Virtual learning environments include computers and the internet as well as tools offered by it in the classroom. They are used to make students interested in a specific subject or topic and also make them bring better results in the end. Many tools are offered by this new software which can both save time on doing necessary things in class and make productivity better.
Appliance of educational technology in employee training has scarcely been more important and thought after. When two similar companies collide on the open market, the one with superior workforce usually wins. That means constant investing in employee training and development, including training software as well as certification software for those who can afford it. The others are better off just hiring one of the companies that specialize in employee training and assessment.
In this day and age, everything we do seems to offer some insight into something else. One cannot even browse the internet without being showered with information, even if it is about that new “weight loss miracle” or the “new Facebook full of sexy singles”. The biggest problem is that the vast majority of the information has made our minds shut off and filter out a lot of things we see and hear, including some that we really need. Well, nobody says we have to do any of that on our own, as there is plenty of educational technology out there designed to help us achieve exactly that: weed out the undesirable information so we can focus on all the relevant stuff.
The first step of the way comes in the form of hardware. You know, the things we use in our daily lives, from tablet computers to PCs, VR headsets, and even Smartphones and iPhones – these can all be modified so as to facilitate your employee training needs in a more efficient manner. You don’t even need to get that creative, as many examples can be readily found online. There have been educational video games at least since the ’70s and various learning aids have been produced, but primarily for children. Still, it just goes to show that modern educational technology is not exactly a novel idea by any standard. However, what has changed over the years is the approach of various institutions of varying importance to this very issue. If you want to know more about how the classroom technology evolved over the years, the article The Evolution of Technology in Classroom should give you some insight.
When we are talking about software used for employee training, it is important to differentiate between standalone programs and those that are actually a part of hardware. Either one can act as the proverbial “brain” behind the machine, but it is no less important just because it cannot exist outside computers. Many people tend to neglect this component because all they can see are the plastics and circuit boards of that hardware they hold in their hands.
It is actually quite understandable why it is so hard to appreciate something they can neither hold in their hand nor fully comprehend, even if they tried. It is only when software fails for whatever reason that they truly realize just how valuable that piece of junk they are holding really is. Without software, all these gadgets are just a waste of materials and space. This is also why software is actually being developed faster than most hardware.
This means that some software has to be sold and distributed as a standalone, because it can follow your educational processes much more efficiently than new hardware. Also, it saves you from having to buy new gadgets every time that employee training needs to be brought up to speed. It helps with the results and ultimately saves money.
There are numerous examples of how educational software has helped companies improve the quality of their workforce, as well as how educational institutions used it to help their students achieve better results. Unfortunately, this rapid advance in technology has also enabled some students to take an easy way out and cheat more efficiently than ever before, so this issue also had to be addressed. In any event, by streamlining the employee training process and providing a consistent simulated and controlled environment, educators could easily spot any problems and weed out employees who are too lazy to learn what they needed to know.
There are numerous studies and links to sites illustrating the point we are trying to make. For instance, this one from Harvard Business review: Implementing New Technology.
Also, a recent study into Technology and Classroom Practices by Robert B. Kozma of SRI International showed a significant effect of technology in classrooms across 28 different countries. The study decidedly shows how ICT can be used effectively across many different countries with different background and pupils of different ages. Actual retention of knowledge varied and required additional efforts, but the overall effect could not be denied.
YouTestMe Software Solutions keeps up with latest trends in educational technology, by combining all of its benefits into two flagship products Classroom 2020 and Get Certified.
Little known fact: employee training is not just for quiz makers and private companies! Government training and state testing are also important on a much larger scale. It just so happens that the private sector is not the only one in need of skilled workforce. Regardless of what you may have heard about government employees in general, they too need to educate and better themselves and there are all sorts of things about employee training that agencies have yet to learn, in addition to those they have reluctantly adopted.
When was the last time anyone has heard of a budget increase for a government institution, other than in times of a huge national crisis? And when was the last time somebody working for the government got in front of a camera and started talking about pending budget cuts? You’ve heard a lot more of the latter, and this is kind of endemic in most countries. On the one hand, we have people who are supposed to be in charge of things of extreme importance like making and enforcing laws and policies. On the other, many of these agencies could not even pass the regulatory inspection that they themselves condone, support or are trying to enforce.
It is the equivalent of seeing a police car parked on a spot reserved for people with handicaps. In fact, even when these agencies do decide to modernize, it is hastily executed and any subsequent updates are sketchy at best. At worst, they are nonexistent, and it puts us all at risk. The list of things they should be doing but aren’t is almost as long as the list of excuses they have come up with to counter them. It seems policy updates seem to reach the general public faster than they do the people who are supposed to be acting upon them.
There are people whose jobs involve risking their lives or saving other people, and you kind of need them to take regular competency tests, like paramedics and cops. Seeing an overweight cop or a soldier has long since stopped to phase anyone. Instead of enforcing rules and regulations, the military is figuring out ways for overweight people and those who would otherwise fail at the physical to be allowed in because they lack the manpower as well as the resources to hire professionals. Or people manning nuclear silos being forced to use those huge floppy disks from the ’70s.
Or something as trivial as waiting in line for a new photo ID because of “system failure” or some software update. It is scary when regular people have more technology at their disposal than government officials and workers.
