The Swing of Engaged Learning

Over the past 150 years, America has established itself as world industrial powerhouse.  Efficient industrialization and tradesmanship would not have been possible without education and training.  Ironically, how training was delivered long ago wasn't as efficient as the processes that were being taught.  However, it was much more intimate and practical reinforcements were part of many programs.  What made those programs special was the deep level of socialization and feedback given to the person trained.  Some will argue that the deep socialization aspect of those programs resulted in extremely high proficiency rates among trainees. 

Just like how the industrial revolution made many processes faster, over time we have developed other methods of training to accomplish the same goal, make training more efficient.  And, for the most part we have accomplished this.  We have established schools that teach subject matter to many students at one time.  We have created computer based courses that offer self paced learning.  And, we have even combined training delivery methods and call it blended learning. 

However, these days, much of how we deliver education and training may be efficient, but is it effective?  Many will argue no.  When the delivery models are analyzed, the most effective learning has always been tied to social engagement.  People learn the best from other people.

Cutting edge companies like INXPO now make it possible to deliver classroom learning, self paced learning,  and intimate social learning all in one environment.  And, the best part is, it is all available online.  Need to attend a live class?  Click into a virtual classroom space, watch and listen to the instructor as well as ask questions.  Looking for a classmate?  Go to a Who's Here space, click on your classmates profile, and instantly start a text or video chat.  Want to get ahead and complete some self paced courses?  Enter a course library space and launch into an online course.  Do you have knowledge to offer?  Then setup your own blog and publish your own articles for all to read and comment about.  Is Twitter, Facebook, and Linked In a big part of your life?  Stay connected with your social media outlets right within the learning environment.  Do you like to win?  Play one of the many games and even compete with your peers. 

The learning pendulum is swinging again and this time its swinging to bring us back together.  Up until now learning technologies have kept us out on an island.  Many other recent platforms have allowed people to reconnect with friends and family, and this is what INXPO LEARN has done for coworkers, peers and students.  It's no longer about the training website, it's now all about the training community.

The vWorkplace: Not Just a Fairytale Anymore

Once upon a time there was an Account Manager named David.  David works for a successful consulting company and Monday thru Friday he gets up at 5:30 in the morning and moves through his routine. 

David normally leaves his home by 6:30am and drives to the office.  The typical commute to his office is around an hour.  And, he is always battling heavy stop and go traffic.  As most of us know, David is not alone.  The vast majority of workers in the United States commute to work, with 70 percent reporting they commute all the time [1]. 

By 7:30am David is at his desk and his workday consists of responding to emails, conducting client research, making phone calls, attending meetings, writing reports, and interacting with coworkers. 

At around 5:30 in the evening, David normally ends his workday and battles the same traffic on his way home.  He typically arrives home around 6:30pm and eats a luke warm dinner all by himself. 

Did I mention that David has a family?  He has a wonderful wife Jennifer and two young children, Kyle and Sarah.  However, during the work week, he only gets to spend about an hour with his kids each night and maybe two hours with his wife.  And like many American workers who commute, David suffers from high cholesterol, recurring neck and back pain, and higher stress levels [2].  By the time 9:30pm rolls around, David is exhausted and is in bed sleeping by 10pm. 

One day, something magical happened.  While David was at work, he was called into a “special” meeting.  David was worried.  From his experience, these types meetings normally meant that the company was downsizing and people would be laid off. 

However, quite the opposite happened.  This successful consulting company that David worked for did in fact announce that they would be downsizing, but they chose to do it in a different way. 

After the proper research and analysis, instead of cutting their most important assets, their employees, they decided to cut their physical infrastructure.  David’s company closed the office he worked from and offered him an opportunity to work from a “home office.”  They also closed two additional offices which allowed more than 100 employees to work from home. 

David’s new working requirements were simple.  Instead of getting up in the morning at 5:30am and battle traffic, he now get’s up at 7:00am and walks 25 feet to the office setup in his home. 

