A valuable lesson

Training and education establishments may have helped to conceptualised e-learning, but early use of the internet lacked any real educational value, offering little more than on-line enrolment and lists of available courses.

It has quickly matured into a thriving industry and one that may help drive the success of streaming media technology. Corporates are beginning to realise the true value of e-learning - not only in terms of human resources development but in streamlining the whole information dissemination process.

But getting the right solution for the job is not always easy. Many businesses approach e-learning as an alternative to other training and communication methods. This is wrong says Robin Hoyle, chief learning architect, at customer content provider, ebc. 'We're now learning from the mistakes of the early adopters,' he says. 'They thought that e-learning could be used as a complete replacement for traditional methods.' There are a number of reasons why this is not the case.

Firstly, Hoyle says, businesses have to consider the global platform and infrastructure already available. They may have a fast and permanent internet connection in one part of the world but not in another. PC platforms in one country may be a higher specification than in elsewhere. Will they design for the lowest specification and lose out on the potential of the higher spec platform? Or, will they deliver training solutions based on the highest specification at the risk of their being compromised at the lower end? As far as streaming content is concerned, bandwidth may also be a problem.

Another potential drawback has to do with the working environment. Many businesses function in open plan offices, where noise is a problem. 'I've seen some businesses where sound card functionality has been disabled,' says Hoyle. 'The power of e-learning is to deliver a multimedia solution but this will be severely compromised if used on a PC without a soundcard.'

The advice is that businesses serious about developing e-learning systems should look at providing specific learning areas such as kiosks with headphones or language lab-style quiet rooms.

One of the myths about e-learning is that it provides an anywhere, anytime solution and that learners welcome the concept because it enables them to study in their own time, at home. This may be so, in the case of a student studying a course or subject of their own choosing, but many of the early adopters found that people where reluctant to study work-related material in their own time. Similarly, the belief was that e-learning would enable staff to study the latest product information, for example, at their desks, but this has not been the case because of the work environment problems already highlighted.

There are other issues to do with technology and the limits of the internet. These are particularly relevant when streaming anything other than audio. 'Streaming is becoming more popular because it helps to meet people's expectations, which have been formed whilst using multimedia solutions presented on CDRom,' remarked Hoyle.

Current bandwidth limitations make it difficult to stream video. But streaming audio is easier and this can help to boost the learner's experience in terms of processing information. So, content providers like ebc are looking at faster visual delivery such as animation and flash graphics. But even this can be slow on a low-specification PC.

So, what about content? There are many organisations around the world that provide on-line content. In fact, content and information is so integral a part of any organisation's intellectual property and assets that most businesses are trying to capitalise on it.

For corporates wanting to build e-learning packages, they can do it in-house, if they have to technical skills and expertise. Sun Microsystems has done this and set up a virtual university offering a self-paced learning opportunity for anyone wanting accreditation in Solaris administration or Java programming.

'If it's media rich, it will slow things down so we would advise burning it onto a CD rather than streaming,' says Hoyle. But simpler content with live audio can be streamed. Compression technology has made significant improvements in the last couple of years. If content is volatile i.e. prone to frequent change and updates, it is best stored on the internet as it can be manipulated, updated and accessed far quicker.

The cost of an e-learning package is based on price per hour of learning (the ratio is 60-80 screens to one hour of learning). A company would have to pay a custom content provider £15,000 - £25,000 per e-learning hour provided. But then there are other costs, such as voice-overs, the production of video content (if the company doesn't already have any library footage), and the interface (if they don't already have a web site or intranet), to consider.

As far as streaming is concerned, the best method for video is to store it as near to the viewer as possible and stream over ISDN or ADSL. This isn't always possible, however, as many businesses don't have either. And it's expensive to run multiple streams at different times to a number of learners. A less expensive option may be to herd everyone into one room and run the session like a video conference.

To deal with the shortcomings of low bandwidth, ebc has devised a way of harnessing the processing power of the PC to speed up downloads. Chris Mayers, technical director, explains. 'Bandwidth is all about making the best of what you've got. Normally, when you're viewing a web page, the PC processor is idle, which is why they sometimes crash.'

ebc uses a structured relational database and a MacroMedia flash engine. Navigation uses data transfer protocol and the page is built dynamically instead of being hard-coded. An element in the engine, which contains some code, is downloaded and uses the power of the PC to rebuild the page.

'Using this method we can enable 25-30Kbits of data to be downsized to less than 5K. So, instead of taking minutes to download, it takes seconds,' says Mayers.

E-learning initiatives like this are pushing ahead the acceptance of streaming media as a useful tool in the corporate environment. Will these applications aid the solving of bandwidth issues? Unlikely. But as streaming media technology continues to save businesses money and improve workforce efficiency in these economically difficult times, it can only serve to improve its acceptance.