Corporations cut costs training workers via Internet

BOULDER — With interactive capabilities on the Internet that extend beyond simple text on a screen, many companies are relying more on Web-based training to replace instructor-led corporate training.

Universities such as the University of Colorado also use the Internet for online undergraduate and postgraduate classes.

Broomfield-based Level 3 Communications Inc., developer of a global communications network, began offering online training courses to its employees about two years ago, said Brandon Fleisher, the company’s senior manager of e-learning.

“We believe very strongly in the power of the Internet,´ said Arthur Hodges, director of media relations for Level 3. “We are using the power of the Internet internally as well as bringing it to people externally.”

Fleisher said Internet training programs have resulted in substantial cost savings for Level 3, but he would not disclose how much. For instance, all employees take Level 3’s customized Silicon Economics course, he said. “If we do that course instructor-led, the travel costs and other costs would have made it extremely cost-prohibitive,” he said. “Using the Internet results in quite a bit of savings.”

Level 3 customizes programs such as Silicon Economics, but the company also has more than 500 generic courses to teach computer skills, such as Windows, and to teach soft skills, such as leadership and project management. Although Level 3 takes advantage of the Internet for training, some of its courses are still instructor-led, Fleisher said.

The advantage of Internet courses is that people can take them at their convenience, Fleisher said. While some prefer to take the courses at home, others do them at their desks at work. Also, there are training rooms where instructor-led courses are held, and people can use computers in these rooms for online training if they find interruptions at their desk too distracting, Fleisher said.

Broomfield-based Sun Microsystems Inc., which has Sun University locations at all of its major campuses, including Broomfield, offers what Sun officials call “blended learning,” a combination of instructor-led and Internet-based courses.

Although employees in remote areas that do not have Sun University sites use the Internet-based learning exclusively, and while some courses are offered only via the Internet, some Sun students are given a choice of what type of learning they prefer, said Rebecca Ritter, manager of training and development for Sun University’s central region.

Courses offered via the Internet include both computer courses and soft skills such as coaching, managing and motivating, she said.

Sun University has offered Internet courses for three of the training school’s 13 years in existence, Ritter said. The main benefit of online courses is convenience. “People can train at their own pace. They can do it in the middle of the night if they want,” she said.

IBM, which has offices in Boulder, also has begun using online training, resulting in a substantial cost savings, said Lon Levitan, manager of southwest U.S. media relations for IBM Americas. “In 2000, IBM moved 36 percent of its employee training to an online environment, resulting in a $350 million cost avoidance through the use of distributed e-learning,” he said. IBM estimates that for every 1,000 classroom days converted to distance learning, more than $400,000 in costs can be avoided, Levitan said.

So far, more than 200,000 IBM employees have received education and training online, Levitan said.

Part of IBM’s new Web-based training is an e-business online university, which has 2,600 registered IBM employee users who have accessed 7,400 education modules via the Web, Levitan said.

Also, one-third of IBM’s marketing training now is conducted on the Internet, Levitan said. An 18-month marketing training and accreditation program, called Core Body of Knowledge, which includes online instruction, study groups and exams, has resulted in a 60 to 70 percent cost savings, he said.

IBM also has implemented an online coaching simulator for management development, Levitan said. This virtual learning lab has received more than three million user-page requests since its inception. An average of 800 scenarios are explored and completed by e-learners per month, he said.

Although the University of Colorado utilizes the Internet for courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, the school tried an Internet program for employee training for nine months last year, and the pilot was not successful, said Mark Augustin, director of organizational and employee development for CU.

CU tried computer training programs from PeopleSoft and found many disadvantages. “People are not going to want to do computer training at night or on weekends,” he said. “The modules were so long: three to five to eight hours. That scared a lot of people away. They also were cost prohibitive at $400 per person.”

Also, Augustin said, online training lacks face-to-face interaction and networking opportunities that classroom courses offer.

Although the PeopleSoft programs did not meet the university’s needs, CU has been working for nine months on developing a Web-based module for sexual harassment training and is hoping to get that program up and running soon, Augustin said. The program would be used at all four of CU’s campuses, he said.

CU also is expanding its base of courses offered online.

Armando Pares, director of evening and credit programs for CU’s continuing education program, said CU-Boulder has been offering master’s degrees in different fields of engineering since the 1980s. These courses also utilize videotapes shipped via UPS, he said. The university also has begun offering other Internet-based courses and plans to expand its offering of Web-based courses.

The university hired Laura Summers six months ago as academic coordinator and instructional designer to help professors get their courses online. “I work with faculty to maintain the integrity of their content, making sure material can be converted to the Internet in an interactive, engaging matter,” she said.

Rather than having classes in the form of pages and pages of text, Summers said students and instructors should still be able to interact through e-mail, and students should be given assignments that take them out into the communities where they live. “Students want the feedback; they want to know somebody’s behind that computer screen,” she said.

Although instructors need to feel comfortable with the medium in order to teach online classes, there are many benefits to online learning, Summers said. No matter where students live, they have the opportunity to take classes from the best faculty nationwide, she said. Online classes also provide convenience and flexibility, she added. Contact Amy Stogner at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail astogner@bcbr.com.

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