Part 1

Read the article ‘Toshiba simplifies — and improves —
corporate training with e-learning tools’ and answer the
three questions that follow:

Imagine trying to gather a group of dealers or remote employees
in one location once or twice a year and teach them about your
upcoming product line. Chances are that by the time they returned
from the flight home, they had already forgotten most of the
information they learned, or worse — the information was
outdated.

In the past, Toshiba America Business Solutions used technology
to improve training, but in-person trainings or classes were often
still unavoidable. That’s not the case anymore. The latest
e-learning and web conferencing tools offer a better way to educate
dealers around the country who need to quickly understand how to
use and explain feature- rich products like printers, fax machines,
and computer scanners.

Toshiba decided several years ago to move training away from
classrooms. Dealers were receptive to a change, so Toshiba started
to switch the bulk of training from in-person seminars and classes
to the web. The thinking was that they could enhance training, as
well as make life and work easier for their dealers.

It was the right move. Toshiba now offers a blended approach to
education with the “CEM” approach: They combine the classroom, e-
learning, and mobile learning together.

The new approach is simple. A virtual classroom can be accessed
via laptop computer with an Internet connection and a few mouse
clicks. Dealers and marketing professionals and even consumers can
quickly study new product introductions and instructions, touch
base with network support staff, and download materials like
podcasts, spreadsheets, and brochures. Materials are also available
on their public website for anyone to access. Instead of traveling
across the state or even the country for a training session and
coming back with a box of lessons and notes, dealers can keep
instructional material handy on a computer.

The improvement has been significant. The old method of training
was costly and shipping timely training and product information to
employees and dealers often met with delays. But now, all dealers
need to do is set aside an hour of time, register on Toshiba’s
portal and sit at a computer for their lesson. It’s simple, cost
efficient, and the material is retained.

The change was not a visionary move, but rather a realization
that a blended approach to education was crucial for the 21st
century. By using web conferencing and other e-learning solutions,
dealers can take classes at 8 a.m. in different time zones and at
their own pace. E-learning is as much of an investment in the
future as research to make better products.

How Toshiba got started

Toshiba has always been an early adopter of new technologies.
They began using compact discs to store training material years
before other companies, and they have always tried to streamline
and simplify training. They were an early believer in what web
conferencing and e-learning could do for business.

Toshiba works with roughly 350 dealers in the United States and
almost 3,500 subsidiaries — all of which need up-to-the minute
training and information. Unfortunately, in-person training cost
both the dealers and Toshiba money, fuel, and time that could be
better spent on nuts-and- bolts business. E-learning allows them to
do away with those expenses and hassles and focus on what
matters.

For starters, it’s challenging to get as many as 500 employees
from around the country into one room for days of compliance
training or a seminar on the latest line of copiers. Toshiba
implemented a solution based on Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro, which
offered a seamless e- learning experience in addition to the
ability to host live web conferences. What used to be a long
training session is now a series of 15-to-30

minute online sessions. Switching to this course of action also
ensures an experience that is as close as possible to a
classroom.

Many dealers that attend training must comply with Six Sigma
methodology, which is a set of management standards meant to
heighten employee expertise and improve business. With the latest
tools, a seven- hour in person class has been split into three,
45-minute e-learning sessions. In addition, most of the computer
tools needed for online classes were easily integrated into
seminars. Acrobat Connect Pro, for example, can work with Microsoft
PowerPoint and offers video via

Adobe Flash Player that can be played on almost every computer.
So virtually any type of content can be worked into a presentation
or online class.

Remote training and presentation

The e-learning approach has been adopted quickly and is freeing
up time so Toshiba can work on what’s most important to their
business: prospecting and sales. Users participate in an average of
10 live courses per week — sometimes up to five or six sessions a
day. The number of three- or four-day training sessions has been
cut in half in lieu of online sessions.

Dealers are not the only people who benefit. The latest tools
also are used throughout the company: Marketing introduces new
products and organizes product launches and the HR department runs
training sessions on the web. Content developers are able to easily
create and update Toshiba training materials, so dealers and others
are up to date. The company even handles all of the product launch
pieces in-house, reducing the development time from about two weeks
to roughly a day.

The problems have been minimal for those participating. All it
takes to participate is clicking on a URL. And dealers do not have
to add anything to their computers to attend a session — they can
simply log in and begin learning.

Reduced time, improved business

Toshiba’s goal is to keep dealers educated and make sure that
they have everything they need to do their jobs well and teach
customers about Toshiba’s products with little hassle. The numbers
speak for themselves. Toshiba has cut the time spent on compliance
training time by a third. They have reduced Six Sigma training from
seven onsite hours to three 45-minute online modules. And they have
taken what in the past would have been a daylong seminar and turned
it into a multi-day interactive webinar.

Perhaps just as important, they have not lost the human touch.
Ultimately, business is about personal relationships, and the
e-learning tools help to make sure relationships are still a part
of what they do. They are able to facilitate face-to-face meetings
with web conferences — and they are

able to spend more time with the dealers because e-learning
tools eliminate geographic boundaries. E-learning has helped the
customers buy from someone who is informed through every step of an
important purchase. It’s not only made work easier but it’s
improved every aspect of the business.

Source:
https://www.td.org/Publications/Newsletters/Learning-Circuits/Learning-
Circuits-Archives/2009/04/Case-Study-T oshiba-SimplifiesAnd-
ImprovesCorporate-Training-with-E-Learning-Tools

Question 1 (25 marks)

Analyse how the use of a blended approach to education has
helped Toshiba to improve its training effectiveness.

Question 2 (20 marks)

Evaluate how far the blended approach to education adopted by
Toshiba is enhancing the transfer of training, and the types of
skills that are best trained using this approach.

Question 3 (20 marks)

Discuss the features that you believe are essential for
e-learning to be used successfully for training. Why?

Part 2 Essay questions Question 4 (15
marks)

What are the theories on transfer of training? Analyse how each
of these theories could apply to the design of learning
environments.

Question 5 (20 marks)

Discuss how learning theories may help to explain the cognitive
stages of the learning process. Provide relevant example(s) for
each stage to illustrate your answer.