Fashion game to play online

Let the Knowledge Olympics begin.

The torch of e-learning is ablaze. Like Olympians of ancient Greece, global communications rivals stand poised to compete freely according to the rules of the new knowledge game. Spectators wait anxiously for the delivery of media content via Internet, intranets and extranets, satellite broadcast, audiotapes and videotapes, interactive TV, and CD-ROM.

To the victors will go the spoils: a worldwide educational market currently worth $2.1 trillion, according to W.R. Hambrecht & Co.; the software market alone is currently worth $33 billion.

Spectators will gain, according to Michael Wenger, director of e-learning for Sun Microsystems' educational services, "a continuous learning capability, delivered whenever and wherever it is needed: K-12, and field service engagements or assembly line. Anywhere, anytime, for anyone on a variety of equipment."

Implementing an e-learning strategy means bringing together the best the market has to offer in people, content, software and services--whether the environment is corporate, academia or government/military.

"It is both the human and technical infrastructure of online learning environments that create the opportunities for new knowledge and understanding," affirms Lisa Jobson, U.S. program coordinator of the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN-USA).

To produce the simplest distance learning scenario presents a complex challenge: to maintain equilibrium while moving at the speed of light--for what is cutting edge today could be passe tomorrow. LogicBay founder Paul Tobin advises clients to "think big ... start small ... build fast," in this rapidly changing arena that is revolutionizing the way corporations deliver training, a market alone anticipated to be worth $12 billion by 2003.

GOING FOR THE GOLD

Admission to the Knowledge Games requires a heavy investment up front, with no profit realized for several years. The benefits of e-learning, however, override major concerns about initial costs for many corporations and institutions, which look to the long-range advantages--simplified logistics; lightning-fast delivery speed; convenience, ease of use, improved retention and flexibility for e-learners; quality, consistency and just-in-time information for businesses; and the global reach of any training session or classroom.

A plethora of technology companies are developing the software that propels e-learning. LogicBay's launch of ARISS 2000 CBT, a computer-based training program, enables the U.S. Army Recruiting Command to quickly and consistently train nearly 12,000 recruiters worldwide. Century 21 Real Estate Corp. uses enterprise collaboration software from Centra to deliver live training over the Internet to 75,000 real estate professionals.

Learnframe developed the Pinnacle Learning Manager, which automatically connects to nearly 11,000 courseware titles, representing 65 vendors who integrate the learning management software into their computer-based training (CBT). The company also provides a learning center, large online learning libraries, and an integrated e-learning system for the delivery of learning content in an e-commerce environment.

Knowledge Anywhere develops Web-based e-learning solutions, including more than 140 continuing education courses for insurance, securities, certified public accountant and certified financial planner professionals, who must maintain licensing complaince.

Instruction Set, an education solutions provider, offers both instructor-led and Web-based training, focused on training and retraining the technology industry.

LearnShare, a consortium founded by 13 Fortune 500 companies, serves as a learning portal solutions center. "Employee knowledge has become a strategic tool and competitive necessity," says Lois Webster, general manager. Web-based courses--500,000+ with curriculums adopted from Stanford University a n d The London School of Economics--are available to 2.5 million employees worldwide, and are delivered through five global learning providers: THINQ, Unext, QuicKnowledge, SkillSoft and Ninth House.

RAISING THE BAR

According to Merrill Lynch's profile on corporate training services in the U.S., education and development is the number one source of competitive advantage for companies. Statistics gleaned by the American Society of Training and Development show that over the next 10 years an estimated 74% of Americans working today will require retraining; 15 million manufacturing jobs will demand different skills than called for today; 37 million people will need entry-level training; and technical skills will require updating every four years.

Corporations already have begun to replace complicated and cumbersome training sessions that require employee travel and lost time from work, as well as costly hotel and airline fares, with Web-based and/or computer-based training. Presently, about 11% of corporate training programs are conducted through computer interactions, streaming video or the Internet.

KNOWLEDGE TRIATHALON

In Wenger's opinion, "E-learning will not replace but augment and enhance the traditional experience. One thing for sure is that if e-learning is not effective, it will disappear."

Microsoft's Roberto Bamberger, manager of the corporation's learning solutions, uses the term "hybrid approaches" for the eventual combination of face-to-face experience with e-learning, or as Instruction Set's CEO Beran Peter likes to say, "blended learning" which combines Web-based and instructor-led training. Blended or integrated learning, claims Peter, is the winning solution.

Brick-and-mortar institutions are met with the triple challenge of keeping traditional education activities in force, supplementing research opportunities or expanding customary classroom offerings with e-learning--and keeping an eye on their profit margins. Competition from accredited online universities leaves academic administrators scrambling for innovative avenues that will salvage long-existing campuses.

Online University of Phoenix now advertises via television in the fashion of correspondence schools, but with a product that surpasses education by snail mail--instant entree to online libraries, mentoring and study groups, and anytime, anywhere access to learning.

Just outside the nation's capital in Northern Virginia, two traditional institutions of learning: George Mason University and the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) are making the transition to distance learning.

Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. is leasing optical fiber to GMU to connect its three local campuses, making GMU the first Virginia university to have a point-to-point, private optical network, employing the latest dense wave division multiplexing technology for video, LAN-to-LAN and other bandwidth-intensive applications.

Meanwhile, the VCCS network connected 23 colleges and 39 campuses throughout the commonwealth. Its ATM network, based on already installed Cisco technology, upgraded to a multiservice network in order to save telephony costs and develop a more powerful, interactive voice response system for student registration, as well as higher-quality compressed video for distance learning classes.

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD

Despite the progress in implementing new software and hardware, the shift to e-learning is in its infancy.

Before competitors could step up to the starting line, forums, consortiums, alliances and associations, and conferences, virtual campuses, open and distance learning institutions and networks mobilized to bring fair play to the field.

These organizations confront associated e-learning issues--accreditation, quality assurance and standards for e-learning; provisioning of software, hardware and access to young students around the globe; instructor-led classes vs. simple self-directed study; and adapting curriculums and/or training programs to the new knowledge format--and attempt to find solutions.

Says Janet Poley, president of the American Distance Education Consortium (ADEC), "Advancing the use of the Internet technology in education narrows the gap between the education `haves' and `have nots.'"

"With the development of wireless access to the Internet, the barriers will be further diminished," says Sun's Wenger.

THE VICTORY

E-learning is applicable to a myriad of situations; however, as Wenger observes: "Although the modality of learning is changing, learning is learning." In his estimation, trends in e-learning will be geared toward more access, higher bandwidth, more synchronous events, learning management, and open delivery. Having the technology and bandwidth for synchronous e-learning events with video and sound is, he says, necessary for a smooth transition to e-learning.

Peter from Instruction Set expects the next e-learning generation to include online mentoring, virtual classrooms, simulations, reusable learning objects, as well as wireless access.