This guidebook is for managers and trainers in Small and Medium Enterprises who are interested in the possibilities of e-learning. It may also be of interest to researchers, and e-learning developers and providers working with Small and Medium Enterprises, larger companies or in the education and training sector.

The handbook is intended as a practical guide. That is not to pretend that it answers all the questions. There are many choices to be made about e-learning, some will be dependent on the many different contexts in which Small and Medium Enterprises operate, some are related to ambition and finance and others come down to making an informed choice from the many different possibilities. Neither am I trying to persuade readers of the value of e-learning. I think e-learning has great potential but there are still many problems to be solved.

There are already many hard copy and web based guides to e-learning, and a number of them are focused on Small and Medium Enterprises. What makes this one different? Throughout the guidebook I have been at pains to focus on learning, rather than technology. Technology should be used to support learning, rather than learners adapting to technology. My starting point is to look at what learning and training needs may exist in Small and Medium Enterprises and then to ask how (and if) e-learning can be used to meet those needs.

Although much of the guidebook looks at e-learning courses and programmes - formal learning - I also point out the importance of informal or non-formal learning, especially n the workplace. I suspect that in the longer term the main use of Information and Communication technologies for learning will be to support the development of knowledge and skills though informal and non-formal learning.

The handbook is designed for use throughout Europe. Inevitably this leads to some generalisations, because legislation and incentives for learning and training vary in different European countries. However given the diversity of activities and organisation in SMEs some degree of generalisation would be inevitable, even if the handbook was based on one countries legislation.

This handbook has been produced as part of the European Commission Framework 5 'e-Compete' project. It also draws on research undertaken as part of the European Commission Leonardo da Vinci project, 'The use of ICT for Learning in Small and Medium Enterprises.'

The handbook is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. This means it is freely available for reproduction and for re-editing for non commercial use, as long as the source is acknowledged. I hope that different organisations may find parts of it helpful in their own advice and support for SMEs and will welcome them 'repurposing' it in this context.

2.1 Why provide training?

Why should Small and Medium Enterprises provide training for their staff? There are a number of different answers - some of which overlap.

The most obvious reason is to protect future employment through developing productivity and competitiveness. Research shows that one of the biggest assets any company has is its staff and that those companies with highly skilled staff are more likely to remain competitive. Research also suggests that those companies who provide training and who employ highly skilled staff are more likely to be innovative.

This is especially so given the rapid change in technology development and implementation with short product life cycles, rapid innovation in product design and increasing customer demands for quality.

Training apprentices - or participating in initial training programmes - can be a cost effective way of maintaining a skilled staff for the future as well as playing a role in the local economy and community.

Providing opportunities for continuing training - or lifelong learning - is a way of ensuring the skills of the staff are up to date. It is also a way of maintaining motivation of the workforce.

Surveys also show that whilst many companies are confident that employees have the technical knowledge and skills needed in the workplace, they may lack the so called 'key competencies' required in modern enterprises - dealing with customers, the ability to work in a team, problem solving capability etc.

In many countries and sectors there are subventions and grants to help SMEs pay for training for staff.

However, we are aware that many Small and Medium Enterprises do not provide training, Our research tells us they feel they lack the knowledge and infrastructure, are worried about losing highly qualified staff to competitors, are concerned that training is too expensive or feel unable to spare key staff time to participate in training activities. All these are legitimate concerns. But, in the long term, for many companies the cost of not providing training may prove more expensive.

Training is not the answer to every problem facing Small and Medium enterprises. But it may prove the answer to many problems and as a long-term strategy a highly skilled workforce can be a key advantage in today's highly competitive markets.

2.2 What kind of issues can training address?

There are many different issues which training can address. These include:

• Guaranteeing a supply of skilled workers for the future through apprenticeships and initial training programmes
• Addressing particular skill shortages
• Enhancing the quality of production and products
• Meeting the challenge of implementing new technologies
• Enhancing productivity through redesigning work organisation
• Providing better service to customers
• Dealing with new work processes
• Developing new products and services

2.3 How are training needs recognised?

There are many ways to measure your staff training needs.

One of the most popular is to undertake a Training Needs Analysis and once more there are different methods and tools for undertaking a Training Needs Analysis. For example, Brooke Broadbent and Lise Froidevaux identify six areas of analyses associated with training needs. Training needs analysis, they say "is a process of gathering and interpreting data for identifying performance problems and suggesting solutions. The challenge is to obtain complete and accurate data. This amounts to answering who, what, when, where and why." Their six types of analyses are:

Context analysis

"Who decided there should be an intervention?" "Why do they think there should be a training program?" "What is the business need for this proposed training?" "What is the history of similar programs in this organization?" "What can an instructional designer do to ensure success when intervening in this organization?"

User analysis

"Who is going to take the training and what do they know about the topic?" "How do they prefer to learn?" "Who is going to instruct and what do they know about the subject?" "How do they prefer to conduct their sessions?" "What training has been given previously, and what were the results?"

Work analysis

"What is the job under review and what are the main duties?" "What are the high-level skills required?" "To what standards are people expected to do the job?" "Are they currently meeting these standards?"

Content analysis

"Are there essential building blocks one needs to learn in order to do this job?" "Are these building blocks of knowledge laid out in manuals or other documentation?" "In what order and how are these building blocks normally taught?"

Training suitability analysis

"Is non-performance due to a lack of knowledge and skills or are there another reasons?"

Cost-benefit analysis

"Is it worth our effort to undertake the proposed training?" "What will be the return on investment or ROI of the proposed training?" "Are there any cost-benefit benchmarks for the proposed training?"

What methods you choose to use will depend in the main on what training problem you are seeking to address and on the time, skills and resources available to you to undertake the training needs analysis. One Australian government web site suggests that employers consult with all staff on an annual basis to assess organisational training and development needs. They say that depending on your organisational needs, budget and time factors, the way you consult could be via a focus group, one-on-one meetings or a questionnaire.

Focus groups and one-on-one meetings involve a carefully planned discussion with a small number of participants and are designed to obtain thoughts on specific issues, programs or products in a permissive and non-threatening environment. They provide qualitative data, giving insights into attitudes, perceptions and opinions of participants. Information is sought through open-ended questions and through observing respondents during the discussion.

Questionnaires provide quantitative information and the first level of broad data. Issues can be followed up in detail through other mechanisms such as focus groups.

After consulting with your employees, the Australian website suggests, you should analyse the results of the questionnaire, focus group or one-on-one meetings to determine where the staff skill gaps lie. Compare skills already obtained with skills required to do the current job and those required for future development. You may find that an employee is better suited to a different role than that which they are currently employed to do.

One of the key issues is to judge what skills and competences you will require of your workforce in the future. Of course, to some extent, this depends on your future plans and aspirations. Do you want to be a market leader? Are you seeking to expand your business or extend into new product area or provide new services for customers? But, it also depends on the future development of your sector, on emergent technologies, on future competition and on customer and supply chain demands. You may have access to much of this information already. Much can be gained through informal contacts with other SME managers and people working in your sector. Sector organisations, supply chain organisations, regional economic bodies and Chambers of Commerce are all potential sources of information, as are trade journals and other such publications and trade fairs and exhibitions. There is an increasing amount of information available on the web on sector and industry trends.

