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