22nd Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training

Issues in SE e-learning development changing phases and challenges going forward

H A Padmini Group Leader Infosys Technologies Limited Padmini_ha@infosys.com Abstract
Training has been used from times immemorial both on and off the job to enable participants (employees) to obtain ongoing skills. Training methods have been evolving and particularly so in the last 10 years. In scenarios where the participants do not have access to live classroom sessions or to get maximum content within limited time, e-learning is one of the notable strategies that is used across industries to enable the participants. But every step that human takes has its own challenges and issues. This paper analyses the present day challenges that face the growth and spread of Software Engineering (SE) e-learning and suggests some solutions for improvement in the e-learning space. Keywords: e-learning development, collaboration, deployment, development tools, training methods, software engineering

Shakila S R Technical Evangelist Infosys Technologies Limited Shakila_sr@infosys.com

1. Introduction
The ringing in of the Internet has changed the face of training all over the world. Classroom sessions, which were the only means earlier, were supplemented by computer-based training or computer aided instruction in the 1980s. Then Online Learning or Online Education, which generally refers to purely web-based learning, took centre place. Electronic learning (or elearning or eLearning) is a type of education where the medium of instruction is based on computer technology. E-learning, however, also has implications beyond just the technology and refers to the actual learning that takes place using these systems. Lately in most Universities, e-learning is used to define a specific mode of attending a course, where the students rarely attend face-to-face sessions, because they study online. Elearning is flexible and can be used in conjunction with the existing and upcoming systems in addition to other forms of teaching. This gives an edge to E-learning which makes it an unbeatable form of training. The first 10 years of e-learning (e-learning 1.0) was focused on using the internet to replicate the instructor-led experience. Lessons were designed to lead a learner through the content, providing a wide and ever-increasing set of interactions, experiences, assessments, and simulations. E-learning 2.0, by contrast (patterned after Web 2.0) is built around collaboration; e-learning 2.0 assumes that knowledge is socially constructed. Learning takes place through collaboration. [1]

2. Objectives of e-learning
It has been said that there are two reasons why we learn; some learning is essentially forced on us, while the other is what we sit back and enjoy. E-learning has brought back the joy in

978-0-7695-3539-5/09 $25.00 2009 IEEE DOI 10.1109/CSEET.2009.40

130

learning through its innovative and interactive content and delivery. In e-learning, delivery is not restricted to just plain text but includes video and audio, creating virtual class rooms via video conferencing. The introduction of a variety of technologies has made it possible to convert it from impersonal to highly interactive medium of pedagogy (the art and science of teaching). Today, the business world has three very basic concerns: attracting, training, and retaining Intellectual Capital. Todays workforce has a migratory nature; if they are not satisfied with their position or growth they will keep changing companies. There is an uncomplicated, longterm solution to these business concerns - e-learning. Knowing that companies offer suitable training in an easy manner can be a reason for attracting and retaining employees. In a survey on exploring the corporate benefits and employee adoption of corporate E-learning, Grant and Danziger (2005) explain that qualitative benefits anticipated by employees included significant human resource benefits. Among those cited were increases in comfort with technology, employee motivation and morale, pride in and identification with the company, and the sense that company valued its employees. Employers believed these results would, in turn, mean that the e-learning system itself became a new recruiting tool. That tool would improve the companys public image and give it a competitive advantage over others in the industry who didnt offer online training. [2] As always, knowledge is power. E-learning not only helps develop knowledge and skills, but provides flexibility in learning. Employees can be retained by companies which offer them future growth and security. E-learning can do this and has thus made its way into management, sales, marketing, customer service, and professional development. The advantages of e-learning can be summarized as below. It is an adaptable and learner-based training It helps train employees It is individual oriented training It helps in employee empowerment It provides simulation of live environments Anytime and anywhere flexibility is the USP of e-learning Global coverage can be easily handled Expertise of subject-matter-experts (SME) can be better harvested and collected at one place It is very cost effective. It costs 40% less in comparison to classroom delivery [3] It is possible to better measure and quantify its ROI (return on income) Moreover, e-learning helps employers to maximize employee productivity, proficiency and satisfaction while managing training costs and risks.

3. Challenges that face the growth and spread of SE e-learning

3.1. Development of interactive content

131

High interactivity and rich audio visual elements are very much essential for e-learning courses. Not only should the e-learning be instructionally sound and learner-centric, it should be user-driven, interactive with rich media elements to make the learning experience more interesting. It should be comprehensive and include at least the following features: Pre-assessment Objectives Static screens Animation components Demonstration screens Self assessments Summary Post assessment The feature rich instructional design should have facilities like easy navigational tools, print facility, notes, audio control, glossary, tour of the interface and audio transcript. 3.2. Experiential nature and vastness of SE as a subject Software engineering is a highly experiential subject and the instruction designers have to understand the subject in order to prepare instructionally sound content. This requires collaboration with experts who have knowledge of Software engineering subjects and are experienced in projects in the related fields. Subject Matter Experts (SME) so identified should discuss the content to arrive at the appropriate instructional strategy for presentation and assessment. The challenge here is to present the highly practical content in a lucid yet interesting manner. 3.3. Issues in e-learning development The development of an SE related e-learning course involves multiple roles played by different groups, like Subject Mater Expert (SME), Instructional designer (ID), development team. SME develops the course content and reviews the e-learning lessons created by the development team from the content perspective ID reviews for instructional effectiveness, flow, language, presentation strategy, content balance in each frame, graphics, animation, etc. Development team understands the course content and develops the digitized version i.e. e-learnable course with graphics, animation effects, audio, etc. Figure 1 gives the e-learning development process.
Macro Design Phase Storyboarding Phase Development Phase User Acceptance Test Phase Deployment