2.4 Developing a learning culture

Training Needs Analyses are not the only way of deciding on training needs and may not be the most appropriate. Training Needs Analyses have been criticised for being too short term and overly focused on immediate task based skills, You may wish to build up a pool of skills and competences in your organisation for future development.

Some management specialists have suggested that it is more important to develop a learning culture than it is to just focus on immediate skills and competence needs. They point to the growing need for many employees to be able to solve complex work based problems. Therefore they suggest getting as many employees as possible involved in some form of learning or professional development, regardless of whether it is of immediate relevance to their work tasks.

Our research suggests that whilst there are many training opportunities for managers and professional and technical staff, there are far less for blue-collar workers or production workers. Over the last ten years this gap has been growing. Whilst this may reflect the actual training needs in many companies, it may once more not be in the long-term interests of those enterprises. Skilled shop floor workers can be more flexible and more efficient. Wider work force training may lead to increased productivity and quality.

You may also want to think about equal opportunities when considering training needs. Legislation varies between different countries. You may also have a company equal opportunities policy. Research suggests that women and people from ethic minorities have fewer opportunities for training. Even if there is no applicable legislation and you do not have an equal opportunities policy, providing better access to training for minorities may be in the best long-term interest of your company.

There is also evidence to suggest that it can pay companies to allow employees access to basic education provision to improve their literacy, numeracy and basic communication skills.

Finally you also should try to build on previous work and ideas and avoid re-inventing the wheel. If you have recognised a problem or challenge for your enterprise, is anyone else aware of it? Have you faced this problem before? Is anyone else doing something about it? What other approaches have been tried? Are other companies in your region of sector facing similar problems? If so how are they coping? There may be alternative options rather than providing training. You may be able to introduce new production methods, new technologies or to change your work organisation? Even if these options do not solve your problem, training may be most effective when combined with other approaches to the problem.

2.5 Key questions

What is the learning problem or need in your enterprise

Who does the learning problem or need affect and in what way?

How was this identified? By whom? Through what processes?

What previous ways has your organisation approached problems or needs like this

Who is doing what else to try and solve this problem in the company?

What other measures have been tried in the past and to what effect?

2.6 Further reading, tools and resources

3.1 To accredit or not?

One big decision that you will have to take when you start any form of training provision is whether the learning outcomes - the results of the training - are to be accredited and if so by whom.

Sometimes the answer is obvious - for instance if you are providing an apprenticeship scheme then the apprentices work will be examined and accredited by the usual apprenticeship bodies - often the Chambers of Commerce. For some continuing training schemes there will also be 'built in' accreditation provide by examination bodies, chambers or trade bodies, or other accreditation schemes. If you decide to apply for external grants to cover some or all of the cost of training, those organisations making the grant may well themselves stipulate the form of accreditation. Supply chain organisations will often demand accreditation as proof that your employees are qualified and sometimes will provide the accreditation themselves. But often you will have a choice or whether or not to seek out an accredited learning programme.

There are pluses and minuses to both choices. Accreditation can help ensure a coherent learning programme, can provide a useful quality check, provide motivation for learners and, of course, provide a check of what participants have learnt. However, accredited programmes may not provide access to the learning needs you have identified for your employees, particularly if you are working in a specialist area or addressing a problem unique to your organisation. Often accredited programmes have problems in keeping up to date with latest technologies and production techniques. If you choose not to worry about accreditation it leaves you free to design and develop learning programmes closely tailored to the particular needs of your enterprise. On the other hand your employees may be far less motivated to participate in a training programme which does not, as they see it, provide any recognition of their individual learning outcomes.

But there are other arguments. Many individuals, especially those with low formal qualifications, may have had bad experiences and memories of learning at school. Taking part in training may be quite a big psychological step for them to take. The knowledge that a course is accredited and that they will have to undergo a test or examination at some point - however practical that test may be - can be a big put-off factor for some people.

3.2 What is the balance between individual versus organisational needs?

There is a difficult balance to be reached between individual employee interests and the needs of enterprises. It is not only an issue of individual accreditation. There is also the issue of whether employees should be expected to contribute towards the cost of their training. And a big issue for many small enterprises is in whose time the training should occur? Even if you decide that training is to be totally in work time, what about the individual learning time that is needed outside the course, for studying books, journals or using a personal computer. Are employees to be given time off, paid overtime, or should; this be undertaken in their own time?

Of course some or all of these issues may be the subject of national legislation or sector agreements between employers and workers representatives. They may be an issue for local agreements between social partners. But there will often be considerable leeway and choices to be made and once more there are pros and cons to what decision is taken. Employees will be far more motivated to pursue training in work time. And, if the training is in work time, you can have far more direct say in what employees attend training and in what the content of the training is. On the other hand employees may have individual learning needs - or may themselves wish to undertake a training programme - which is not so closely related to your immediate organisational needs. In this case it may be reasonable to say that the cost and time for training is shared between the company and the individual. This is especially so if the individual is to gain a certificate at the end of the training which will further their long term career aspirations.

However, this can leave you with another dilemma. Obviously you want a well-motivated and highly qualified workforce. On the other hand there is obviously a danger that if individuals work hard at getting qualified and see no opportunities for promotion or to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills in your organisation, they will look around for alternative jobs.

One factor to consider is how you will recognise learning achievement. Will employees who achieve new qualifications be given opportunities to use their newfound skills and knowledge? Will there be opportunities for promotion? What are the criteria for promotion in your organisation and what part does formal qualifications or participation in training play in those criteria. Will employees who undertake training be rewarded with higher pay? Do you have agreements or policies, which cover these issues, and if not, with whom should such agreements be made? In some organisations it will be with individuals, in others there may be collective agreements and in some countries this will be covered by regional or national schemes.

3.3 Key issues

• How important is accreditation and certification for your employees?
• Are there grant requirements for accreditation?
• In whose time will training activities take place?
• Who should be consulted regarding accreditation and certification?
• How will you recognise learning achievement?

3.4 Further resources

OK, so you have identified your staff training needs, have thought about whether or not you wish the training to be accredited and have at least considered who will benefit from the training provision, at whose cost it will be provided and in whose time.

Now is the time to consider what kind of training you wish to provide. In this section of the handbook we will look at e-learning and the pros ad cons of e-learning compared to traditional training provision.

4.1 Options for traditional training

If you are interested in traditional training provision you have at least three main options. One is to send staff on a course offered by an outside provider, in the public or private sector. If staff attend an external course you will often have limited say over the content and may have to wait until the provider is prepared to offer that particular course. Your second option is to run an in-house course. If you have in-house trainers this may be a very good option but few small companies have such resources. If you do not have in-house trainers you will be forced to buy in expertise, and even if you can find someone locally with the required knowledge and skills, it may prove very expensive. The third option is work-based learning with workers learning through practice and reflection in the workplace. Of course, work based learning may be combined with participation in some form of formal training - as in the traditional apprenticeship programmes. However, for this to work you must be able to design a range of learning experiences and to provide support form skilled workers or trainers for the learners. Personally I think this is a very powerful form of authentic learning, but is often beyond the organisational resources of small and medium enterprises.

Of course there are other options such as clubbing together with other small business to share the cost of training or participating in programmes run by economic development, local chambers or trade unions. I will return to some of these options later.

The other option you have is e-learning and this will be the focus of the rest of this handbook. As I said in the introduction, it is not my intention to try to sell you e-learning or even to recommend. But e-learning is an interesting option for learning for employees in Small and Medium Enterprises and may offer some significant benefits over more traditional forms of training and learning. In the next section I will provide a very brief introduction to e-learning and look at some of the advantages and also the drawbacks. Later in this handbook I will explore the various e-learning technologies in a little more depth.