Employee training software has been around for years, and not just as a concept. In some instances, it is literally the same software but at least some of it comes from a time when the priorities were still straight. When using any kind of software, the age-old fear of a catastrophic failure that would leave millions of people in distress and other reliability issues are still relevant even to this day. Aside from that, they need something that can be quickly applied all across the country. If it takes too long to create universal tests and organize groups, this simply will not do. The more versatile, the better. If it is automatic, this would be just swell. When your tests are of pen and paper variety, there are numerous issues from lack of standardization, to fear of cheating and don’t even get us started on the grading process. With computer tests, everything is done automatically, with a push of a button. Except for filling out the blank spaces – that is for the trainees, of course. The efficiency is vastly superior in almost every way, except when you want to grade an essay or something like that. But even that is easier to do in an electronic form. The only people who are against this are the old-fashioned employees who are scared of technology.
As with most things, safety is going to be a serious issue. Those urban myths about 14-year-olds with laptops emailing nuclear launch codes to Pentagon may be exaggerated, but they illustrate the core issue. They have a lot to learn from companies and sites such as Oracle, whose databases tend to be the most secure of them all. Additional safety measures need to be applied and they need to be constantly updated as any government site is under threat these days.
As we have mentioned, the best case scenario would be the possibility to merge databases and share software between different agencies and similar departments. For instance, giving police access to the driving test database might even save some lives on the long run, but the potential for abuse also increases with every such “solution”. As much as we all want a “one size fits all” solution, it could not possibly be available right now. Or could it be?
One of the solutions that could fit the needs of employees training in government institutions is YouTestMe Get Certified. Get Certified allows instructors to generate tests and create custom designed certificates for employees and significantly reduce employee training costs.
Virtual classroom is one of those things that never seem to get old. There are shows from early ’90s talking about the possibility of kids learning things from their TV sets rather than going to school. Of course, back then, interactive software and live feed from cameras was the stuff of science fiction, let alone virtual classroom software or the process of modern learning in a completely controllable virtual learning environment. And yet, here we are, almost three decades later, talking about a virtual classroom becoming a reality.
What really stuck to every kid’s mind when they first heard of such a thing was that they are never going to need to go to school again. And they could hardly wait. This is because, under this concept, they could stay at home or go to the park or whatever kids do and be able to attend lectures from a distance. The ability to learn things without books and pencils and all those bullies was quite appealing to most. It kind of still is, come to think of it. The teachers were probably excited as well about never having to get up early and being able to work from home – until they realized they might be replaced by computers or something like that.
Basically, everything that students would normally do in a classroom can be done in front of a camera and controlled by their teacher, in theory. The interactive learning process is supposed to be much more efficient than regular schooling and at a fraction of the cost, since students would not need to be transported physically to their lectures, or buying books and other things. On the other hand, such a concept would be a true salvation to adults who cannot afford to go to university or college because of high tuition fees and because they have to work for a living. If you want to know more about this concept, look no further than Classroom 2020.
On one hand, we have the same old boring classroom on the other side of town. Where students have to get up early, get to school, and spend all day listening to lectures and avoiding all the bad things their peers may have in store for them. This is not a familiar environment so the stress levels are much higher – it’s a scientific fact. Then again, there are some pros as well – for one, students get to hang out, interact with one another and learn about the way the real world works.
On the other hand, we have a safe, cozy virtual classroom, safe from any threats of a liberal society. Here, students have a lot more time at their disposal, and can divert all that energy they would normally spend commuting and wondering around the school grounds on more academic pursuits. Getting a real girlfriend might be tricky, and there is no way to actually enforce any authority or discipline over someone who is not even physically present in the same room. Then again, considering what most teachers have to deal with anyway, this would not be much of a difference in any case. However, all that extra technology is sure going to come in handy, as shown by numerous studies such as The Evolution of Technology in The Classroom.
On one hand, virtual classroom would pose a slightly greater challenge for the teachers to enforce discipline, but this is more than offset by the ability to apply a personal approach to each and every of their students. Their analysis of lessons can be adapted and broken down into more manageable pieces, that students will be able to deal with. Besides, since there is a lot more in terms of connectivity, any serious and reoccurring issue can be addressed on a global scale and the solution passed on to other teachers in real time. Negative behavior is already contained by simply isolating the good students from the problematic ones. To find out more on how to engage students, read the post 5 Teaching Strategies to Engage Students Using Technology.
When compared to traditional learning tools and materials, running a virtual classroom is a lot more expensive in the beginning because of all the software and hardware components that need to be acquired. Books and pencils are much cheaper, remember? Except they are also far more expendable while software and hardware can be used for years. Also, add other costs such as transportation, non-educational staff, conforming to all the government regulations and all the problems that might occur… And that is even without mentioning tuition… The costs of traditional education may seem low at first, but they keep piling up and they are literally limitless. By comparison, the only expenses of a virtual classroom are the software, teachers and the electricity. These may vary from country to country and in some places may be impossible to implement (especially in third world countries) but developed nations have no excuse for avoiding this brilliant idea.
YouTestMe Classroom 2020 is a shining example on how a virtual classroom could look like. For more information check out Classroom 2020 product page.
This is an entirely web-based learning platform, and it covers all aspects of the educational process. Of course, all of these aspects are digital. All of the participants are organized into virtual groups, and they have to share their resources and interact with one another. Just like in a normal classroom, except there is not a single physical location they have to be present.
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