Simulations Revitalize E-Learning

Computerworld - When one of the 250 customer service representatives in Time Warner Cable Inc.'s Western Ohio division is unsure how to enter a customer service work order into the company's subscriber management database, he clicks on an e-learning simulation of the application to get a step-by-step tutorial.
Like other modularized simulations available through Time Warner Cable's intranet, the work-order simulation (developed using SoftSim from OutStart Inc. in Boston) lasts only about five minutes. And because users are able to toggle between the simulation and the subscriber management database, they're able to get on-the-job training in addition to their initial 15 days of classroom training.
"Once we release [customer service representatives] to the field, we'd rather not take them out of production for follow-up training, if it's something we can deliver to the desktop," says John P. Sullivan, director of training and development at Time Warner Cable's Western Ohio division, in Kettering. And although the company hasn't tried to measure the productivity gains that on-the-job e-learning simulations are providing, he says, "our call center directors are telling us how valuable this is."
Time Warner Cable's experiences with e-learning simulations are consistent with those of other organizations, such as AT&T Corp. and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Recent improvements in compression technology and wider availability of high-speed network bandwidth have made it possible for companies to install simulations throughout corporate networks and intranets while adding high-fidelity multimedia such as streaming audio and video, says Steve Walsh, director of marketing at X.HLP Technologies ASA in Waltham, Mass.
"It's fairly easy now to put the same information on everybody's desktops and update content as needed" using a distributed Internet-based approach, says Rich Mesch, vice president of design and development at Strategic Management Group Inc., an e-learning systems provider in Philadelphia.
"That's a real boon for business simulation, where business [requirements] can change daily and companies struggle to get a common message out to everyone," says Mesch. Plus, intranet- and network-based simulations make it easier for companies to store and track user data, he adds.
Widely Dispersed Users
The USDA is one organization that's using simulations as a training resource. In April, the agency began rolling out Cary, N.C.-based Global Knowledge Inc.'s OnDemand simulation system to provide 60,000 geographically dispersed federal workers, including about 500 human resources managers, with step-by-step instructions on the use of PeopleSoft Inc.'s PeopleSoft 8.0 human resource management system (see "The USDA's E-Learning Simulation," next page).
With so many potential users strewn across the country, "it's very helpful that I don't