4.2 What is e-learning?

A recent UK publication suggests e-learning equals enhanced learning. E-learning, the JISC publication defines as "learning facilitated and supported through the use of information and communications technology."

"E-learning may involve the use of some, or all, of the following technologies:

• desktop and laptop computers
• software, including assistive software
• interactive whiteboards
• digital cameras
• mobile and wireless tools, including mobile phones
• electronic communication tools, including email,
• discussion boards, chat facilities and video conferencing
• Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs)
• learning activity management systems"

"e-Learning can cover a spectrum of activities from supporting learning, to blended learning (the combination of traditional and e-learning practices), to learning that is delivered entirely online. Whatever the technology however, learning is the vital element. e-Learning is no longer simply associated with distance or remote learning, but forms part of a conscious choice of the best and most appropriate ways of promoting effective learning."

4.3 What are the advantages of e-learning?

The UK government has said: "e-Learning exploits interactive technologies and communication systems to improve the learning experience. It has the potential to transform the way we teach and learn across the board. It can raise standards, and widen participation in lifelong learning. It cannot replace teachers and lecturers, but alongside existing methods it can enhance the quality and reach of their teaching."

E-learning has excited educationalists and trainers with the promise of the potential of technology to revolutionise learning JISC identify advantages in six key dimensions:

• Connectivity - access to information is available on a global scale
• Flexibility - learning can take place any time, any place
• Interactivity - assessment of learning can be immediate and autonomous
• Collaboration - use of discussion tools can support collaborative learning beyond the classroom
• Extended opportunities - e-content can reinforce and extend classroom-based learning
• Motivation - multimedia resources can make learning fun

4.4 What are the advantages for small and medium enterprises?

The lack of training provision in most Small and Medium enterprises has long been a concern to policy makers who fear it may hold back competitiveness and limit potential expansion of employment opportunities. Traditional thinking holds that Small and Medium Enterprises do not provide training because of the difficulty of releasing key employees to attend traditional courses. Therefore, e-learning has been greeted with some excitement in proving more flexible forms of training better suited to the needs of smaller enterprises and there have been many projects and initiatives to pilot and encourage e-learning in SMEs. It has to be said that the experiences of these projects and initiatives is at best mixed. Nevertheless, as learning technologies and understandings of how best to use new technologies mature, there would appear to be a number of potential benefits for employers and employees in Small and Medium Enterprises.

• Flexibility in location - training can take place in the workplace
• Flexibility in time - training can take place when there is 'space' in the work schedule
• Relevance - training can be developed which meet the needs of particular enterprises
• Scalability - e-learning provision can be scaled to meet different magnitude of training needs over time
• Timeliness - training can be provided on a 'just in time' basis to meet 'instant' needs
• Context - materials can be developed or adapted which fit in with the nature of the enterprise
• Up to date - learning programmes and materials can be updated on a continuous basis.

You will notice that at the beginning I said 'potential' benefits. If all this could be done easily, then I guess everyone would be using e-learning. There are still many problems to be overcome. But the potential is there.

Most lists of benefits of this sort would also include cost. Certainly all the major e-learning vendors and providers claim that there are significant cost savings to be made through e-learning. I will consider the costs of e-learning in a later section of the handbook. But, at least at this stage, Let me say that I am not convinced that for many e-learning will prove significantly cheaper than more traditional forms of training. I think if you do decide to go down the e-learning route you should better make that decision on the grounds of quality and the potential to meet your needs, rather than on cost benefit grounds.

4.5 What are the potential disadvantages?

Whilst the advantages sound good, there are some potential drawbacks to e-learning which should be considered when deciding whether to implement an e-learning programme. These include;

• Learners may not be confident in using technologies
• Learning technologies can be over complex and may not always work as they are intended to
• Off the shelf courses may not meet the particular learning needs of your organisation and custom produced learning materials can be expensive
• Learners may feel isolated when working on their own on a computer
• Not all enterprises have access to the infrastructure needed for e-learning
• There is not always sufficient support for enterprises wanting to implement e-learning

None of these problems is fatal and all can be potentially overcome. But they are all factors to take into account when deciding between traditional training courses and e-learning. Much of it depends on who the learners are and what their learning needs are.

Another big consideration is what is being learnt. Computers are very good for learning some things and not at all good for others. For instance, if you want to learn more about computers themselves, e-learning is very appropriate! E-Learning can be highly effective in many subjects ranging from management training and accountancy to learning a foreign language. Many industrial and commercial processes are controlled through computers such as CMC machining or logistics. On the other hand, if you want to learn how to lay bricks, whilst computers can provide lots of information, there is no substitute for doing the real thing. Having said that, the use of simulations and of video does allow practice learners to practice doing things where you would not want to let learners loose on the real thing. To give a couple of examples e-learning is widely used in medical training and in situations of high risk, for example in the nuclear and chemicals industries. Simulations are also used to train people in the use of highly expensive or fragile machinery - for instance medical imaging technology.

But equally the choice can depend on the availability or otherwise of learning traditional provision. In these terms e-learning can often have the edge in bringing learning to the enterprise at a time and place to suit the organisation rather than the training provider.

4.6 Key issues

• What options do you have for 'traditional' training?
• What are the potential advantages of e-learning for your organisation?
• What are the potential disadvantages of e-learning for your organisation?
• How suited are the subject areas you are interested in for e-learning?
• Do you have sufficient knowledge about the pros and cons of e-learning to make a decision or do you need more help and advice?

It is unlikely that you will have the resources and skills available for e-learning in your organisation and that you will need external help in setting up an e-learning programme. Where can you get help?

There are many potential sources of support for Small and Medium Enterprises although a survey I did of e-learning in SMEs suggested support can be patchy and all to often managers in SMEs do not know what services are available.

Support can come from:

• Education and training providers. Many universities and colleges offer assistance to SMEs to meet training needs
• Supply chain organisations. Large companies may provide support to members of their supply chain or there may be networks between different suppliers in the supply chain.
• Regional and local economic development organisations may provide services to help small and medium enterprise develop training and e-learning.
• Chambers of commerce
• Sector organisations
• Trade unions
• Government agencies and departments at national and regional level
• E-learning providers
• Consultants

There is a lot of information available on the web, with a number of guides, similar to this one, specifically written for Small and Medium Enterprises. The quality of these vary - the best thing is to read a number of them and cross check the information and ideas.

There are also a considerable number of projects, funded by the European Commission or by national and regional governments and education and trade organisations, designed to develop e-learning programmes for SMEs. If there is a project in your region of sector this may be a very good starting point for getting information and advice.

Launching e-learning is an important investment and it is worth taking some time to plan and design your training.

5.1 Key issues

• What help and advice about e-learning is available in your region / sector?
• Are their enterprises in your region / sector already involved in e-learning? Who provided them with help and support?
• Who else may be able to provide you with help and support for e-learning?

Although most handbooks and guides to e-learning will focus on systems and software, perhaps the most important factor is how people teach and learn - the pedagogy of e-learning. There are many different ways of teaching and of learning. Of course, effective forms of teaching and learning are really no different than using Information and Communication Technologies than they are in more traditional face-to-face contexts, although the use of technology as a mediating factor provides particular opportunities and problems.

