#1 e-Learning vs e-Reference
A vital distinction
You have probably come across e-learning, mobile learning, Computer Based Training (CBT), Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS), Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), reference ware, toolkits, online classrooms and many other labels created by companies seeking to stand out within the market place.
Let’s ignore the labels for a moment and look at the function these products are designed to do. At its simplest, it is about transferring information to the end-user (employee) so they can do their job more efficiently. (I can already hear cries of anguish from system providers saying that their system does far more than this.)
Actually, ignoring the labels is important because they often mean different things to different people. For example, I have yet to see an agreed upon definition of e-learning; what it is and what it isn’t. This can make the labels misleading and inconsistent, and besides that, they are also often made up purely for marketing purposes.
Instead, think about what you want, and then what function is required from a system to help you get what you want.
So let’s take a couple of steps backwards and think about what outcome you want for your users from such a system. It is probably something like...
- Users can do their job
- Users can do their job better
- Users have better interpersonal skills
- Users can pass an exam for regulatory purposes
- Users can get information in the moment to solve problems
- Users can handle conflict and disagreement better
- Users can diagnose and troubleshoot the new XG105 product
- And so on.
Your outcomes will be specific to your organisation, and probably dovetail into much wider change initiatives within your overall employee learning and development plans.
Now consider how the users would use an online information system in order to achieve your outcomes. You will find that the style of use will fall into two broad camps, or somewhere on a continuum between them.
- Know It: Absorb information and “learn it” so that it is available via memory recall in the future without recourse to the original information. This is e-learning.
- Find it: Access to information that will help them solve a problem “now”, so they can complete a task assigned to them. This is e-reference.
One catchy way this fundamental difference in function has been described is ‘just-in-case’ vs ‘just-in-time’.
This, in a nutshell, is the simple KiFi™ model.
This model has a number of implications which are vitally important to anybody specifying, designing, purchasing or promoting the usage of a computer based information resource.
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