THE NEED FOR SPEED
Ask an employer and an employee how they prefer to receive training, and most likely neither will demand that they spend all day in a seminar or hours taking an online course. Businesses want cost-effective training; employees want methods that help them in a time of need. The wishes of both parties contribute to the demand of what is the latest buzzword in training: rapid learning.
Just as video made its entry into training in the 1980s, digital technology is now changing workplace learning and making it possible to deliver training faster than ever before. While traditional courseware development timelines can be measured in terms of months, rapid e-learning timelines are measured in terms of days and weeks.
However, faster does not always mean better. At its worst, rapid learning is just re-packaged training manuals presented in an online format. But with tools such as the PDA used by the U.S. Coast Guard to answer on-the-job questions, rapid learning can train employees in a consistent and cost-efficient format.
No matter what their feelings are on the new and accelerating methods of training, professional trainers need to be aware of the changing needs of the next generation that was bred on the Internet, IPods, and other portable devices. The old methods of training—preparing material for consumption all at once—will no longer be acceptable, according to John Higgins, an executive with Accenture Learning in Dallas.
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