In selecting an e-learning provider, or signing up for an e-learning programme, designing e-learning infrastructures, or selecting e-learning materials, the why and how of learning and teaching is probably more important than the what and when. A quick glance at the promotional material for any e-learning course or system will show that all claim to be interactive. But, interactivity can mean many different things from watching videos, navigating through text areas, providing answers to questions to participating in on-line discussions and taking part in complex scenarios.

A commonly used distinction in e-learning promotional material is between synchronous and asynchronous activities and applications. Synchronous means taking place in 'real time' such as on-line chat whilst asynchronous means taking place over a period of time - for instance e-mail. Whilst this may be a useful technical distinction, I am not so sure it is that useful when talking about learning. Most e-learning applications combine both synchronous and asynchronous activities.

6.1 Effective practice

A recent report published in the UK (JISC, 2004) says: "e-Learning can cover a spectrum of activities from supporting learning, to blended learning (the combination of traditional and e-learning practices), to learning that is delivered entirely online." Whatever technology is used, learning is the vital element. The report points out that e-learning is no longer simply associated with distance or remote learning, as in the past, but forms part of a conscious choice of the best and most appropriate provision of individuals or groups of learners. They suggest the following as a list of effective practice in teaching and learning. "Practice should:

• engage learners in the learning process,
• encourage independent learning skills, develop learners' skills and knowledge,
• motivate further learning."

There are many different forms of activities which can be used to help learning. These include:

• Listening to lectures and seminars - on the web or on CD ROMs
• Reading texts and manuals
• Searching for information and ideas
• Playing on line games
• Communicating with others - through e-mail, chat or on bulletin boards
• Responding to simple question and answer tests
• Researching subjects and issues
• Solving problems
• Taking part in simulations
• Working together as part of an on-line team
• Exploring on-line environments
• Developing personal portfolios
• Accessing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or developing your own
• Asking questions of mentors or experts (ASKA systems or just email)

One system I have seen and like a lot is called "Learning Journeys". Although it is designed for school children the content is not so important. What I think is good is the idea that individual participating in e-learning are on a journey - finding things out, making sense of them and developing their own ideas as part of an activity for them to use and shape for their future practice.

In reality most e-learning will involve a combination of some or all of the activities I have listed above. But there are different perspectives involved in e-learning and although this handbook is intended as a practical guide, this issue is so important that it is worthwhile exploring a little further into some of the research and theory behind learning. You can always skip this section if you wish, but I hope you will find it interesting and useful.

6.2 Understanding learning

Researchers have identified three clusters or broad perspectives, which make fundamentally different assumptions about what is crucial for understanding learning (Jonassen & Land, 2000, Mayes and de Freitas). These are:

• Learning as activity - called the associationist / empiricist perspective
• Learning as achieving understanding - called the cognitive perspective
• Learning as social practice - called the situative perspective.

E-learning can support any one of these different ways of learning - and in reality learners may combine different approaches. However, there are big implications as to which perspective is being followed. These implications include how learners are gaining new skills and knowledge and how they use then in the workplace and what pedagogies are used by teachers and trainers. Different forms of learning require different approaches to teaching and may also imply the use of different e-learning technologies.

The following table, 'Defining approaches to learning', from the JISC report, 'Effective Practice with e-learning' (2004) draws out the implications of these different approaches. The table has three columns. The left column - perspective - relates to the three clusters listed above. The middle column - assumptions - relates to the different ways in which learners gain new skills and knowledge. The right hand column - associated pedagogy - relates to different approaches from teachers and trainers to using e-learning technologies.

6.3 What perspective to adopt

There is not one right answer as to which perspective you should encourage or adopt for your organisation. Some researchers have suggested we all have our own individual learning style although I am unconvinced about this. I think it more likely that we learn in different ways at different times and in different situations and depending on what it is we are learning and for what purpose.

A lot depends on what is being learnt and how the learner is expected to use what they have learnt in their every day work.

For instance, if you are mainly concerned that workers develop their everyday competence to undertake tasks in the workplace an appropriate way of doing this is probably to develop their skills by building progressively complex actions from component skills. This may involve developing and practicing routines of organised activity and progressive difficulty and setting clear goals and feedback. Coming from this perspective it is important that the learning builds on past competence and experience so learners really need individual learning programmes.

On the other hand if the aim of the e-learning activity is to train a team to work together around the development and implementation of new work processes then a better approach may be through collaborative activities and / or through dialogue. Activities might include interaction in environments for knowledge building, encouraging the shared expression of ideas and providing support for reflection, peer review and evaluation.

One thing which may influence decisions over the best ways for people from your enterprise to learn is what facilities you have to support their learning. Whilst e-learning takes place largely through an ICT supported environment, learning is much more powerful when it is linked to practice. This can be difficult in schools. Small and medium enterprises can provide a rich environment to, for example, develop and practice 'routines of organised activity and progressive difficulty' for competence development.

Support for learners is a key issue in any e-learning programme. This will be the focus of the next section.

6.4 Key issues

• What combination of activities do you think will best enable learning in your enterprise?
• What are the main long-term aims of learning and training for your enterprise?
• Which of the perspectives listed in this section do you think best meet the needs of workers in your enterprises?
• How can you link learning to practice?

In the early days of e-learning, proselytisers suggested teachers and trainers were no longer necessary. Learners would directly interact through computers they predicted. Artificial intelligence would provide individual learning programmes to be pursued by learners at their own pace. The computer would provide feedback to learners based on their performance.

Needless to say, this vision never happened (thank goodness). Far from being redundant, it is now appreciated that teachers and trainers play a critical role in supporting e-learning. However that role may not be the same as in traditional face to face classroom teaching, although how much the changing role of teachers and trainers is due to e-learning and how much it is due to changes in pedagogic approaches in general is open to debate.

7.1 The role of teachers and trainers

Perhaps the most important factor in supporting learning in Small and Medium Enterprises is the role of teachers and trainers. Just who will provide those teachers or trainers is another issue which I will explore later in this section. First though, I want to look at what the changing role of teachers and trainers might be in an e-learning context

Teachers and trainers are commonly seen now as facilitators of learning, rather than as purveyors of knowledge. It is true that here are many examples of productive learning in everyday situations. However investigative and deep-level learning is relatively rare without instruction or intentional self instruction (Enkenberg, 1994). For that very reason, instruction is necessary to enhance the quality of learning and to make it purposeful. Enkenburg put forward what he saw as the new role and tasks for teachers and trainers:

• organising the contexts and communities of learning;
• formulating organisational objectives
• structuring instructional contents
• guiding and monitoring the students advancement through the integral cycle of investigative learning;
• interacting and conducting conversation with the students
• planning and assessing the overall instructional process

One important issue for Small and Medium Enterprises to sort out is who are the teachers and trainers? If you already have trainers in your enterprise then it may be they can play this role. However, if they have never used e-learning before I would recommend they go on a course first themselves and then perhaps working alongside an experienced e-learning facilitator to develop their own skills.

Most smaller enterprises do not have in house trainers, and in many there is not even anyone formally responsible for training. In this situation you are going to be dependent on the trainers or facilitators from the e-learning providers (see section on selecting a provider). Certainly, the skills and experience of the trainers or facilitators should be one of your main factors in choosing an e-learning provider.

