Imagine trying to gather a group of dealers or remote employees in one location once or twice a year and teach them about your upcoming product line. Chances are that by the time they returned from the flight home, they had already forgotten most of the information they learned, or worse — the information was outdated.

In the past, Toshiba America Business Solutions used technology to improve training, but in-person trainings or classes were often still unavoidable. That’s not the case anymore. The latest e-learning and web conferencing tools offer a better way to educate dealers around the country who need to quickly understand how to use and explain feature- rich products like printers, fax machines, and computer scanners.

Toshiba decided several years ago to move training away from classrooms. Dealers were receptive to a change, so Toshiba started to switch the bulk of training from in-person seminars and classes to the web. The thinking was that they could enhance training, as well as make life and work easier for their dealers.

It was the right move. Toshiba now offers a blended approach to education with the “CEM” approach: They combine the classroom, e- learning, and mobile learning together.

The new approach is simple. A virtual classroom can be accessed via laptop computer with an Internet connection and a few mouse clicks. Dealers and marketing professionals and even consumers can quickly study new product introductions and instructions, touch base with network support staff, and download materials like podcasts, spreadsheets, and brochures. Materials are also available on their public website for anyone to access. Instead of traveling across the state or even the country for a training session and coming back with a box of lessons and notes, dealers can keep instructional material handy on a computer.

The improvement has been significant. The old method of training was costly and shipping timely training and product information to employees and dealers often met with delays. But now, all dealers need to do is set aside an hour of time, register on Toshiba’s portal and sit at a computer for their lesson. It’s simple, cost efficient, and the material is retained.

The change was not a visionary move, but rather a realization that a blended approach to education was crucial for the 21st century. By using web conferencing and other e-learning solutions, dealers can take classes at 8 a.m. in different time zones and at their own pace. E-learning is as much of an investment in the future as research to make better products.

How Toshiba got started

Toshiba has always been an early adopter of new technologies. They began using compact discs to store training material years before other companies, and they have always tried to streamline and simplify training. They were an early believer in what web conferencing and e-learning could do for business.

Toshiba works with roughly 350 dealers in the United States and almost 3,500 subsidiaries — all of which need up-to-the minute training and information. Unfortunately, in-person training cost both the dealers and Toshiba money, fuel, and time that could be better spent on nuts-and- bolts business. E-learning allows them to do away with those expenses and hassles and focus on what matters.

For starters, it’s challenging to get as many as 500 employees from around the country into one room for days of compliance training or a seminar on the latest line of copiers. Toshiba implemented a solution based on Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro, which offered a seamless e- learning experience in addition to the ability to host live web conferences. What used to be a long training session is now a series of 15-to-30

minute online sessions. Switching to this course of action also ensures an experience that is as close as possible to a classroom.

Many dealers that attend training must comply with Six Sigma methodology, which is a set of management standards meant to heighten employee expertise and improve business. With the latest tools, a seven- hour in person class has been split into three, 45-minute e-learning sessions. In addition, most of the computer tools needed for online classes were easily integrated into seminars. Acrobat Connect Pro, for example, can work with Microsoft PowerPoint and offers video via

Adobe Flash Player that can be played on almost every computer. So virtually any type of content can be worked into a presentation or online class.

Remote training and presentation

The e-learning approach has been adopted quickly and is freeing up time so Toshiba can work on what’s most important to their business: prospecting and sales. Users participate in an average of 10 live courses per week — sometimes up to five or six sessions a day. The number of three- or four-day training sessions has been cut in half in lieu of online sessions.

Dealers are not the only people who benefit. The latest tools also are used throughout the company: Marketing introduces new products and organizes product launches and the HR department runs training sessions on the web. Content developers are able to easily create and update Toshiba training materials, so dealers and others are up to date. The company even handles all of the product launch pieces in-house, reducing the development time from about two weeks to roughly a day.

The problems have been minimal for those participating. All it takes to participate is clicking on a URL. And dealers do not have to add anything to their computers to attend a session — they can simply log in and begin learning.

Reduced time, improved business

Toshiba’s goal is to keep dealers educated and make sure that they have everything they need to do their jobs well and teach customers about Toshiba’s products with little hassle. The numbers speak for themselves. Toshiba has cut the time spent on compliance training time by a third. They have reduced Six Sigma training from seven onsite hours to three 45-minute online modules. And they have taken what in the past would have been a daylong seminar and turned it into a multi-day interactive webinar.

Perhaps just as important, they have not lost the human touch. Ultimately, business is about personal relationships, and the e-learning tools help to make sure relationships are still a part of what they do. They are able to facilitate face-to-face meetings with web conferences — and they are

able to spend more time with the dealers because e-learning tools eliminate geographic boundaries. E-learning has helped the customers buy from someone who is informed through every step of an important purchase. It’s not only made work easier but it’s improved every aspect of the business.

Source: https://www.td.org/Publications/Newsletters/Learning-Circuits/Learning- Circuits-Archives/2009/04/Case-Study-T oshiba-SimplifiesAnd- ImprovesCorporate-Training-with-E-Learning-Tools

Question 1 (25 marks)

Analyse how the use of a blended approach to education has helped Toshiba to improve its training effectiveness.

Question 2 (20 marks)

Evaluate how far the blended approach to education adopted by Toshiba is enhancing the transfer of training, and the types of skills that are best trained using this approach.

Question 3 (20 marks)

Discuss the features that you believe are essential for e-learning to be used successfully for training. Why?