Executive Summary: A Vision of E-Learning for America's Workforce
By Cynthia Pantazis

In 2000, ASTD and the National Governors Association (NGA) convened the Commission on Technology and Adult Learning. Its mission was to define and encourage a technology-enabled learning environment that will result in an engaged citizenry and a skilled workforce for the digital economy. Here are its recommendations.

Recent technological advances have laid the foundation for a learning revolution that will clearly take place in the years ahead. The Commission on Technology and Adult Learning believes that e-learning will play a vitally important role in equipping workers with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st-century digital economy.

What is e-learning? E-learning can be defined as instructional content or learning experiences delivered or enabled by electronic technology. The commission has focused its attention on adult-centered and work-related e-learning--that is, technology-enabled learning designed to increase workers’ knowledge and skills so they can be more productive, find and keep high-quality jobs, advance in their careers, and contribute to the success of their employers, families, and communities.

E-learning has the potential to revolutionize the basic tenets of learning by making it individual rather than institution-based, eliminating clock-hour measures in favor of performance and outcome measures, and emphasizing customized learning solutions over generic, one-size-fits-all instruction. It's this transformational potential of e-learning that the commission believes America must recognize and embrace.

Making the case for e-learning. The economic case for building a successful e-learning future hinges in part on the efficiency of e-learning and its role in shortening the amount of time it takes to get workers up to speed on new products and processes. Improvements in the quality of education and training are an equally important economic benefit of e-learning, which offers potentially universal access to best-in-class learning content, as well as a wide variety of content available anywhere in the world. E-learning also has promise as a tool for reducing the costs of workplace-related education and training.

Economic reasons, however, aren't the only justification for aggressively supporting e-learning. At a time when many Americans express concern about growing economic disparities among different segments of the population, e-learning holds the potential to broaden access to high-quality education and training opportunities and, in turn, boost income growth at all levels.

A vision for America’s e-learning future. The commission foresees a future in which e-learning becomes a continuous process of inquiry and improvement that keeps pace with the speed of change in business and society. E-learning offers learners convenient, just-in-time access to needed knowledge and information, with small content objects assembled and delivered according to their specific needs.

The commission anticipates increased reliance on new means of assessing and certifying learning results that emphasize individual skills and knowledge rather than courses taken or credit hours earned. It also sees the continued rise of an e-learning market based on common technical standards, open design, and the widespread sharing of information about successful and innovative approaches across states and sectors.

Recommendations for action

Achieving the commission's vision calls for concerted action by both the public and private sectors in three priority areas.

Quality

• Promote a greater emphasis on outcomes to assure the quality of e-learning.
• Establish public and private partnerships to conduct research and development on how adults learn and how to measure learning.
• Provide reliable and universally accessible consumer information about the quality of e-learning content, services, and providers.
• Enhance the abilities and skills of educators to create and deliver high-quality e-learning.
• Develop policies and practices to ensure the privacy of information about individual's work performance and learning outcomes.

Assessment and certification

• Develop and promote outcome-based measures of what people know and are able to do.
• Develop fair and reliable assessment and certification methods.
• Create a universal and widely accessible electronic system that allows individuals and organizations to document learners' knowledge and skills.

Access

• Adopt common technical standards aimed at promoting open and equitable access while reducing development costs.
• Create conditions that favor e-learning and eliminate barriers that inhibit people from engaging in e-learning.
• Provide incentive and foster public-private partnerships to promote broader access to e-learning among underserved communities.
• Provide leadership in demonstrating the power of e-learning for individuals and communities.
• Use the bully pulpit to speak out on behalf of e-learning.

As government and business leaders set out to undertake these activities, they can rest assured that the potential return on investment for the public and private sectors is enormous. The challenge for businesses is to realize the full potential of e-learning as a driver of productivity and performance gains by making it an integral part of organizational strategy and operations. For government, the challenge is to create a nurturing policy environment for e-learning by removing barriers that restrict access to e-learning's benefits and promoting industry self-regulation while balancing citizens' interests and needs.

This vision of e-learning is evolving at a fast pace. By acting together now, government, business and education have the opportunity to shape America’s e-learning future.

Published: August 2001