Learning technology convergence: For one healthcare
institution, it's all about the SERVICE.
The quest for a practical balance between classroom-based training,
Web-based training, synchronous Web conferences, and asynchronous
self-study has never been more apparent, and is creating a need for
the next generation of learning management technology to support
this combined, blended learning approach. Specifically, this
technology must include an integrated Web native e-learning
authoring component and be delivered, on-demand, as an online
service rather than a client-installed software solution. The
combination of these two components, with the existing features of
traditional learning management technology, creates an integrated
learning management service and a new approach in developing,
delivering, and managing enterprise-wide learning.
Currently, a new paradigm is emerging as the evolutionary successor
to the LMS and LCMS, combining the best features of both while
taking advantage of the 'software-as-a service' delivery model of
the Application Service Provider (ASP). To be a true service
however, the iLMS must be a native ASP, n-tier scalable, and not
traditional software licenses hosted in a server farm. In this
service engineered architecture, the iLMS combines the power of a
database management system, the global reach of the Internet, and
the ease of use of a Web browser to remove the technical, cost, and
complexity-barriers that inhibit organizations from utilizing the
Internet as a training vehicle.
Holy Cross Hospital and the Integrated Learning Management Service
(iLMS)
For Holy Cross Hospital, a full-service, non-profit, Catholic
hospital in Broward County Florida, a strategic blended learning
training initiative proved to be just what the doctor ordered. But
how to enable such a solution, without capital expenditure, on a
limited budget, with no IT support, while simultaneously providing
required training to all personnel, created an interesting
challenge. Enter the integrated learning management service.
Leveraging the on-demand capabilities of an iLMS in concert with
its existing wireless computers-on-wheels (COWs), Holy Cross
Hospital was able to immediately begin training more than 2,800
hospital employees across its 75 departments.
With the increasing adoption of e-learning, particularly for
custom-developed compliance and sales support courses and
assessments, organizations cannot afford to be hindered by content
that will not launch or communicate with their LMS tracking and
reporting functions. What makes the iLMS integrated is that it has
e-learning authoring and learner record management built into it.
Mandated by the Joint Commissions on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations, (JCHAO), Holy Cross Hospital had an immediate need
for regulatory compliance training of all medical staff. Through
the use of its iLMS, Holy Cross Hospital was able to manage all
facets of both online and classroom-based instruction. They were
quickly able to develop, distribute, and manage online courses
without any support from their IT group.
As demonstrated by Holy Cross Hospital, an iLMS is designed to
instantly launch e-learning courses and automatically record
learner status for on-demand reporting from built-in report
generators in order to track learner progress and ensure training
has been completed. This is made possible by the underlying iLMS
database that coordinates learning content development and delivery
with learner record capture and reporting (all invisibly and
seamlessly over the Web). In the case of Holy Cross, hospital
educators designed their e-learning courses with patient safety
training in mind, developing all online training modules in short
fifteen minute segments to reduce the impact on staff time and to
eliminate any disruption of patient care. For instance, if nurses
have to leave the training for any reason, they can easily book
mark their place and return at their convenience.
While some LCMS products offer integration of e-learning authoring
and learner record management, they are limited to only e-learning
applications. However, the iLMS provides organizations with the
added ability to schedule and manage classroom-based instruction,
off-line self-study content such as videotape-based training and
such online synchronous training events as Web conferencing. The
iLMS provides inherent accountability through learning paths that
ensure each learner secures the training that is uniquely
appropriate for them. The Holy Cross Hospital staff, for instance,
was able to certify compliance at a course level while monitoring
the progress of an individual learner, or groups of learners,
through their planned curriculum, or learning path.
Service advantages
Because the iLMS is a service not a system, there is no software to
install, maintain, or upgrade, and no servers to buy, operate, or
support. In fact, no server-side information technology resources
are required at all. "LMS Lowdown," a September 2004 article in
Online Learning News and Reviews, suggested that the average
cost and time associated with the implementation of a traditional
LMS was US$500k and three years. The elimination of these
significant costs combined with the on-demand use of the iLMS
provides a real-time solution for enterprise management of all
blended learning.
The online service aspect of the iLMS allowed Holy Cross Hospital
to immediately deploy a blended learning solution hospital-wide,
without any capital expense or IT resources. These two issues were
very big obstacles in other solutions that the hospital
investigated. In conjunction with their COWs, Holy Cross Hospital
trained entire departments, such as the Operating Room Suite,
Emergency Room, Critical Care, Labor & Delivery, and MedSurg on
such compliance regulations as HIPAA. In addition, they developed
and delivered enhanced professional training in the areas of
Advanced Cardiac Life Support, CPR, Domestic Violence and Fetal
Heart Monitoring.
The iLMS has eliminated the capital costs and corporate resources
required in deploying learning management technology. This now
enables mid-market companies to take advantage of all of the
benefits noted above without the issues of purchasing,
implementing, and maintaining a legacy LMS.
Productivity advantage
Ultimately, the most important advantage of an iLMS is the increase
in productivity it provides to an organization's training
operations. It is a competitive necessity for all organizations to
continually improve their processes, and some of the biggest
improvements have come through the application of modern
information technology. For training organizations, that means
improving the capture, organization, and transfer of knowledge
followed by an assessment of the desired outcomes and documentation
of the training process.
As an online service, the iLMS provides a collaborative development
environment where trainers can take advantage of reusable learning
objects that can be shared with other authors to reduce development
time and ensure consistency among lessons. Once a course is
published, information can then be queried and reports generated
allowing trainers to measure the effectiveness of their training,
which validates a real return on their investment. For Holy Cross,
the ROI for leveraging an iLMS has been immediate and as a result.
In 2005, 85 percent of the hospital's entire training will be
deployed using its iLMS.
Thanks in part to the on-demand availability and the integrated
e-learning authoring capabilities found within an iLMS, corporate
trainers can subscribe to an online service that allows them to
choreograph all of their learning resources, develop custom online
courses/tests/surveys, and measure the effectiveness of knowledge
transfer, without the need for any IT resources or capital expense.