The contribution of the didactic quality of online courses to the necessary materialization of learning in e-learning users, and even to the desirable familiarization of users with the method, has been deserving our attention for a long time; surely because we began to dedicate ourselves in 1987 to the design of what was then called Computer Aided Education (EAO)
But we have just read a book (edited by the Spanish Association of Personnel Directors, AEDIPE, and sponsored by FYCSA, an e-learning provider company) that provides interesting opinions on the quality of the content. Although the book relates, in a general way, some experiences of implantation of the method in Spain, we have observed that, when speaking specifically about contents, different concerns emerge.
The reader can find in this initiative of AEDIPE (“e-Learning: the best practices in Spain”, a title that, apparently, inaugurates its Human Resources Library) valuable manifestations that paint the neosecular panorama of lifelong learning in companies; but in fact we have also found formulations, specifically referring to the subject of content within e-learning, that perhaps contribute to feed an edifying contrast of opinions.
In the foreword, Carlos Pelegrín (coordinator of the book and Director of Training at Telefónica) already offers us his own point of view: “The truth is that the best results can be achieved with medium quality content, while excellent content does not guarantee absolutely nothing, they can even lead to failure. ”
The phrase refers to "online training", but it could be said that only the formal audiovisual aspect of the content; We do not believe that Pelegrín decided to prefer the didactic burden of the same, although, examined the context, he does not seem to refer to it when making this initial and forceful allusion to quality.
However, just a few pages later, in his introduction to the book, José Ignacio Díez Martínez, CEO of FYCSA, insists: “The contents have been magnified during these past three or four years, without the reason being well understood. It is obvious that the more attractive they are and the better they have developed pedagogically, the greater will be their acceptance by the students; but it is not clear that this is the key to self-study ”. And he continues: "Therefore, the contents, in their various forms, are necessary (…) but they are only one part, perhaps not the most significant, of success." It seems that the sponsor of the book does not bet either on an excellent didactic quality of the contents, and justifies it: “Who more and who less has been forced to acquire complex knowledge with precarious means.
Let's remember the university (…) with photocopies of the notes of the most studious of the class: more precarious contents, impossible ”. One believed that the contents were as (or even more) significant or transcendental in online training as in the face-to-face, but Díez must pronounce with solid foundations. For example, he seems to know the e-learning market in the United States well, and speaking of it he points out: "… there they are refocusing their model, moving from a scheme of pure self-study (…) to one more similar to ours…".
In its first lines, its CEO declares that the FYCSA Group has wanted to sponsor this book, among other reasons, so that the reader "learns from the experiences of other companies and can make future decisions with more elements of judgment": a kind healthy benchmarking seems to suggest us.
And already in the final part of his introduction, he maintains that “the success of online training lies to a large extent in the choice of the learning methodology and, in addition, in the motivational elements, such as the involvement of managers or the link of the training offer to the real needs of the students ”. He does not seem to specify what he refers to when talking about methodology within the online training itself, nor perhaps he refers to the same thing when he talks about "training offer" and when he talks about "content"; But it does clarify his vision of "success".
Alluding to a study carried out by FYCSA among different companies (surely clients), he says: “It is relevant to highlight that in successful cases, considering as such to achieve an end rate greater than 75%, (…) being in some cases the factor of The main success is people's motivation… ”. Díez ends by recommending the reader to dose his investment effort in content well.
In line with the unquestionable importance of the motivation or encouragement of the participants in e-learning programs, it is worth mentioning the initiative that Antonio Peñalver, from Santander Central Hispano, talks about: “a system of e-points that are awarded upon successful completion each course and that can be periodically exchanged for different types of gifts ”. Surely the SCH developed this idea to accelerate the familiarization of its people with the new method.
In general, the authors speak more of intrinsic motivation than of this type of stimulus, but the truth is that we also seem to remember that some other large companies use (or have used) credit systems: in short, also points.
A digression on success
Although it is a very frequently used word in the book, we are not sure that the same thing is always understood when talking about success, of “ending with success” and of the key factors for it. Logically, it depends on the specific objectives set in each case.
Lorenzo Peribáñez, of IBM, when pointing out (p. 197) six critical success factors of an e-learning program, does not include the motivation of the students and points out first: “Having a Sponsor of sufficient level within the organization chart " Like other authors, Peribáñez seems to refer, above all, to the implementation of the method.