With his company laptop, he logs into his company’s virtual business environment from his home’s existing high speed internet connection.  He still responds to emails.  He still conducts client research.  He still makes phone calls.  He still attends meetings.  He still writes reports.  And, he still even interacts with is coworkers and management with the virtual environment’s video chat technology.  David experiences a new type of coworker engagement and soon realizes it’s easier and more efficient than before. 

Even though David is not working from the company’s office, he has not missed a beat when it comes to fulfilling his performance objectives and goals.  As a matter of fact, David works harder now than he ever did before.  David also loves his job and his company even more.  David is now like more than 72% of American employees that say flexible work arrangements would cause them to choose one job over another; 37% specifically cite telecommuting (vWorkplace) [1]. 

David’s vWorkplace setting now allows him to spend much more time with his children and wife and even has dinner with them on a regular basis.  With his new work-life balance, David’s professional and personal experience is something he could of only dreamed of before. 

He works in a space that is more comfortable which results in lower stress, less neck and back pain, and better overall productivity.  And, he drives less, which means less money is spent on gas and less vehicle emissions are released into the atmosphere. 

Even though this story started with “Once upon a time”, it is no fairytale.  Technologies like the INXPO VX platform can make all of this happen.  This is a true WIN-WIN story. 

The successful consulting company can adequately downsize without loosing a quality workforce.  And, the employees are given an opportunity to work smarter, which results in a better work-life balance, stronger loyalty, and a more productive workforce. 

In case you are wondering, the successful consulting company, which only employees 200 people, continually saves over $618,000 per year and benefits from a 711% ROI, which takes into account office space, utilities, and equipment costs.

[1]  Telework Research Network; http://www.teleworkresearchnetwork.com/telecommuting-statistics

[2]  The Wall Street Journal; Sarah Max; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903392904576512793010859106.html

Why Virtual Classrooms Are Excellent Learning Venues

Everyday, travel budgets are cut and organizations are struggling to find ways to connect with each other to share and present information.  Everyday, workers are being laid off or leaving their organizations which creates a reoccurring need to train new people.  Everyday, educators are trying to find better ways of transferring knowledge so it becomes more effective to their organizations or the workforce. 

Virtual classrooms are becoming more popular these days due to the fact that they are contributing as a primary solution to the challenges featured above.  What initially makes virtual classrooms an effective solution is the concept of not requiring the learner to travel to a physical location to consume knowledge or materials.  Learners and instructors can all connect into a virtual classroom at the same time through various devices like a computer, tablet, smart phone, or even a properly configured television.  Combined with other technologies like webcams and VOIP, learners can see and hear in a similar fashion as if they were physically in the same room.  This allows for real-time presentations, questions, answers, and peer to peer collaboration.  None of the traditional facilitation techniques are lost.  Surprisingly, with the use of virtual classroom technology, some of these techniques, like peer to peer interaction, are enhanced.  The ability to come together in this virtual way saves organizations tens of thousands of dollars every year. 

In many cases, setting up a virtual classroom space has become very easy and fast which allow organizations to be flexible with the demand of training.  Much of this demand is driven by workforce turnover and new hires.  Being able to easily adjust and setup virtual class sessions to address the ever changing training demand gets new hires trained faster and productive sooner. 

It doesn’t just stop at the benefits of sooner productivity.  Learning effectiveness has become a huge benefit as well.  Virtual classrooms have become part of a blend learning approach and recent research from the U.S. Department of Education, in 2009, shows that on average, students in “online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”[1]  Because virtual classrooms can be part of a larger virtual community, other learning tools like on-demand courses, assignments, assessments, and prescriptive curriculums all contribute to this blended learning approach. 

At the end of the day, virtual classrooms can save your organization money, allow greater flexibility in the delivery of your training, and make your workforce more productive and effective.

[1] Barbara Means et al., “Evaluation of Evidence-Based Practices in On-line Learning” (U.S. Department of Education, 2009).