Example 1: Collaborative Training Environment

While I was working with a multinational company in Florence, Italy years ago, I found myself in a similar scenario. I was working in the IT training department and the central office in the US has exactly disseminated a new logistic system that required all sourching offices from Europe, Middle East and Asia to collaborate because from this collaboration, the new logistic software would be developed in the main office.

In hindsight after having gone through various courses in these programme, as an instructional designer, I would use Media Sharing for documents that could be shared as well as photos, presentation and reports if necessary. I don’t remember if You Tube was available for uploading videos yet but that would have been great since vendors and tracking systems could have been recorded and sent online for other offices to see. One of the issues which this company faced was their delayed goods from the vendor to the warehouse and finally to the retail store. I would have used the calendar to post some important events where anyone who logs on would see. Since Europe CET) and Pacific Time (PST) had a huge time difference, I would also create a Ning community or a Wiki for people to communicate their thoughts and ideas without losing on the time difference.

This scenario was happening during the onset of the new millennium and therefore innovative software were starting to take hold of the internet. Chats like Yahoo or MSN Messenger were popular then and were used for simultaneous meetings. “Blackboard” discussion boards were utilised for simultaneous meetings. However, the internet connections were still slow and transfers of packet data was always an issue. Huge uploads were almost impossible.

Today, Media Sharing would enhance this scenario immensely. It would provide ample tools for those who would share, report and discuss on the new logistic system without too much obstacles in trying to adhere to what is required. Discussions boards like Tangler offers an enormous possibility to post discussion, post and share photos and videos. I would use Elluminate as a Web Conferencing tool if two offices could simultaneously share their ideas. Life would totally be different if we had all these emerging technologies then. Baldarrain (2006) says that the versatility of social software and other collaboration tools available today support constructivist environments that seek to motivate, cultivate, and meet the needs of the 21st-century learner.

It is obvious that training would be no longer boring or monotonous with these emerging technologies the learner has at his disposition. It would be more enticing and interesting for a distant learner to construct his knowledge and understand of concepts while still working, travelling or simply just living his day-to-day life.

Malu

Reference
Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2),139–153.