MANAMA: Delivery of workplace training and vocational instruction has been disrupted due to the pandemic, and while many companies now offer online variants of these programmes, experts recommend a blended learning approach.
Companies offering educational technology products, known as EdTech firms, previously had limited success in the MENA region due to a traditional paradigm when it comes to training, a discussion panel focused on EdTech heard recently.
“Global multinational companies have already been leveraging digital markets, but the pandemic has shifted the mind-set for firms across the region,” explained Shabkhez Mahmood, EY’s regional training services leader.
“Covid-19 has shown that technology can achieve a better outcome with the right blend of instructor-led and online learning.”
A representative of the Tamkeen, Esam Hammad, the labour fund’s director of partnerships and customer engagement acknowledged that much of the market depends on traditional classroom-based education delivery methods, and shifting to a purely online objective-based track is “going to be a relatively slow process.”
However, he also highlighted the establishment of cloud innovation centres at Bahrain Polytechnic and Bahrain University that have been finding Amazon Web Services-based solutions to challenges faced by industry and academia, as well as support from Tamkeen for companies who want to digitally transform their processes.
These initiatives are intended to be catalysts for firms to digitise processes including their learning and development (L&D) systems.
Bahraini entrepreneurs like Ahmed Faraj have seen the gap in the market and are helping large firms convert their traditional vocational instruction programmes into online gamified versions.
Mr Faraj’s start-up, Lumofy, has attracted more than 2,000 users across large companies in a variety of sectors including energy and aviation, in less than a year, while offering their employers a centralised way to monitor their employees’ learning paths.
“At firms who have signed up with us and moved their processes online, 80 per cent of their employees have adopted the new system,” Mr Faraj noted.
“We do have to keep the courses bite-sized, maybe 10 minutes or less, but we can deliver these bite-sized nuggets on a daily basis, and track everyone’s progress, using a gamified system.”
Motivation
Gamification in training is the process of applying video game concepts like points, progression bars, friendly competition and leader boards to training sessions in order to make them more engaging.
According to André le Fevré, a veteran of the education sector and regional sales director for Silicon Valley-based Ardor Learning, motivation for e-learning drops after a few months and has to be paired with elements from traditional learning to boost its success rate.
“With online-only courses, the industry has seen a completion rate between 20 and 30 pc,” he added.
“However, when you blend it with what we call the human touch, it can be increased to 75pc. This can include regular follow-ups from the tutor or more interactivity and group work built into the system.
“A blended learning solution is also better for different kinds of learners since many individuals, like social and tactile learners, completely disengage from e-learning courses.
“In my opinion, face-to-face learning will never truly disappear and using the best of both worlds can provide a better learning experience for employees and a more effective system for employers.”
naman@gulfweekly.com
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