Among its success factors, it does not explicitly refer to content, but it does speak of the effectiveness of learning, reflected in business results.
And José Antonio Ortego, from Oracle, who highlights the importance of intrinsic motivation, says, surely satisfied, that "more than 80% of the participants in the online training courses completed the courses", but immediately added: " … The main success, precisely, was this, integrating online training with rationality within the global training model… ”. And, despite the above, he ends up acknowledging that "the most important thing of all, what is really intended to be achieved whatever the methodology to follow, is learning, the development of new knowledge or skills in the organization".
We saw this objective (materialization of learning) made explicit both by Ortego and by other authors, but it certainly seems that the book talks a little more about participation rates and completion of the courses: in short, success in implementation, more than of learning success. After this brief digressive parenthesis dedicated to the concept of success, we return to focus on the subject of content.
Let's go back to the contents
Indeed, before accessing the experience of the large companies present in the book, both the coordinator's foreword and the sponsor's introduction already address the subject of content (perhaps speaking of different aspects thereof) and their contribution to " success".
But this AEDIPE book gives us access to other valuable and well-founded opinions on all these questions, that is, on the quality of the teaching materials, and their contribution to learning and the desirable familiarization of the participants with the new method.
In general, it has seemed to us that the companies do not reach conclusions fully coinciding with those of the sponsor, but each reader will draw their own.
On page 16, Carlos Espinosa, from Aena, alludes as desirable to “the highest pedagogical quality” of online courses, and declares: “The contents are developed by specialized companies under the direction of internal experts, who modify and validate the product until its final disposal ”.
On page 28, José Antonio Ortego, from Oracle, points out that “online training programs, to be successful, must meet minimum quality requirements”. In 58, Pedro Hernández and Julio Las Heras, of Correos y Telégrafos, without going into depth on the subject of content, point, however, to its pedagogical aspects as something to take into account. Later, on page 89 (chapter 5, dedicated to the extensive experience of Telefónica de España, and in which, among other elements, the importance of tele-tutors is highlighted), Hortensia Mañas argues:
"The best results come from an adequate implementation strategy, and not necessarily from a platform and some content." It seems to us a conclusion very in tune with what the coordinator (and Director of Training at Telefónica) had already told us in the foreword: “… for our initiative to be successful it must overcome the war of platforms and content, to focus on customers, strategy and service ”.
Despite her logical harmony with Pelegrín, the author of this chapter refers to "pedagogical content of attractive design", to the "training of collaborating teachers for the creation of multimedia content", and to the objective of "guaranteeing high quality in the new training environment ”.
On page 45, Iván González, from Ferrovial, shows his concern for the contents, and suggests exploring the market before buying them because "it is not always the case that the most effective and highest quality courses are the most expensive". Ángels Margarit Rius and Enric Xavier Pierá, from Endesa, speak to us, in Chapter 6, of the Did @ ctik Project and point out (page 94) that “there are three fundamental aspects or axes necessary to achieve learning efficiency: the participants, the design (of the course material) and the trainers (monitors and tutors) ”.
These managers responsible for training at Endesa maintain that excellence in their performance consists in fully meeting the expectations of both the Company's Management and the participants in the training actions.
On page 138, Carlos González, from Caja Madrid, tells us that "… technology is a necessary condition (…) but the sufficiency that can guarantee success comes from offering services and content from a customer-supplier perspective".
On the need and sufficiency, José Ignacio Díez, from FYCSA, had argued in the introduction to the book that "content and technology are necessary elements, but not sufficient…", and suggested that sufficiency comes from the "choice of learning methodology ”… Perhaps, when talking about learning methodology (within online training), Díez was referring to details about the teaching material (audiovisual, interactive…), about tutoring (reactive, proactive…) or about the combination with face-to-face methods (blended learning), but we have already commented that he does not seem to specify it in his introduction to the book.
Returning to the chapters of the selected companies, on page 158, Angela Cruz, director of Alcatel University, points out: "The content of the courses is of utmost importance for a positive experience"; and shortly afterwards she adds: "The online courses, in addition to having good content and a design that appeals to the user…". Angela Cruz also highlights the need for self-motivation (intrinsic motivation, different from extrinsic credit-based motivation) in users.
