Careers in e-Learning
© David C. Forman
Seven years ago the subject of this article would not have drawn much notice. Careers in technology-based training were perhaps interesting to those of us in the business, but essentially limited to the esoteric few. After all, training just like its education counterpart, has suffered from a credibility and prestige problem. It was not the most admired career. While we can debate the fairness of this view, it did exist. Its roots stem back many years, from many different sources.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.
- George Bernard Shaw
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
- Mark Twain
But then a funny thing happened. Experts and CEOs began to realize that success in the new economy really did rely on the heightened knowledge and skills of employees. After years of rhetoric, the reality was coming home to roost: The companies that are truly successful are those that provide the opportunity for employees and the organization itself to continually learn and improve. Among the new critical success factors are ability to innovate, speed of response, time to competence, and adaptability. Learning plays an essential role in all of these factors.
Concurrent with this recognition of the importance of skilled employees was the advent of the Internet. It is meaningful to distinguish the worth of Web technologies from the failure of the dot-coms. Many dot-coms attempted to redefine the basic principles of business, but they discovered that customers, revenues, and profits are still pretty important. Most of their efforts were misguided. Internet technologies themselves, however, have opened up whole new ways to communicate, disseminate, and transact business. Dot-coms were only a blip compared to the transforming value the Internet. And as the Web has been used and further understood, many successful models of e-business have been developed.
It is logical, then, to apply the e-model to this vital "newly respected" area of learning and training. Using Internet technologies to disseminate information to people where they worked or lived, 24/7, makes perfect sense. At the very least, travel costs-which account for 40% of training expenditures-can be reduced. With this juncture of learning and technology starting to form, a whole new level of attention arrived. Wall Street regularly follows e-Learning companies. Successful business people such as Paul Allen, John Chambers, and Larry Ellison are lending their support. And publishers, consulting firms, computer hardware companies, and major universities have established e-Learning subsidiaries. e-Learning is prime time.
