Suggested Uses of Online Formats

These were the suggested uses I came up with and fed back to the delegates after each of the formats were discussed:

Company website or Intranet

Sorts of Content
Company Information and strategy
Training Strategy
Department Structure
Trainer Profiles
Training Courses Outline
How to Book
Course Dates

Advantages
Can raise the profile of your training department
Learners can access content easily

Disadvantages
May need training in using a content management software
Top down – People cannot contribute content


Discussion Forum
Sort of Content
Anything goes! Depends on how the forum is promoted
Whatever users want to discuss or ask questions about
Mostly all User generated content

Advantages
Social dimension for networking and building relationships
Specific answers to specific problems
Very Interactive
Sharing Knowledge

Disadvantages
Requires moderation to delete spam or inappropriate content
Answers may not be correct
Not always easy to find specific content

Blog
Sort of content
Journal entries (opinion & comment)
Maybe some training materials, if indexed correctly with tags

Advantages
Very easy to set up and Publish to
Interesting – personal emotional content
Flexible either Individual or set up as a Network so many users can post
Interactive – Readers can comment,

Disadvantages
Content is published chronologically on a journal format. Older content not so accessible
Cannot upload documents, can Copy & Paste content

Wiki
Sort of content
Documents in any format eg Word, pdf
Anyone with an account can contribute or edit content eg Wikipedia

Advantages
Saves emailing large attachments, just send the link
Democratic, anyone can contribute knowledge
Enables sharing of best practice
Central resource for Information
Documents and content to support face to face training

Disadvantages
Relies on regular contributions and updates

Group Feedback from Exercise

The group were asked to think about using the following online resources.

The 4 formats were divided between the groups.
They were asked to consider how they could use:
- Their company website
- Discussion Forum
- Blog
- Wiki

Having been provided with definition and examples of all the above and the group confirming that they understood groups were asked to consider each format and come up with some ideas on:

• Uses for the Trainer
• Advantages for the Learner
• Benefits for the organisation

Consider ease of use, access, skills required and type of content you could publish

Results from the Post It exercise by format.

All Information below was from the delegates:

Company Website
Uses for a trainer
Trusted information source
Factual information
Free
Quotes

Benefits for a Learner
Ease of use
Easy access, free
Reliable information
Can do in own time
Wide range

Benefits to the Organisation
Cheap
Reliable
Flexible



Discussion Forum
Uses for a trainer
Get ideas
Problem solving
Knowledge sharing
Specific searches

Benefits for a Learner
Share information, problems, solutions
Get ideas
Ask questions
Subject specific

Benefits to the Organisation
Cheap
Flexible
Subject specific


Blog
Uses for a trainer
(NONE)

Issues
Some technical knowledge required
Veracity of information
Copyright
Confidentiality DPA


Benefits for a Learner
Flexibility
Language Informal/ vernacular
Ownership buy in

Benefits to the Organisation
(NONE)

Wiki
Uses for a trainer
Time and effort saving
Veracity of info

Benefits for a Learner
Acessibility
Suits some learning styles
Is the information correct?
Interest
Reading on screen

Benefits to the Organisation
(NONE)