As an instructional designer for a major corporation who has purchased a new automated staff information system, I would choose to implement a training workshop across six regional offices using either a Course Management System (CMS) or a Wiki. Since this implementation will take place across several different offices, the information contained within the training program will need to include updated information that staff members can share with others as they also complete the training and the use of a CMS and/or Wiki would allow for this to occur.
With a CMS, there would be several areas in which employees could post any screen shots, documents, or just FYI information for employees who complete the training after them. A CMS could house a Discussion Board, collaboration area, live classroom, and file management areas that would allow for the sharing of this type of information as well as the actual training course. Employees would be able to take the course at their leisure as well, which would allow for staggered training, and an email could be generated to employees who have previously participated in the course to let them know there have been updates.
CMS’s are good for educational training activities, but can also be quite useful for any type of training. CMS’s offer great benefits for training because “students need this kind of structure and detail to help them stay organized and on task” (Simonson).
Blackboard is a CMS that I am highly familiar with as I used it throughout most of my undergraduate career as a distance learner. The website http://www.blackboard.com/Markets/Higher-Education-(1)/Client-Stories.aspx provides several different success stories and examples of how this CMS provided the much-needed tools for their clients. Reading
With a Wiki, a training module could be uploaded to the wiki allowing the participants to take the training course, then offer suggestions in an additional area that will be designated for such. A wiki would be my second choice behind a CMS because I believe a CMS has more to offer; however, a wiki could be an adequate way to conduct such training and allow for updates because they “can be an excellent tool for collaborative online writing assignments and group activities compiling information in a single online resource” (Simonson).
Wiki’s are still an emerging technology that has a great deal to offer learners. The website http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/archives/page9341.cfm provides valuable information on how some non-profit organizations have been successful using wiki’s: “collaborative Web sites that allow users to create and edit online content without requiring extensive technical skills” (Tech Soup).
References
Blackboard. (21, January 2012). Retrieved from http://www.blackboard.com/Markets/Higher-Education-(1)/Client-Stories.aspx
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston , MA
Tech Soup. (21, January 2012). Retrieved from http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/webbuilding/archives/page9341.cfm
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