Even if you do not have in-house trainers or facilitators, and intend to 'buy in' facilitator support from e-learning providers, there can still be value in developing learning support roles amongst members of your workforce. For instance older or more experienced workers can act as coaches or mentors to help guide trainees through practicing tasks. It may be possible to link up these work based practice tasks with the e-learning programme.

Regardless of who is providing subject support for e-learning, many learners may also need support in using computers. Of course there will be a varying need for such support and I would certainly not recommend e-learning for employees who have never used a computer before. But, if at all possible, learners need to know there is someone to whom they can go if they have problems with the hardware or software.

However, responsibility for supporting learners goes beyond the trainer or facilitator.

7.2 Effective support for learners

The UK JISC report looks at what constitutes 'effective interventions' for teachers and trainers. I have amended this to provide a learners perspective on effective support.

Usability:

Interventions should have a clearly defined leaner base, use language appropriate to those learners, be known of by those learners and be functionally accessible to those learners.

Contextualisation:

Interventions should be contextualised for learners and have a clear and explicit statement of purpose; acknowledge the realities of the educational and work setting; allow learners to work on their own real life issues; and take account of the language, values, culture and priorities of their particular community.

Professional learning:

Changing practice requires learners to learn, specifically, to alter their conceptions of working through e.g. opportunities to construct their own meanings; learning from experience through reflection; informal learning; problem based learning; action learning; peer supported learning.

Communities:

There may be real advantages to working within the existing communities and networks with which learners are already affiliated. This links to secondary issues of authenticity and ownership: learners should experience interventions as genuinely sharing their concerns, and being provided or supported by people which whom they can identify.

Learning Design:

Learners need to be supported in engaging with a process that starts with the educational approach. Effective interventions are dependent on an understanding of the curriculum design process and of learning outcomes.

Adaptability:

Effective use is influenced by a learner’s ability to adapt and reuse the resource; resources must be easily repurposed. Adaptability is closely related to contextualisation: i.e. resources may be well contextualised for a narrow range of situations, or generally adaptable to a wide range of situations.

It is interesting that many of these tasks match very closely to what I would see as the role of a trainer or coach in supporting work based, rather than school based, learning. If that is so, it should not be such a big step to bring together the world of e-learning with the world of work based learning.

7.3 New perspectives on learning

Such ideas are supported by John Seely Brown, the head of research at Zerox. In a speech he made in 1999 entitled "Learning, working and playing in the digital age", Seely Brown looked at the different ways young people were using Information and Communication Technologies for learning. He pointed to the growth of discovery or experiential learning. As kids work in the new digital media, he said, rather than abstract logic, they deploy bricolage. Bricolage relates to the concrete and has to do with the ability to find something - an object or a tool, a piece of code, a document - and to use it in a new way and in a new context. But to be a successful bricoleur of the virtual rather than the physical you have to be able to decide whether or not to trust or believe these things. Therefore the need for making judgements is greater than ever before.

Navigation is coupled to discovery and discovery coupled to bricolage but this requires judgement concerning of quality and trustworthiness of information and sources.

In his speech Seely Brown drew attention to the importance of action. He suggests new forms of learning are based on trying things and action, rather than on more abstract knowledge. "Learning becomes as much social as cognitive, as much concrete as abstract, and becomes intertwined with judgement and exploration".

This is not unlike the way many employees in SMEs already learn new things. It may be that one of the main roles in supporting learning is to provide opportunities to link more formal training courses with work processes in the enterprise.

7.4 Learning through work

Barry Nyhan, who works for the European Centre for Vocational Training (Cedefop) has written:

"one of the keys to promoting learning organisations is to organise work in such a way that it is promotes human development. In other words it is about building workplace environments in which people are motivated to think for themselves so that through their everyday work experiences, they develop new competences and gain new understanding and insights. Thus, people are learning from their work - they are learning as they work."

He goes on to say:

"This entails building organisations in which people have what can be termed 'developmental work tasks'. These are challenging tasks that 'compel' people to stretch their potential and muster up new resources to manage demanding situations. In carrying out 'developmental work tasks' people are 'developing themselves' and are thus engaged in what can be termed 'developmental learning'."

To conclude this section, my own research has shown that perhaps the most important factor for e-learning in Small and Medium Enterprises is the attitude of the owner or manager. Not only do they often have sole decision-making power, but also they often serve as role models when it comes to learning. One way managers can support learners is by themselves participating in e-learning.

7.5 Key issues

• Who in your workplace has a role for supporting training and learning?
• Do they have any experience of e-learning?
• If you do not have trainers in your organisation, are there any staff who provide informal support to new employees?
• How do your employees learn about new processes and products at present?
• What work tasks in your enterprise provide employees with the chance to learn new knowledge and skills?
• How is work organised in your enterprise? Can it be re-organised to provide better learning opportunities?

Many companies considering e-learning are concerned they do not have the infrastructure. While this may have been true in the past, infrastructure demands for modern e-learning are far less difficult to meet than in the past, with much of the hardware commonly available in the modern workplace.

Of course, the set up for e-learning can vary greatly from just an ordinary PC to complex learning laboratories with servers and networks.

Although there are e-learning systems which operate from local files accessed, for instance, from a CD ROM, most e-learning today uses some form of networked systems. This means you need a connection to the internet. And, once more, whilst this can be provided through a dial up modem over an ordinary telephone line, e-learning is much more effective with a broadband connection allowing faster access times, the transfer of larger files and better two way communication. Although in the past broadband was expensive, it is now available in most areas of Europe and the price is rapidly falling.

Learners will also usually need access to a computer with an internet connection. Of course, they may already have a suitable PC which they use for work anyway. In other cases they will not. One option is to provide a pool of laptops, possibly providing internet access through a local wireless network. These technologies have become much cheaper and easier to set up in the last two years.

Much depends on how and when you foresee learners taking part in e-learning activities, on the nature of your business, on the work tasks of the learner and on the design of your work processes. If learning can take place at the workplace, when work is slack, then participants may be able to use their own work PC. Remember, though, that they will need 'dedicated' time, for learning. If the telephone is persistently ringing, it can be very difficult to concentrate on learning!

8.1 Learning stations

Another option that many companies have adopted, especially larger enterprises, is to set up a dedicated learning area or station in the enterprise. This can be used at set times for particular courses, or as a drop in centre, accessed in work time, in breaks or out of work hours. One advantage of setting up a dedicated learning area is that it allows provision of support materials. Although much learning can be undertaken using computers, books, manuals and journals are still very important.

Another plus for dedicated learning centres, is that blended learning has become very popular. This simply means that e-learning is 'blended' together with more traditional forms of training - including face to face teaching, coaching and one to one support. In this situation the learning centre can be used for access to e-learning facilities, can be used as teaching room and also can provide access to additional learning resources.

Yet another idea, which some major companies, particularly those in the production sector, have adopted, is learning islands. Learning islands simulate real production processes, allowing trainees to practice those tasks that they will be engaged with in their jobs, but without risk of disrupting the workflow and without fear of mistakes interrupting production. This can be particularly important in continuous production processes. It can also allow the simulation of problems and unexpected errors which workers may have with as part of their job.

