Page 166 - Introduction to Electronic Commerce and Social Commerce

5.2 E-Learning, E-Training, and E-Books 147

Figure 5.4 The Engkey—
Robot English teacher.
(Source: The Korea Advanced
Institute of Science and
Technology.) Used with
permission

top online MBA programs in the world, see onlinemba.com/ Online Corporate Training
rankings.
Like educational institutions, a large number of business
Innovations in E-Learning organizations are using e-learning on a large scale. Many
companies, such as Cisco Systems (cisco.com), offer online
There are many innovations in e-learning, one of which is training. A study by the American Society for Training and
shown in the following example. Development found that nearly one-third of corporate train-
ing content was delivered electronically.
Example: E-Learning via Robots Corporate training is driven by multiple factors and is
In December 2010, the city of Daegu in South Korea intro- often done via intranets and corporate portals. However, the
duced 29 robots into 19 elementary schools. Each robot, about students use the Internet as well. It has several variations,
3.2 feet tall, was designed to teach English to the students. one of which is on-demand online training, which is offered
Developed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology by software companies such as Citrix Systems (citrix.com).
(KIST), the robots roll around on wheels and ask questions in However, in large corporations with multiple sites, and for
English (see Figure 5.4). (For details, see cnet.com/news/ studies from home, the Internet is used to access the online
korean-schools-welcome-more-robot-teachers.) material. Vendors’ success stories of online training and edu-
The robots can be moved around the classroom by the cational materials can be found at adobe.com/resources/
instructor (via remote control), which facilitates the interac- elearning and at brightwave.co.uk. For a comprehensive
tion of teachers with students. The robots can read books to guide to online training, see Kaattari and Trottier (2012).
the students and even “dance” to music. The robots display
the face of a “teacher.” The tutoring is actually provided by Example: Dresser-Rand
experienced teachers in the Philippines, who are paid much Dresser-Rand is a global U.S. corporation that makes com-
less than Korean teachers. The robots are programed to use pression equipment. It has over 5500 employees in 50 differ-
the most effective and current teaching methods (e.g., using ent locations in 26 countries that speak 14 different languages.
multimedia games). The company needs to do extensive training due to growth
Cameras detect the Filipino teachers’ facial expressions and and employee retirement. Previously, the company used over
instantly reflect them on the robot’s avatar face. The students 600 training vendors to conduct training. A major challenge
participate more actively, especially the shy ones who are was the update of the teaching material due to technological
afraid of speaking out loud. The robots are also used in remote changes. Using the learning management system (LMS)
rural areas where English teachers are in short supply. from Coastal eLearning (training.dupont.com; now a part
For more examples on educational robotic teachers, see of DuPont Sustainable Solutions), the company deployed a
nytimes.com/2010/07/11/science/11robots.html? comprehensive online training program via Dresser-Rand
pagewanted=all&_r=0. For more on robotic telepresence University, saving over $1 million per year. To read the case
for distance education, watch the 2 min video and see the text study, see training.dupont.com/pdf/case- study/dresser-
at verizon.com/powerfulanswers/solutions/education. rand-v1211.pdf.