Figure 1. E-learning development Process The different issues faced during the development process as well as the various corrective actions that can be adopted are given in table 1.

132

Table 1. E-learning Development Issues/Solutions # 1 Issue For an experience sharing subject like SE, it is very difficult to create the classroom kind of experience using elearning. Hence developing the course structure which will effectively convey the content is a challenging task. To create an effective e-learning for SE course, the concepts need to be explained with more real life project scenarios. The development team doesnt have a good understanding on the subject and thereby it becomes an overhead for the SME to ensure that the scenarios are depicted correctly. SE related course is more effective with case studies. The e-learning course may have good animations, but the audience would lose interest if it is not interactive. Solution The SME needs to be a practitioner to develop a well structured SE course. For example, when creating an e-learning course for an experiential subject like Requirements Engineering, the SME should have worked on projects interfacing with clients and share that experience as part of the course. More reallife project scenario, fire-fighting experiences, pointers on dos and donts can make the elearning for SE related subjects effective. The SME needs to educate the development team on the subject before the start of Story Board development. This way the development team can create appropriate scenarios and a lot of re-work effort may be avoided at a later phase. The development team needs to come up with innovative ideas like quiz, puzzles for different units in the course in order to make it interactive for the participants, thereby improving the effectiveness. There can be a case study as a follow-up for the course with a solved solution made available at a later point of time. The e-learning content developed by the SME has to be reviewed by the end users before providing the content for storyboard development. Any e-learning developed need to be SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) complaint so that interoperability, accessibility and reusability requirements are met.

In many cases, end user gives comments on technical details insufficiency during acceptance testing of the e-learning course. This results in major rework just before deployment and delays the deliverables. The audience for e-learning is 6. distributed across the globe. Hence ensuring that the e-learning developed is scalable, reusable and interoperable is very important. 5 3.4. Issues in e-learning Deployment

The audience for e-learning can be the entire community. Hence the e-learning deployment model should be scalable to meet the ever increasing load to the system. Performance is one of the important aspects with respect to the success of any online offering. It is advisable to perform a capacity assessment i.e. checking if the current infrastructure can meet the demand due to increase in workload, at regular intervals and do a scalability analysis. In Infosys, all inhouse e-learning courses are hosted in TAL (Technology Assisted Learning) servers. The deployment of an e-learning course is distributed across many e-learning servers situated at multiple locations. Any employee, when accessing an e-learning course, requests for the course
133

through TAL. A load balancing mechanism ensures that the person is connected to a TAL server which has lesser load. The following figure 2 gives the deployment model of TAL. When deploying an e-learning course in such distributed environment, there might be issues with respect to version conflict across multiple servers. It is important to ensure that a strict configuration management process is followed.

Figure 2. E-learning Deployment Model 3.5. Availability and usage of development Tools There are different technologies or tools that are used for e-learning development. Macromedia Flash is one of the most widely used tools for creating a professional e-learning course. But skilled instruction and graphic designers are needed when developing the lessons using Flash. The Flash files that are created are smaller in size and hence can be easily downloaded by the participants undergoing an e-learning course. There are many commercial off-the-shelf products that are available for e-learning development, but sufficient analysis has to be done before choosing them as they may not be appropriate in every case. For example, there are tools like MS Producer, Elicitus and Articulate which help in rapid e-learning development compared to Flash, but might lack in richness of graphics as in Flash. E-learning can also be created as HTML pages, which act more as a digital book rather than an interactive e-learning. The purposes of e-learning need to be understood when, choosing the different products.

4. Going forward
4.1. Improving acceptance For better results and quicker acceptance, e-learning should be blended in with traditional forms of learning, creating a hybrid environment in learning. Meetings and open discussions where employees can discuss their apprehensions and resentments against e-learning must be held. The traditional reason is that e-learning is a solitary learning method. People miss out on

134

the liveliness of the classroom or group atmosphere. It tends to be lonesome, hence tiring and quickly given up. The level of interest is generally too low given the fact that there is lack of a competitive atmosphere. Also the advantage of taking an e-learning course whenever and wherever one wants sometimes becomes a disadvantage as employees may view it as an intrusion to their privacy. 4.2. Collaborative Learning Human interaction is very important for collaborative learning. Hence e-learning has to include some or all of the following and more to remain in todays competitive world:

Online Assessment Assignments Personalized Learning System Live Project experiences Simulations Experts Chat Bulletin Board Blogs, Wikis and Knowledge management boards

