This article has been formulated from the contents of a workshop delivered to the Newfoundland and Labrador Trainers Association on April 23, 1998.

The Internet is a vast yet relatively simple to use information system that has captured the attention of a growing number of training providers. Its capacity to deliver information in support of training services provides a number of advantages that benefit trainers and trainees alike. Generally users need only have a moderate level of literacy skill, access to computers with Internet capability and sufficient time to devote to the training tasks that would be presented to them. To use it effectively as a medium for planning instruction or for learning new content, a particular intuition for locating information and how to apply it to complement the content and methods typically found in training can make the experience more worthwhile. This article provides a perspective on the evolution of training and the Internet and further identifies a number of resources that are available to augment training in general.

Historical Patterns in Training

Fundamentally, all approaches to design of a training provision have included two important characteristics. Trainers have always attended to (1) required sets of specific knowledge and skill requirements and (2) basic philosophical approaches and relationship between individuals involved in the training processes. The former has largely been influenced by the many occupations from which the knowledge and skill are drawn, and which the trainee eventually hoped to enter, the latter not always as clearly recognized but most often left to instructors’ discretion to fully exploit.

From evidence that formal structures existed to promote training in ancient cultures to more recent models that are typically based in the present day institutions, one can find unending support for training as mean of passing on critical levels of skill to succeeding generations of practitioners in countless occupations (Roberts, 1971 p. 22-45). Regardless of the culture or historical time period, technological capability has never been distant from a training provision and the economic and social well being of the culture. Indeed as any technological change is introduced, increased demands for advanced levels of technological capability follow as does renewed emphasis on some kind of training provision.

Historical evidence indicates as well that trainers have also long recognized that commercial interests in a region are a principal force that promotes and sustains good training. Trainers have typically embraced new technology and used dynamic relationships that exist between a trainer and a trainee to provide us with numerous training models, many of which have influenced our present training practices. Largely, these have been characterized as developed in situational contexts in response to needs as they arise and in the settings in which such needs have been expressed. This has resulted in a myriad of procedural and philosophical patterns that almost always have had objectivism at the base of its approach (Jackson, 1992, p 76-83).

Trainers' roles have long been in guiding trainees through a specific amount of content, both theoretical and procedural. They focus on the degree to which trainees acquire the confidence, skill, and knowledge needed to be an effective practitioner in a workplace. Particular levels of skill attainment that trainees are subjected to have largely reflected the advice expressed from the field of practitioners, essentially those who would hire trainees. Evidence of quality in a training provision is drawn from observations of trainees’ performance in work simulations, apprenticeships, mentoring strategies, laboratory activity, drill and practice sessions, paper tests and examinations, and surveys of employers who hire trainees. Hard-line trainers are characteristically guarded on the matter of training quality in training provisions, principally because of its implications for licensing and credential procedures that exist for occupations and the repercussions if their trainees cannot measure up to prevailing standards.

The sub-baccalaureate work force in Canada accesses training through private and public community colleges where the above pattern is characteristic. These institutions have obtained mandates to provide training and do so in response to ever-growing community needs for skillful workers. Not surprisingly training can be found available in varied and convenient locations that include college campus, industrial and business work settings, community halls, mall outlet, on the bridge of ships and in the cabins of aircraft. In more recent years advancements in technology have enabled trainers to develop provisions uniquely adapted to distance education and computer networks.

The Growing Influence of the Internet in Training

Offering network-based training appears on the surface to be a dramatic departure from previous training patterns. Yet on closer examination one can see that the recent introduction of internet based training has similarity to other patterns of training development. The provisions have appeared in response to perceived economic need; they acknowledge and exploit the latest technological advancements; they show positive potential to contribute to the general economy, and individuals who participate in the training do so with the expectation of future benefit, usually gainful employment. Needless to say, the dramatic technological change that has occurred in recent decades has stimulated optimism among trainers, principally because the advancements have catalyzed greater capability to access information and disseminate training material (Ross, 1995, p. 141-144).

It is not surprising that, to gain a foothold, many individuals turn to training that includes the use of computers (Grubb, 1996, p 229-254). From its onset the internet was recognized in the communications industry as a potent means of disseminating training material. Among trainers there were fears that an internet based program would pale in comparison to traditional methods. Initial concerns were the system would not provide sufficient evidence and guarantees that its contents and provisions would carry standards of quality comparable to traditional training practices (Negroponte, 1996, p.163-219).

These concerns have not totally subsided, and they are only partially resolved. More importantly they have been viewed as prematurely conceived and incompletely stated. For those who would design instruction for delivery on the Internet, the question of guarantees has been relatively more complex and the clear evidence that might be used to provide answers arguably inconclusive. We have come to see that asking questions more related to how to find information and present it on-line to augment proven training structures and practices is the more fruitful enterprise, one that is also more intriguing and challenging for trainers. It seeks solutions.

It is quite obvious that learners who commit themselves to on-line courses are required to have a fair degree of disciplined self-learning. For trainers this conjures up concerns over a need for quantified assurances that trainees have the requisite skills to commence the instruction and, later, that they have learned the content and are able to use it effectively in a future work role. Internet based training does not readily provide the assuring evidence in a fashion similar to what is typically available in traditional training practices. Yet the demand for assurances has been well established as the basis for obtaining a credential to practice in many occupations and this is unlikely to change.