8.2 Mobile learning

Mobile learning or 'm-learning' has become increasingly popular recently. E-Learning is accessed through mobile devices, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or smart mobile telephones. This has become possible as these devices have become more powerful, networking standards have improved and the ability to provide internet content to mobiles has increased. There are a number of obvious advantages to m-learning:

• Mobile devices are relatively cheap
• Learning can be accessed at any time
• M-learning gives access to people working at a distance form the workplace or in jobs and situations in which it is not possible to provide access to computers

Examples of where m-learning has been deployed include on construction sites and for sales representatives. M-learning has also been used to provide additional access for learners to practice and reinforce what they have learnt through more traditional e-learning, for example on trains or at home if they do not have access to a home PC.

Of course there are down sides to mobile devices for learning. Screen size and resolution can be a big problem, as can the use of small keyboards (although most young people seem to have no problem text messaging on mobile phones!).

As with most issues addressed in this handbook, there is no single answer to the question of infrastructure. The most important thing is that learners have access to the hardware and infrastructure they need to meet the needs of the subject they are learning, at a time and place which fits the way in which they are comfortable in learning and in which they feel comfortable and secure. Of course, most learners will require support and that will be dealt with in another section of the handbook.

One final comment should be added here. Most e-learning applications do not require the very latest in fast, up to date PCs. Very often older computers can be reconfigured to provide quite adequate machines for learning. Neither do computers used for learning necessarily require expensive software. It is perfectly possible to set up a computer using free, or almost free, open source operating systems and basic office software.

8.3 Key issues

• Do you have sufficient infrastructure in your enterprise to support e-learning?
• What are your options in terms of establishing spaces for learning? How can these best be configured?
• Can you combine e-learning with more traditional forms of learning?
• Is there anyone in your enterprise who has the knowledge and skills to set up the infrastructure you need?

It is difficult to write a short guide to e-learning technology - particularly to software applications for e-learning. The whole area is subject to rapid change and development with new programmes being brought out every month. And it is hard to define just what is educational software. Some of the best e-learning programmes I have seen have used ordinary business or communications applications. All I can do here is to point to a few of the more commonly used programmes and try to give a feel for the field. For me pedagogic design is much more important than software but it is certainly true to say that all applications enable or hinder particular pedagogic approaches to a greater or lesser extent. Although much is talked about user friendliness (with many disagreements as to just what this means), my experience suggests users will persevere with the most dreadfully designed systems if they really have the motivation to use them. What is important is that the systems work - there is nothing as discouraging for the first time user of an e-learning system to find that it does not work (and this happens all to often).

Firstly I will look at internet based systems. Up to five years or so ago, most e-learning programmes were being delivered by CD ROM and although there is still a great deal of learning materials being produced and distributed through CDs, most e-learning programmes today use the internet.

9.1 Internet based learning technologies

Most e-learning systems use the World Wide Web for delivering hyperlinked content. Many systems have some form of editor for creating and editing content and many have a content management system (CMS) for managing content. Content varies greatly in design and interactivity. I will look at this issue a little more in the section on e-learning content.

Discussion and Communication

Most e-learning programmes use some kind of systems for communication and discussion. These can vary greatly between basic email to group bulletin boards and collective work areas.

In practice how much these facilities are used varies greatly, much being dependent on the pedagogic design of the programme. I have seen complex e-learning sites with little discussion taking place on the bulletin board areas, On the other hand I have seen entire e-learning programmes being delivered using just group communication software - or groupware.

On-line tests

Many e-learning technologies allow students to participate in on-line tests - often in multiple choice format. Many also have some form of programme to allow teachers and trainers to create tests and provide feedback to learners on how they have done.

Simulations

Simulations are an increasingly popular form of learning software. Of course, they vary greatly in complexity. Some can be quite simple like for designing and testing electrical circuits; another common application is simulation of controls of machinery. Airlines use complex simulators for training pilots and simulations are commonly used in the medical field and for complex or dangerous applications and working environments.

Scenarios

There are many learning applications developed around scenarios. Learners are invited to respond to a particular scenario or situation and depending on their response, the application then poses new problems or issues to confront.

Virtual environments

A growing area is the provision of entire virtual environments for students to explore and to undertake different tasks. These environments may be simulations or may more resemble games than learning software.

Games

Educationalist have become increasingly interested in the potential of games as a learning environment. A friend of mine is presently developing a learning application allowing engineering students to design, tune and race cars on the internet.

Web logs

Web logs - commonly known as blogs - allow individuals to publish their own web sites with easy to use interfaces and tools. At first they were seen as web based diaries but as blogging has spread, many new educational uses have been developed. As well as individual blogs it is now easy to set up class or group blogs.

Portfolios

There are an increasing number of products for learners to create and maintain their own portfolio of learning achievement.

9.2 Managing Learning

The applications listed above are all for delivering learning. There are also many applications for managing learning. Many of these are for registering and tracking students, for permitting access to different areas and for setting permissions to functionality etc.

One area of growing importance is programmes for sequencing learning. Increasingly e-learning courses are not being produced as one big block of content but as smaller objects - often called learning objects - which are held in a database. Sequencing tools then allow e-learning designers to put together different learning objects to meet the needs of particular learners or groups of learners. Reusing leaning materials can save much money.

Another increasingly common learning management application is materials repositories. These are just what they say - databases providing access to different learning materials and learning objects.

The use of standards is very important in allowing reuse of learning materials. For more about this see the section on standards, below.

Of course there are many more functions built in to most e-learning systems which are beyond the scope of this guidebook. One hidden, but very important, function is user authentication - allowing the system to know who the user is and to distribute that information to other parts of the system.

9.3 Learning Management Systems

Obviously, any particular e-learning programme is quite likely to combine a number of the different applications listed above.

Over the last few years Learning Management Systems (LMSs) or Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) for e-learning have become very popular. Learning Management Systems or Virtual Learning Environments are essentially integrated suites of software providing a variety of functionality for managing learning, developing and storing learning materials, developing learning programmes and enabling communication.

Baumgartner et al (2002) put forward the following features as the key constituents of an LMS:

• It is browser-accessible. The Learning Management System should be based on a standard-protocol (TCP/IP) and a standard web browser.
• The learner can interact via the browser with the teacher, the system and other learners. Also, the authoring options as the learning management features can be operated without any plug-ins/viewers/additional products.
• There are basic features for administration and the administration of users can be administrated. The system must offer an authentication feature. The system must offer rights managements for roles, groups, and permissions. The system must be multilingual.
• Communication must be supported electronically both within roles and between roles. There are basic features for at least authoring of tests and assessment. There are features for course management, and content management.

There are literally hundreds of LMS or VLE systems to choose from, all claiming to offer one or more unique features and varying hugely in price. There are also a growing number of excellent, free Open Source VLEs (see section of Open Source below).

Personally, I have mixed feelings about LMS and VLE systems. On the one hand, they do make it very easy to set up and manage as e-learning course. On the other hand they incorporate far more functions than most SMEs would require to meet their learning needs and it can often be quite difficult to move from one platform to another. Some of the best e-learning practice that I have seen relies of very simple software such as group email or web logs.

9.4 Don't forget everyday business applications

With a little imagination, many learning needs can be met using everyday business applications like word-processors or spreadsheets. This is especially so if it is these applications that are the subject of learning! And for communication, email remains a powerful, ubiquitous, standards compliant tool, stunningly easy to use and very cheap!

CD ROMs and 'stand alone' applications

There are still many learning applications available that do not need a web interface. Of course without access to the internet, electronic communication is limited, but these applications can be used in addition to web based learning systems, used by learners working on their own or used in conjunction with face to face teaching.

