Motivation to and orientation in learning and views about e-learning
The next question asked them to consider what their views were about learning at work - in other words it aimed to try and elicit some indications about the motivation to learn and their orientation in learning. Over 50% were concerned to master a subject that they were learning, with one-third being concerned to learn sufficient to be able to perform the job. Half the men were concerned to master the learning fully; slightly less than half the women. All the men were in the lower and highest age groups only. A quarter of male respondents were concerned to learn in order to do the job, this rose to one-third of females. Five were influenced to learn by the encouragement of their supervisors. A quarter of the men (2/8) were encouraged by their supervisor, but only three out of 16 women said this was their reason for learning.
Together with the finding that 50% of participants supported the view that 'e-learning is flexible so people can do it in their own time and at the pace that suits them', the above finding that 50% also were concerned to master a subject prompts the question: do these participants interpret 'learning at their own pace' as meaning that it allows them to learn and practice for as long as they need in order to feel confident they have fully mastered everything? This was especially the case amongst older participants and more so among the men than women in the sample. Apart from the importance of this regarding the motivation of these learners to embrace e-learning, this suggests a number of important issues for reflection. When the mantra of 'e-learning is flexible so people can do it in their own time and at the pace that suits them', is used to market e-learning in the organisation, what are the expectations of what this means, for all concerned? Is it possible that a different interpretation of this statement is found at different levels in the bank? If the learner believes it means that they will be given however long they need to master something, how will this time be provided within work hours - especially when it might differ widely across learners?
The second reflection relates to the issue of performance orientation and the fact that one-third stated their view that they learned in order to perform the job. It is too ambiguous to make any definite claims, but it does prompt the question: are these respondents exhibiting a performance orientation which, if their self-efficacy is low, may mean their learning is very shallow and their ability to transfer learning to performance beyond an immediate task completion very limited? Further investigations would be need to understand this more fully and how this perspective fits within the organisational culture and expectations of training.
Overall, the results suggests that it would be valuable for LloydsTSB to develop greater in-depth understanding of the motivation, expectations and orientation of the learners in their future adoption of e-learning. This would ensure that there is coherence between the reasons stated for adopted e-learning and the perceptions of the learners as to what this means and what the implications are for their time, where learning and practice time fits within work hours, and what is expected of them in terms of their capacity to manage their own learning. In the case of the latter, it will be important to know what prior skills the learners have acquired in managing and pacing their own learning and whether they are all (or a sufficient number are) equipped to do so.
Almost a third said 'it gives people an opportunity to improve IT skills as well as improving other professional skills'. This was more emphasised by younger participants. Similar results are found in other evaluations and are not surprising. The improvement of ICT literacy that comes about as a by-product of e-learning is often an added benefit that is perhaps undervalued by organisations using technology in learning. 'Learning for a qualification without taking time off work or going to evening classes' was slightly more emphasised by male and younger respondents. While the latter is not surprising (qualifications acquisition generally holding more perceived value at earlier times in careers), given the age profile of many of the female respondents and the likelihood that many of them have families and therefore would find it very difficult to find time to learn formally outside of work hours, the low priority attributed to e-learning for qualifications acquisition is surprising. Again, this may be an important attribute that would have perceived value for some learners and encourage them to adopt e-learning.
Finally, in the pre-pilot questionnaire, participants were asked to rank their preferences for workplace learning. Half had a first preference for 'on the job' as the best way to learn. 17 of the 25 said this was their first or second preference. Three-quarters of the men said this was their first preference and a majority of women between 25-39 said this was their first preference. This poses tremendously exciting challenges for LloydsTSB: How can technology support 'on the job' learning in new ways? It should be said that no exploration was made about the interpretation of the phrase 'on the job' so it is impossible to state what they might mean about this except that it is likely that they see it as doing the job and learning through doing it. When questioning during interviews focused on what kind of learning e-learning might be used for, no interviewee expressed any awareness or suggestions about use of e-learning except the kind of expositive, practice approach used in the pilot. So one could safely conclude that their expectations of e-learning are such that they cannot yet imagine how it might support 'on the job' learning.
'On the job' had a total of 17 replies to first, second or third preferences. A mix of e-learning and on the job coaching had a total of 16 replies to first, second or third preference, but women indicated a higher preference for e-learning and classroom sessions (rather than on the job coaching). 'Talking through things with colleagues and sharing ways to do things' was indicated as first, second or third preference by 14 of the total participants. e-Learning alone was given a first, second or third preference by 12 respondents, ie just under half the respondents.
...continue to lessons learned (p4)
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