Angela D. Benson

The Use of Technology in the Digital Workplace: A Framework for Human Resource Development:

The problem and the solution. The advancement of technology in the global workplace is having a profound impact on the roles of human resource development (HRD) professionals. In the past, technology in HRD was primarily educational media used to support training. Current forms of sophisticated technology, coupled with the expanded role of HRD in the global organization, are now used by HRD professionals to support learning at work,enhance job performance,and facilitate organizational development and change. This chapter presents a conceptual framework for thinking about the role of technology in the digital workplace and highlights the challenges faced by HRD professionals in promoting individual and organizational learning and performance improvement.

Rules, roles and tools: Activity theory and the comparative study of e-learning

Activity theory (AT) is a powerful tool for investigating ‘artefacts in use’, ie, the ways technologies interrelate with their local context. AT reveals the interfaces between e-learning at the macro- (strategy, policy, ‘campus-wide’ solutions) and the micro-organisational levels (everyday working practice, iterative change, individual adaptation). In AT, contexts are conceived of as activity systems in which human, technological and organisational elements are interrelated and largely inseparable. Both the subjects of the activity system (internal) and the wider community (external) mediate their activities through tools, rules and roles. This paper shows how a course management system (CMS) exerts an influence over all three of these mediators, though the exact nature of this influence depends on the particular configuration of each activity system. This is illustrated with reference to two case study programmes, both of which used Moodle as their CMS, but which had activity systems structured in quite different ways; the programmes also had different relationships with their external organisational environment.

Design Considerations for Web-Based Learning Systems

The problem and the solution. The introduction of Internet and Web-based technologies has resulted in changes in the way instructional design models are applied in the creation of instruction delivered via the new media. New resources and constraints must be considered and new questions must be asked and answered.This chapter describes how the traditional instructional design model is modified when designing instruction for these new technologies.

Community College Participation in Distance Learning for Career and Technical Education

This article presents the results of a national study of distance learning in postsecondary career and technical education (CTE). The main purpose of this study was to identify the current status and future trends associated with distance learning in postsecondary CTE. The results show that community colleges are (a) actively involved in the delivery of CTE via distance learning for the purpose of meeting the needs of their diverse student body, (b) more likely to provide credit courses via distance than noncredit courses, and (c) offering few CTE programs fully at a distance.

A Performance Support Tool for Cisco Training Program Managers.

ConclusionThis paper has explored the impact of TPMS, a performance management and support tool for trainers, on the work of Training Project Managers on the Customer Advocacy Training team within Cisco Systems. TPMS was shown to support the work of PMs through all stages of the ADDIE model. While its focus on the management of the training development process makes it different from other ID tools, TPMS is nonetheless a tool that supports the work of instructional designers. Depending on the route the CA team chooses to follow, TPMS could evolve to a Knowledge Management System (KMS) ID that not only manages the development process but also provides more advanced capabilities for collaboration.

Distance Learning and the Low-Income Student

In a country where postsecondary education traditionally results in social and economic advancement, 54 million working American adults lack a college degree (Pusser et al., 2007). Statistically, these adults are more likely to be low-wage earners. In 2009, the median earnings for young adults (25-34) with a bachelors degree was

Angela’s Voice: Cherish the Support, Nurture the Relationships

45,000, while the median was

Cases on Educational Technology Planning, Design, and Implementation: A Project Management Perspective

21,000 for those without a high school diploma,

The Relationship between Adult Students' Instructional Technology Competency and Self-Directed Learning Ability in an Online Course

30,000 for those with a high school diploma, and

Internet-Based Learning in Postsecondary Career and Technical Education

36,000 for those with an associates degree. This indicates that young adults with a bachelors degree earned over 100% more than those without a high school diploma, 50% more than those with high school diplomas, and 25% more than young adults with associates degrees (Aud et al., 2011). In addition, the median earnings of young adults with a masters degree or higher was