22-03-2012, 03:48 PM
The Growing Role of Technology in Workforce Development & Training
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In recent years, the topic of workforce development and training has garnered a great deal of attention and press coverage. The underlying fundamental labor force and economic dynamics of an aging Baby Boom generation, the relatively small size of the baby bust cohort, the impact of global competition, the changing face of manufacturing and a mismatch between workforce skills supply and demand will pose significant workforce challenges during the decades ahead.
Perhaps nowhere is this moreevident than in the greater Dayton region where, in spite of high unemployment levels, especially among those formerly employed in the manufacturing sector, thousands of jobs go unfilled because the skills requirements for these jobs do not match those of the displaced and unemployed workforce in the region.
Furthermore, of the 15.3 millionnew jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects will be created between 2008 and 2015, the strongest growth is projected to be in the professional and business services, health care and social services sectors, categories that will require technology competencies, a Bachelor's degree or higher and/or substantial on-the-job training (T. Alan Lacey and Benjamin Wright, Occupational employment projections: 2008-2018: Monthly Labor Review Online, November 2009.).
Technology-Based Learning and Workforce Development
According to Workforce Management Magazine, quoting from the American Society for Training and Development's 2009 State of the Industry report, approximately one out of three hours of US workplace training is now being delivered using some form of technology, and we expect that ratio to climb in coming years. They go on to point out that technology based methods now account for just over 30% of all learning hours, which is up sharply from 11.5% in 2001.
Technology-Based Methods and Tools
As previously mentioned, technology-based learning leverages a variety of delivery methods and hardware and software tools to deliver learning content. Some of the most common delivery methods and tools used include:
• Tutorials - self-paced training programs delivered online or from a CD-ROM.
• Web Conferences - usually centered around a website where visual and text content is displayed, and include audio and sometimes video.
• Online Forums (also called bulletin boards, discussion groups, or news groups) - allow learners to interact with each other and the instructor through threaded discussions by posting messages on specific subject areas, starting new threads and sub-threads, or posting replies to others.
• Electronic Mailing Lists (also called listservs) - allow members to send messages to other members of the same mailing list to pose and answer questions and provide input, feedback and answers on various topics relevant to the subscribers.
• Wikis and Virtual Collaborative Workspaces - allow members of a group to share a virtual space on the web where they can store reference documents add and edit documents and track progress on a collaborative work effort.
• Blogs (Weblog) - web-based journals that are usually a component of a larger personal or corporate website. As par of an online learning environment, blogs can take on the role of a learning journal.