Week 3 Blog - Example 3, Asynchronous Training

     I chose to tackle the training needs associated with example 3.  This particular example has several obstacles to overcome.  First, all staff members from every shift need this safety training.  Second, the safety training needs to include step-by-step processes that are easy to understand and follow.  Third, the shift supervisors need some guarantees that the staff members are engaged and actually learning the content enough to be able to demonstrate their learning.  I do believe that technology can help overcome these obstacles.  “Emerging technologies not only enable customization of content, but also customization of the level of interaction by allowing the learner to choose when and how to interact” (Beldarrain, 2006, p. 147).  The solution needs to be one that allows users to not only be engaged, but also choose when and where they want to learn.  After considering all of these obstacles, I thought of one tool that would deliver the results that the manufacturing plant needs.  I say that this is a job for Brainshark.  Allow me to explain what Brainshark is and how Brainshark will deliver the best training experience.

     In short, Brainshark is “the leader in online and mobile video presentations” (Combined Insurance, 2012).  Brainshark is a cloud-based tool that will allow anyone to develop fully functional and engaging training modules at their desk.  Even with the basic features of Brainshark, anyone can sit at their desk and create learning modules that include your own voice as the narrator, your own videos as the instruction and your own tests and questions to evaluate knowledge gained.  In the real world, a company named Combined Insurance used Brainshark to solve some of their training woes that had developed due to the mobile nature of their business.  As a result of using Brainshark, Combined Insurance reported that employee engagement and feedback increased (Combined Insurance, 2012).

     “Effective communication requires an active audience” (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek, 2012, p. 91).  By using Brainshark, the manufacturing plant will be able to communicate the training messages effectively due to the active nature of the training modules developed in Brainshark.  I recently came back from a training conference that stressed that some of the best training is peer-to-peer training.  I propose that the shift supervisors film a series of step-by-step video clips that would take employees through the proper safety procedures for each piece of machinery.  The instructional designer could aid and train the supervisors on how to upload the videos into Brainshark.  In addition to the step-by-step video clips, each supervisor could personalize the training even more by adding their own voice as the narrator.  With a simple microphone hooked into the pc, Brainshark captures audio and places it directly into the module.  By teaching the shift supervisors on how to use Brainshark, each supervisor could be in charge of the training modules in the future.  If they see a training need, they could create an additional Brainshark training module or modify the current modules to fit the need.

     Since Brainshark is a cloud-based system, it will not drain the bandwidth or technological components of the manufacturing plant. “Cloud computing provides datacenter computing power and storage” (Butoi, Tomai and Mocean, 2013, p. 27).  Since the storage and full Brainshark system is on the cloud, the manufacturing plant has little to no functionality to loose at the plant level.  With all the extra power that Brainshark provides, detailed tests can be created with full videos to test knowledge gained, allowing supervisors to see knowledge gained. Brainshark also has a very robust tracking component that would really help the plant supervisors evaluate the learning process.  In addition to adding tests and questions to evaluate learning, supervisors can track the use of modules on Brainshark.  Supervisors can view who has taken the modules, how long it took them to view the entire module and even how long they viewed each part of the module.  Within Brainshark, employees would have the ability to rewind and view any part of the training module.  So if they did not understand a certain step, they could easily go back and review the step again.  So supervisors could get a clear picture as to who really took the time to review the content and who just opened it up and quickly ran through the module without spending much time.

     The training modules created in Brainshark can be viewed on the cloud at any time and through many different ways.  If employees have an Internet connection of some sort, they can view the modules on a computer or many of the handheld mobile devices that are out on the market today.  So mobility and access to the training material is not a problem with Brainshark.  In fact, the plant supervisors may even find more uses for Brainshark past the safety modules being created.  I can see many uses for Brainshark such as rolling out new policies or introducing new team members to the corporation.

     In conclusion, I have no doubt that Brainshark is the tool for the job.  I know this for a fact because I have used Brainshark to create modules.  I have seen the results that Brainshark can deliver.  Brainshark is not a free service, but I believe you get what you pay for.  Brainshark is easy to use and understand.  The modules are rich and engaging.  Staff members will enjoy using Brainshark to learn.  When learning is fun or enjoyable, what is there to complain about?

References

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

Butoi, A., Tomai, N., & Mocean, L. (2013). Cloud-Based Mobile Learning. Informatica Economica, 17(2), 27-40. doi:10.12948/issn14531305/17.2.2013.03

Combined Insurance Uses Brainshark Video to Train Mobile Sales Force. (2012). Insurance Advocate, 123(18), 16-18.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.