Online Learning Technology in an SME Work-Based Setting

Over the last 20 years there has been increasing interest in work-based learning in the UK business sector as a means to improve and increase the skills of the UK workforce. The motivation is to assist the development of a highly competitive national economy within the global marketplace. Allied to this is the increasing belief that Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) can deliver effective learning to the workplace via Web-based courses and the Internet. The aim of this investigation was to provide a case study of a work-based online learning experience in a medium-sized enterprise in the engineering sector of the Scottish economy. The firm had sponsored approximately 50 employees to study the Finance Module of the Certificate in SME Management (CSMEM) that was provided in online format by the University of Stirling, Scotland. The findings highlight key issues in regards to how, what, where and when the employees of the organisation wanted to learn at work. The investigation also identified a range of issues, such as time/workload pressures, the operational culture of the company, learning preferences of participants and technology concerns that impacted upon their workplace learning experience.