Clearly expanding the prevailing views of what can be used as evidence that training has been received and has produced desirable outcomes is an area in which further development needs to occur. Those provisions that focus on individual responsibility with respect to acquiring technical knowledge and capability appear to have merit. Strategies that focus on individuals' responsibility to commence and consummate self-learning and then prepare and provide evidence that could be used to pass through credential barriers appear to be workable. Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) provides some of these features and there is evidence that such models can work.

Self-instructional capability is inherent in all Internet based training provisions and these can have positive effects on trainees. In an on-line article McManus (1995) reviewed such effects and the learner attributes associated with Internet based courses. Among these were that students were found to:

These observations show that users of on-line training are not unlike the other learners who are placed in situations where acquiring power and authority over a subject matter is required. It would appear, however, that greater levels of individual confidence with on-line training lead one toward finding new ways of being together with other participants.

Notwithstanding the benefit of internet based training, there continue to be concerns. These are mainly related to whether training can be effectively deployed and used by sufficiently large numbers to warrant it costs. Typically, those accessing training on-line have concern regarding:

With advancements in technology new training perspectives have emerged to provide opportunity for those who would seek to use the Internet to access information in support of training. In particular, a growing number of agencies and interest groups have provided web-pages that offer useful information for trainers. They have provided information that details the nature of the training industry, expands its base of expertise, alerts trainers to available services, provides points of access regardless of geographical region, and expands access to a greater number of on-line training models for comparative viewing. The following is a selected sample of sites that have been collected to demonstrate the variety of provisions available to augment modern training or provide service to trainers. Among these are a growing number that are commercial in nature and only provide information for a fee:

Assess to vital information regarding what works for trainers has not been readily accessible to many training practitioners, particularly those who reside in remote locations. Today an increasing amount of professional literature that deals with training has become available on-line to assist trainers who plan for and develop training. Greater access to both quantitative and qualitative information regarding, not only the relative health of on-line training, but also the varied approaches and arguments constitute a body of content that had previously been available to a lesser number of trainers.

The following are a selected sample of characteristic on-line sources of professional literature that feature information for trainers. Among these and others are professional journals that provide a means to further expedite searching for information:

As would be expected, the contents of on-line journals contain reviews of studies on any number of conditions, projects, views and philosophical perspectives characteristic of paper versions of education and training journals. The widening collection of on-line information sources include:

Research into post-secondary education is a growing area of concern for both its instructors and those who plan for human resource training. For training developers internet access to quick and easy retrieval of professional information is an expanding resource that had not previously been readily available.

Access to Assisting Information

Not unrelated to journal access and increasingly important to training planners are a number of on-line provisions that expand the amounts of assisting information trainers can use in both their conventional training programs and for those formatted for on-line users. They are among a growing number of on-line provisions that focus on individuals who have particular needs attributed to physical barriers but wish to enter, or re-enter, education and training. With an internalize perspective that all individuals can acquire and benefit from training, the sites provide information resources and point to assisting services that facilitate this cause. The group listed below detail procedures to follow to access service in the immediate region. Other similar sites provide additional resources typically available in other Canadian provinces:

As trainers are becoming increasingly aware of competition in the training market they quickly recognize that practices and standards that exist in other locations provide a healthy basis for comparison of programs, ideas for improvement and arena for collegial exchanges. Notably, the growth in EEC (European Economic Commission) has heightened awareness of the necessity for unified training standards throughout all participating nations, but it also offfers a source for information transfer. The development off CEDEFOP as a means of disseminating information about training models used by the partner nations is detailed in their link. Similarly, opportunities made available to trainers in a host of other developing nations are featured in a site made available by UNESCO.

Conclusion

After a perusal of the above overview and links it becomes apparent that, in spite of its relative newness, the internet provides a means for accessing useful resources to support various training requirements. As well, it has brought to the training community an extraordinary opportunity to capture numerous example of how training continues to grow and add to our views of learning to deal with new technology. Being aware of the diverse sources of information and resources that are available to describe the relative merit of, and how to interlace, training that best responds to the many needs expressed by both employers and clients is the first step for those engaged in planning for training. If lacing present training provisions with content drawn from the vast array of resources is the present preference, critical selection of information has becomes a necessary skill for both to acquire. As trainers become skillful in developing well designed, intuitive, and user friendly Web pages in support their instructional delivery, they will invariably recognize that the process will also require constant vigilance to keep it all up-to-date and consistent with training objectives.

References

Ghasemi, M (1996). Distance Learning and the world wide web, Technical University of Denmark, Department of Education, July 1996 Available on-line (http://www.iau.dtu.dk/~jj/erudit/odl.html).

Grubb, W. N. (1996). Working in the middle: strengthening education and training for mid- skilled labor force. Jossey Bass, San Francisco.

Jackson, N. (1992).Training needs: an objective science? In Jackson, N. (Ed.). Training for what: labour perspectives on job training Our Schools/Ourselves Education Foundation, Toronto.

Negroponte, N. (1995). Being digital Alfred A Knopf Ltd., New York.

Paul, R. H. (1995).Virtual realities or fantasies? technology and future of distance education. In
Keough, E.M. and Roberts J. M. (eds.) Why the information highway? Lessons from open & distance learning. Trifolium Books Inc., Toronto.

Roberts, R. W. (1971). Vocational and practical arts education. Harper and Rowe, New York.