Online training has been slow to take off in the public and private sectors, but a panel of training and technology specialists predicted Tuesday that computers will increasingly replace classrooms as the place employees learn new job skills.
Training via computers in the U.S. workplace has increased slightly in recent years, from 5.8 percent of training in 1996 to 8.5 percent in 1998, according to Mary McCain, vice president at the American Society for Training and Development, an Alexandria, Va.-based organization. McCain predicted that by 2001, 20 percent of work-related training would be obtained through computers, rather than through classrooms. But 65 percent of training will still be done in-person with an instructor, she predicted.
McCain and three other panelists spoke at a seminar in Washington called "How Internet Learning Solutions Support the Government Mission." The event was sponsored by DigitalThink, a San Francisco-based online training company; KPMG, a consulting firm; the General Services Administration; and Government Executive. A blizzard kept most of the 130 registered attendees away, but a handful of federal workers attended the event.
Reduced costs are one important reason federal agencies are beginning to replace classroom training with online training, panelists said. Adriaan Theron, vice president of DigitalThink, said 45 percent of the $38 billion the public sector spends each year training its employees was spent on travel expenses to and from training events.
Another reason agencies are turning to online training is that it allows employees to move at their own pace and put aside time for learning when it is convenient for them, said Doug Hines, a partner at KPMG.
Obstacles to online training include the need to first teach employees new computer skills and the need to prove that investments in e-learning are worth the effort, Hines said.
Executive Order 13111, issued by President Clinton in January 1999, called on federal agencies to use technology to provide more training opportunities to workers. A task force created to recommend ways to implement the order is scheduled to release a report within the next six months.
Some agencies already have developed online training programs. The Justice Department, for example, created a computer simulation game to teach ethics rules to employees (See www.usdoj.gov/jmd/quandary). The Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics offers video seminars on its Web site (www.acq.osd.mil).
Few agencies, though, have attempted to systematically develop programs to use technology to ensure employees have the skills they need to perform the mission of the agency.
"There is not sufficient investment in what people know," Theron said.