One of the most common uses of CD ROMs is for language learning. But there are many other covering all kinds of different subject areas. CD ROMs can be particularly useful for accessing information about products or for dictionaries and encyclopaedias.

As storage devices become more powerful, some have predicted we will all be able to carry round our own personal learning environments stored on a memory stick. The memory stick will not only contain our personal data, but also all the software we need for learning.

9.5 Standards

Versions of all the applications we have described above can be found for any of the major operating system - Windows, Apple or Linux, although some vendors limit their software to one or another of these systems.

However there is a big danger of lock-in, especially with LMS and VLE systems. What is lock-in? This is when a particular system uses proprietary standards or designs to prevent or make it difficult for you to move your data - student records, learning materials, records of communications etc form one system to another. Many years ago I advised a doctors surgery on implementing a new system. They had paid a large sum of money to a company who had implemented a system which did not meet their needs. Now they found it completely impossible to move the patient records from that system to a new one and were forced to re-enter all the data.

A second big issue here is learning materials. There are growing repositories of publicly available free learning materials on the web (see section on learning materials, below). But these are rendered useless if your system will not allow you to use such materials.

How can you guard against these dangers? One answer lies in using standards compliant applications. There are a large number of increasingly sophisticated standards agreed for different e-learning applications. The QTI standard covers web based tests. The SCORM and Learning Design standards cover content and sequencing. Ensuring that any applications you implement are standards compliant will help you access learning materials, potentially allow you to add new features and functions to your system as you need to and guard against the danger of being locked in to any one proprietary system.

9.6 Key issues

• What sort of learning applications might be appropriate for learners in your enterprise?
• What sort of learning applications might be suitable for the training needs in your enterprise?
• Do you need a Virtual Learning Environment or can your learners' needs be met through simpler solutions?
• How can you use your business software applications to support learning?

There is a big choice which you have to make about learning materials. Are you going a use of the peg learning materials, possibly coming as part of a package bought in form an e-learning provider, or will you develop or commission customised learning materials.

There is an obvious advantage to customised learning materials. They can be designed to meet the precise needs of your organisation and staff. This can be important if the training needs are very specific and means learners do not have cover material which is not relevant to their everyday work. The disadvantage is cost. High quality, interactive learning materials can be very expensive to develop.

On the other hand, there are now very good learning off the shelf learning materials which can be quite cheap. Many e-learning providers will include the cost of materials as part of providing a course. The problem is that these learning materials tend to be in subject and topic areas with very high demand - such as management, language learning and Information and Communication Technologies.

Many learning materials are also only available in limited language versions. Furthermore, research suggests that to localise learning materials you need to go beyond translation or even graphics. People form different cultures learn in different ways and learning materials need to reflect that. I would also suggest that people from different occupations may approach learning in different ways. An obvious example is language learning - a very popular e-learning subject. Engineers may need different language learning materials than marketing managers or sales representatives.

There may be other options than off the shelf or fully customised materials. There are increasingly available learning materials released in the public domain. The British Broadcasting Corporation, like other public bodies, has a large-scale project to make all its content freely available for learning.

A number of education institutions are also making their learning materials available under licences which allow them to be freely used. MIT in America has committed itself to publishing all its learning materials on the internet and the University of Rice in Texas Connexions project publishes free courseware.

Many materials are now being published under the new Creative Commons License which allows varying degrees of free use.

One feature of the Creative Commons Licence is that some variants allow materials to be amended to meet particular needs.

It may be perfectly possible to assemble free material to develop your own customised learning programme, especially if your trainers have some skills in this area.

A word of warning, though. Copyright laws are very complex. Make sure you are entitled to reproduce any materials you find on the web.

Remember too, that learning materials are not the be all and end all of e-learning. The interaction between learners may be more important than the learning materials. In a previous publication I also suggested that the products produced by learners in the course of an e-learning project could form learning materials for future students. In this way we can develop an e-cology of e-learning materials!

10.1 Key issues

• What sort of learning materials do learners in your enterprise need?
• What learning materials do you already have – computer based or otherwise?
• What learning materials are already available that meet your learners’ needs?
• How much customisation would available materials require to meet your learners’ needs

One question I am often asked is how much e-learning costs. Of course the easy answer is "as long as a piece of string".

As this handbook makes clear there are many different options and possibilities for e-learning and the cost very much depends on what you want to do and how you decide to do it. There is a booming research industry around the Rate of Return on Investment (ROI) of e-learning and many rubrics and formulas have been published. However, most of these are focused on either e-learning in universities and educational institutions or on e-learning in large companies and I doubt their applicability for Small and Medium Enterprises.

It is possible to spend very large amounts of money on establishing e-learning provision; it is also possible to provide learning on a shoestring budget.

"There are essentially three main types of costs involved in e-learning (xx):

• Set up costs - these involve having all the necessary technical infrastructure in place to host and deliver an e-learning solution, and include things like hardware, client software and server software
• Content costs - these involve the costs of designing and building bespoke content or purchasing off-the-shelf ready-made e-learning content
• Management costs - these involve administering, supporting, maintaining and managing e-learning solutions."

These three types of costs will depend on whether the solutions are built and/or managed in-house or outsourced/purchased (see the section of the handbook on e-learning providers).

Whatever your decision there will be costs for:

• tools and systems - to develop and or deliver the solution); and
• people time - to develop and/or manage the solution (ibid.)

In deciding what e-learning system you wish to implement you will have to ask yourself whether you have the required tools and systems to develop and /or host the solution or the budget to acquire the tools and systems and whether you have the requisite technical and pedagogical skills and time to develop, deliver and manage the solutions

At the end of the day cost and availability of budget will be a big factor in determining what approaches to e-learning you adopt. But it is possible to develop quality e-learning on a shoestring. The important thing is to first work out what pedagogic and learning approach you want to implement and then to consider the options in technical and financial terms.

In any case, one of the biggest expenditures is likely to be in staff time to take part in training and learning activities. But, as I said in the first section of this handbook, training should not be seen as a charity or social or legislative obligation. Training can improve the competitiveness of your company and lead to higher quality and reduced production costs.

Many SMEs will be eligible for grants, either for training in general or specifically to pilot e-learning programmes. Obviously these vary from country to country and you will need advice of what grants are available in your region. In many European regions, grants are available for the European Social Fund to support e-learning provision.

11.1 Key issues

• What is your budget for e-learning provision? Is this a one off expenditure or do you have an annual budget?
• Do you have a costing model? If not, who can assist you in working out the costs?
• Are you eligible for a grant to assist you with e-learning costs?

This is perhaps the biggest decision you will have to make.

12.1 Do it yourself

Of course one option is to provide access to e-learning yourself. Although this is probably beyond the resources and expertise of most Small and Medium Enterprises, it is surprisingly simple with quite cheap hardware and the services of an interested and skilled computer enthusiast. However, most SMEs would have to buy in consultancy and this may not be cheap.

A lot depends on your long-term perspective. If learning is very important to your organisation, as it is for many enterprises in high technologies, and e-learning is a long term investment, or if you already have an infrastructure as part of your core business activities it may be worth considering installing and maintaining your own e-learning provision.

Also if you are a company which is already investing heavily in training, establishing your own e-learning service could be part of a planned development of your training provision. Some companies may also be able to recoup part of their investment by selling training to other enterprises, especially if you are part of an industry cluster or network.