The Office for Domestic Preparedness in the U.S. (2003), mentions about four levels of interactivity in e-learning, as shown in Table 2 [4]. E-learning on SE based subject will be more effective with Level III and IV interactivity. Table 2. Office for Domestic Preparedness (2003) Level Level I Passive Level II Limited Interaction Level III Complex Participation Level IV Real-time Participation Description The learner acts solely as a receiver of information. The learner is required to read the text on the screen, view graphics, illustrations, charts, and use the navigational buttons to progress forward through the program or move back. The learner makes simple responses to instructional cues. The e-learning product includes learning activities listed in Level I as well as multiple choices and column matching related to the text and graphic presentation. The learner makes a variety of responses using varied techniques in response to instructional cues. The responses may include those listed for a Level IILimited Interaction, as well as text entry boxes and manipulation of graphic objects to test assessment of the information presented. The learner is directly involved in a life-like set of complex cues and responses. This involves engaging the learner in a simulation that mirrors the work situation with stimuli-and-response coordinated to the actual environment.

5. Benefits of E-Learning
When an organization decides to implement e-learning, it is typically the result of a need for employee training, professional development, organizational knowledge management, or

135

customer education (Gilbert and Jones, 2001; Gomolski, 2001; Knowledge Planet, 2001). Gilbert and Jones (2001) concluded that e-learning had comprised about 20% of all corporate training delivery methods in 1999 and would double to 40% in 2003. Other analysts have predicted that e-learning will be a $33 billion industry by 2004 and could reach $46 billion by 2005 (Anastasi, 2000). A comparative analysis on the e-learning vis--vis instructor led offerings in Infosys during the financial year 2007-2008 is given in Figure 3 below. 75% of the delivery is through e-learning compared to other modes of delivery. 66% of employees are attending e-learning offerings compared to other modes. This shows the demand for e-learning mode of training is increasing and it is clearly due to the various benefits it offers.

Figure 3. Source: Infosys Technologies Ltd. Benefits are being realized both from the organization perspective and also from the participant perspective. 5.1 Benefits to the Organization Some of the most significant benefits are: Reduction in Training Cost - Most of the organization have employees distributed geographically. The cost involved for conducting classroom sessions in multiple locations is much higher due to instructor's wages, class room rentals, employees travel, food and accommodation. In such situations, e-learning mode of delivery proves to be more cost effective. Higher retention and reduction in learning time - According to United States Department of Defense data (as cited by Oblinger, 1991, p. 4), we have short-term retention of approximately 20% of what we hear, 40% of what we see and hear, and 75% of what we see, hear, and do. Feitcher (as cited by Oblinger, 1991, p. 4) states that "in broad terms, computer-based instruction works. It offers a 10 to 20% improvement in performance over conventional training methods and a one-third reduction in time on task. They [trainers] can reduce the amount of time that a trainee spends learning by one-third."[8] SME knowledge - SME knowledge is gathered in one place with an effective elearning. Different instructors may have differing styles of delivery. But in an elearning, delivery is consistently the same. A well prepared e-learning may be more effective at times.

136

5.2 Benefits to the employee Anytime Anywhere availability - The objective of the e-learning is to enable employees to leverage knowledge anytime anywhere. Hence on-demand availability becomes more convenient for employees. Enhances skill levels and productivity - It helps enhance skill levels leading to improvement in productivity at work.

6. Conclusion
E-Learning has created a new dimension in education, both within and beyond the curriculum and is still looking at further opportunities of becoming more useful via new emerging technologies. We are really on the threshold of new opportunities and this is just the beginning of a new horizon of education. E-learning has changed the face of education and training and has many advantages in its favor. The demand for e-learning way of education is increasing due to the benefits it offers and hence the various challenges need to be overcome to make it more effective. With the shrinking of the world due to the expansion of the internet, learning methods will also become more and more accessible and available 24*7. All of us need to take advantage of this progress in technology and march forward in the field of education expansion.

7. References
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning [2] http://www.crito.uci.edu/pubs/2005/grantDanziger.pdf [3] http://www.astd.org/LC/2005/0605_walliker.htm [4] Office for Domestic Preparedness (2003) "ODP Blended Learning Approach." Ed. United States Department of Justice [5] KnowledgePlanet. (2001), Corporate Press Release, KnowledgePlanet Website, July 16. http://knowledgeplanet.com/corporate_new/press/press_2002_07_16.html [6] Gilbert, S. and Jones, S. (2001) E-learning is e-nourmous: Training over the Internet has become the fastest growing workplace performance improvement tool---and utilities are using it in several ways, Electric Perspective, Vol. 26 No.3, May/June, pp.66-82. http://www.lecando.com/e-learning/overview.htm [7] Anastasi, N. (2001), "E-fficiency Leads to Sector Boom", Long Island Business News, Vol. 47 No.12. http://www.libn.com/searchResults.cfm [8] http://technologysource.org/article/maximizing_multimedia_for_training_purposes/ [9] http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art1_3.htm [10] Infosys internal documents

137