced solutions can significantly cut costs; Teams are scalable on demand; Service provider teams typically work with many different kinds of projects for various clients. This equips them with the knowledge and skills to propose new inputs, which is valuable in the fast-changing field of ICTs;

Outsourcing… Advantages include the following: Service providers are contractually bound to complete projects according to specified standards; and Outsourcing allows the eLearning unit to focus on core strategic goals, such as the alignment of training and development with identified training needs, evaluation of training and development results, future plans and change management.

Outsourcing… Advantages include the following: The above-mentioned benefits are based on the assumption that competent and appropriate service providers can be contracted.

Technological Infrastructure Learning Management System (basic requirements of the ETQA) – functional requirements ERP (i.e. integrated systems from quotation to certification) Large numbers, require automated procedures

Organisational Infrastructure Importance of eLearning being mainstreamed (not an additional extra) Plan to integrate from the start…

eLearning implementation strategy Phase /10 Understand the context Initiate a community of eLearning practitioners Develop a short to medium term action plan for eLearning Match capacity building needs with available eLearning tools and platforms Phase /11 Conduct an eLearning environmental scan Develop a draft eLearning implementation strategy Adapt and/or develop monitoring and evaluating tools for eLearning Pilot, monitor and evaluate eLearning programmes Develop at least xx new eLearning programmes Establish an LMS for the roll out of eLearning in the public service Elevate the community of eLearning practitioners Phase to 2013/14 Develop at least xx new eLearning programmes Roll out piloted programmes to scale Monitor evaluate and report on eLearning programme performance Update the eLearning environmental scan Review and revise the eLearning implementation strategy

Development costs of highly interactive multi-media materials (e.g. simulations) Limited access to technologies for capacity building purposes Technophobia Limited understanding of the success factors for eLearning Lack of guidelines and regulatory documents What are the key challenges?

Use existing, approved programmes for eLearning delivery – Learner guide – Facilitator guide – Assessor guide Learning programme materials development

Employ qualified – Facilitators* – Assessors – Moderators Learning programme delivery

Main considerations Delivery approach Policy development Selection of courses for eLearning Design and development strategies Implementation infrastructures Evaluation of eLearning Change management in the organisation

Participant orientation (before) Secure login (User verification for submission of learner evidence) Access to information Channels of communication Formative assessment with feedback Assignment drop-box eLearning platform: functionalities

Participant support: academic, administrative and technical (during) Tracking and reporting – Tracking of learner progress – Flagging of at-risk learners – Record keeping of interaction, submission of evidence, assessment results and feedback – Follow-up with at-risk learners eLearning platform: functionalities

Moderators can access assessed student evidence online Verification can be facilitated by means of an on-site visit with a demonstration of the online “classroom” and activities, and/or By means of remote access Moderation and verification

What courses are available? Bid Committees (PFMA) Bid Committees (MFMA) Inventory Management At least 10 new courses are being developed for roll out in the 2011/12 financial year Fully technology mediated courses include: – Excellent Customer Service for Frontline Staff – Introduction to Monitoring and Evaluation – SCM for the Public Service

The question to ask… is not if ICTs should be used, but how available technologies can be used most effectively to support training and development in the Public Service.

Contact details Director: eLearning Guillaume Kruger