Most guides to e-learning pose two options: to install your own e-learning infratsructure and provision or to outsource. I think there are more options which I will now explore.

12.2 Collaborating in Networks

Economists and researchers have noted the rise of a network culture. Networking is seen as a key factor in the competitiveness of SMEs in the global economy. There are different kinds of networks including:

• Local and regional networks of Small and Medium Enterprises based on geographical location
• Networks based on sector, product and service
• Vertical networks based on supply chains
• Networks around innovation and start up incubators
• Networks based around 'industrial associations' for instance Chambers of Commerce
• Marketing networks.

Often the networks will include local and regional economic development organisations, universities and education and training providers such as vocational colleges.

I suspect that in the next few years we will see the increasing provision of e-learning for SMEs through these networks. In some cases this is already happening. Of course, SMEs are always concerned that vital company know-how will be lost to competitors. In reality, most SMEs have a very limited amount of knowledge which is commercially sensitive and there is no reason why co-operating for training purposes should endanger that information.

So, one option is to look around at your own networks and consider whether you could offer e-learning programmes in collaboration with other network members. Not only would it reduce the cost, but it can give you access to key expertise and resources. Furthermore extended co-operation between different enterprises can allow you to develop a richer environment of learning possibilities and learning materials.

12.3 Existing e-learning provision

A third option is to look at what e-learning provision is already publicly available. Although varying between countries, regions and sectors, there are many organisations who are now offering e-learning and many of them may be keen to extend their target groups to include SME employees.

These include:

• Universities
• Vocational colleges
• Adult education providers
• Industrial associations and employer organisations
• Trade and sector organisations
• Regional economic development organisations
• European and nationally funded projects
• Open colleges and networks
• SME networks and clusters
• Publishers and large private sector e-learning companies

Obviously not all of these will be offering e-learning in your region or country but I know of examples of all of them somewhere in Europe.

However, unless you are very lucky, the degree of customisation for your training needs will be limited. But, for many subject areas, it may be that a standard e-learning programme will be quite sufficient. How flexible the provision will be will depend greatly on the organisational and pedagogic approach of the e-learning provider.

12.4 Outsourcing

Your fourth possibility is to outsource the provision to a consultancy or e-learning company. Obviously this will be more expensive, but does have the advantage of allowing the development of a flexible programme which meets your exact training needs with materials developed to reflect your enterprise and work organisation.

A word of warning here. Some enterprises get very excited because they will 'own' the learning materials. I am not convinced that e-learning materials, as such, have any great intrinsic monetary value. What is far more important is that you are able to work together with the consultant or provider to ensure the materials reflect your needs.

12.5 How to choose a provider

There are many consultancies and companies offering customised e-learning programmes and providing off the shelf programmes as well. They range greatly in size, from small local companies to large multi national enterprises. How should you make a choice? This is not easy. Here are some the factors I would take into account:

• Have they already got materials and programmes which go at least some of the way towards meeting your needs? If so the cost should be lower.
• Do they understand the nature of small businesses? Many providers are primarily targeting large companies who have very different training needs.
• Do they understand the sector or trade in which you are involved? Subject knowledge can be very important for learning.
• What is their track record and reputation? Have they worked with companies in your region or sector before?
• Are they local or do they have local representatives? Personal contact is very important in developing e-learning provision
• How good are their trainers? Do they have qualified trainers who you can relate to?
• How much support are they prepared to give you? Will they work closely with you in developing your e-learning programme or is it a 'hands off' relationship?
• Does their learning and training approach 'feel right' for your employees

One thing I would certainly want to see is their e-learning software and materials and how they are being used. I have been present at many demonstrations when representatives demonstrate the functionality of their platforms but without any content or any learners! If at all possible try the platform first - either personally or by signing one of your employees up for a trail programme.

Of course, there are many other factors involved in your choice, like accreditation, which are covered elsewhere in this handbook. And the factor of price is also always important for SMEs.

However, for me, perhaps the most critical factor may be how far the consultant or e-learning company is prepared to work with you to look at your organisations total learning needs. Of course it may be that you only want a quick course for a couple of employees. But, as I write in the section on informal learning, structured e-learning programmes are only one answer to learning needs. Joining an on-line discussion group can be an effective way of learning. Informal learning is a very powerful learning tool. How far do your potential contractors understand the importance of informal learning and how far are they prepared and able to work with you to develop your workplace to promote all forms of work-based learning?

12.6 Key issues

• Do you wish and do you have the resources to provide the e-learning in-house?
• What networks are you part of? Do they support or provide e-learning?
• Are there other enterprises with which you have contact who may be interested in linking up to provide e-learning?
• Who is providing e-learning programmes in your sector or region?
• Are there educational institutions with whom you can collaborate in establishing e-learning programmes?

This is perhaps the most important section of the handbook. Throughout the handbook I have been at pains to emphasised that e-learning, on its own is only part of the answer to the development of a learning workplace. Furthermore, I have pointed out that there are other uses of ICT for learning, than just formal e-learning courses.

E-Learning courses are important for developing formal bodies of knowledge. But researchers and policy makers are increasingly appreciating how much learning takes place outside a formal education context. This is called informal or non-formal learning. As often, the researchers cannot agree on definitions for these different terms.

Becket and Hager say practice-based informal workplace learning:

• is organic/holistic
• is contextual
• is activity and experience-based
• arises in situations where learning is not the main aim
• is activated by individual learners rather than by teachers/trainers
• is often collaborative/collegial.

Barry Nyhan, who works for the European Centre for Vocational Training (Cedefop) prefers not to get drawn into the definitional debates. He talks instead of natural learning, of the fact that we are all learning everyday from our experiences. Many Small and Medium Enterprises may offer a rich environment for learning with challenging job tasks and problems to be confronted.

He also believes that work can be organised in such a way as to encourage learning through learning-rich work tasks.

One of the reasons why non formal or informal learning may be so important is that it tends to focus on the everyday work process type knowledge which is required in the workplace, rather than the more formal tenets of knowledge developed through formal education and training.

This is not to say that formal courses have no role, or to put forward informal learning as being good and formal learning as being bad. One issue is just how to fuse together knowledge acquired in formal education and training to practical work process knowledge acquired in the workplace. Obviously, trainers can play an important role in this respect, providing mentoring and support to learners both to guide them in developing their skills and knowledge and in drawing out the applications of tacitly acquired knowledge.

E-Learning may have an important role to play as well. I have long been an advocate of developing learning around the everyday application of technologies in the workplace and believe this happens to some extent all the time. Engineers, when confronted with a problem, tend to search the internet for potential solutions or log in to bulletin boards. Alternatively, they may email a colleague in another company to ask their advice.

If this nascent practice could be purposefully and creatively developed it may be possible to develop a new form of just-in-time e-learning throughout the workplace. And if the results of this learning could be recorded, Small and Medium Enterprises could gain access to a very rich Knowledge Management System, based on the learning and knowledge of their workforce.

Perhaps this is a little idealist and futuristic. But I think the seeds of such developments are already there. When designing e-learning activities it will repay to consider how e-learning and the use of Information and communications Technologies in the workplace can support and facilitate informal and non formal learning.

13.1 Key issues

• How can you develop informal learning in your enterprise?
• To what extent can informal learning meet your learning needs?
• How can you combine training and informal learning?
• How can your everyday use of Information and Communication technology be harnessed to encourage learning?
• How can knowledge and ideas be shared in your enterprise?