Like other authors, the director of Alcatel University Madrid places the responsibility for learning and professional development on people, but assumes that "companies must provide means to their employees that allow them to advance in both knowledge and skills…". Alcatel seems to devote a lot of attention to the content, to the benefit of the development of its people. And similar, if not greater, concern seems to show the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). The UOC experts, María Teresa Arbués and Lluís Tarín, seem to consider teaching materials fundamental, and they maintain, on page 211: “In the context of virtual training, the creation, design and structuring of teaching materials and resources are stages of a fundamental process,that must be rigorously addressed to ensure the quality of the programs and the facilitation of learning ”. Before, on page 206, they had already said: "The contents are designed at the service of people who learn."
The UOC chapter seemed especially written from the teaching and teaching experience, at some distance from other chapters (equally interesting but perhaps more oriented to the valuable global experiences of implantation in companies), in which the corresponding managers (majority of economists) They talk about their e-learning models -sometimes very specific, as in the case of Renta 4 (described by Jonás González and Jesús Sánchez-Quiñones), in which it is an effective multi-conference system-, locating them, in general, in its policy or system of permanent development of human resources.
In the last chapter, Antonio Peñalver, from the SCH, is also concerned about the pedagogical aspect, and talks about “achieving harmonious and simple learning for the user”. Referring to the loyalty of users, Peñalver says: "The degree of user satisfaction with the training offer makes them feel more and more inclined to carry out teaching activities…".
On the other hand, in our reading we also find numerous references to collective learning or team learning, almost always referring to the use of virtual campuses, by the way insufficiently used, apparently, (Antonio Peñalver himself points out).
This theme of shared learning (once linked in the book to knowledge management and also to the discipline of the same name - team learning - that Peter Senge talked about more than ten years ago) seems to request a certain analysis as well, in the one that will surely stop interested readers.
Analysis and conclusion
In relation to this subject of content, we cannot nor do we wish to exclude the points of view formulated in the prologue -by Carlos Pelegrín- and in the introduction -by José Ignacio Díez-, but we were unable to connect with the foundation or purpose that explains them. Some paragraphs of the prologue seem to correspond more to an epilogue, but including conclusions that we have not managed to reach after reading the book. And in the introduction, without waiting for the selected companies to describe their experiences, the contribution of the quality of content to the materialization of learning seems to be relativized - without hesitation or ambiguity.
It even goes so far as to ask companies to dose their investment in content, and it is precisely a content provider who does it. We have sought opinions from other suppliers, and they do not seem to coincide with Díez; that is, unfortunately, we do not understand this first part of the book well.
In any case, according to the book itself, the best practices are found from chapter 1 to the last, although it is certainly recognized that not all good practices in our country have been represented.
Unless we have read the book too quickly, it seems to us that the authors of the different chapters are betting on a good quality of the online teaching materials, also making other important bets: successful implementation strategy, good detection of needs through the analysis of competences, encouragement and prominence of the participants, tutelary monitoring in virtual campus…
The managers of Aena, Oracle, Ferrovial, Endesa, Caja Madrid, Alcatel, UOC and SCH very visibly show their concern for the didactic quality of the content, and it seems logical to us that companies that are clients of online courses look for good products at a good price..
It is necessary to clarify that, when speaking of quality and unlike Pelegrín (who perhaps refers more to the forms than to the funds), the authors seem to point to its pedagogical aspect and its adequacy to needs; that is, to their potential as facilitators of the desired learning, aimed at improving performance.
In any case, we hope that each reader will carry out their own analysis and take advantage of the experiences described.
On the other hand, the topic addressed in this article-reportage -the importance, unquestionable or relative, of the quality of the content, as facilitators of online learning- is not exhausted in this book, and perhaps we can all experience something more than the e -learning as users, to consolidate our opinion.
In other words: perhaps it is good that we repeatedly try to learn, via e-learning, something that we do not know, or to develop some skill that we do not possess. If we succeed, let us ask ourselves where the key to success has been: in the method, in the tutor, in the content, in self-motivation, in teamwork, in the implementation strategy… or in the ideal conjunction and synergy of everything. it. And let us ask ourselves what can be further improved to make the result even more satisfactory.
And if we did not succeed, that is, if we did not learn much, let us also ask ourselves why: what has failed.
