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Council use of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and eLearning March 2015
Prepared by LGNSW Learning Solutions
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
2
About this Survey This survey was conducted by Learning Solutions to gather information from NSW councils about their use and experience with Learning Management Systems and eLearning. As eLearning is becoming an increasingly common mode of delivery for some training courses (either as stand-alone programs or as part of a blended learning program), LGNSW undertook this research to gauge the uptake of eLearning and to explore ways in which the Association could further assist its members with the adoption of eLearning. The survey received 44 responses, representing 29% of the 152 councils consulted. As shown in the table below, respondent councils were a mix of metropolitan and regional councils and most were of large or medium size. Approximately one-third of respondents did not identify themselves.
Respondent Councils
Metropolitan Regional Councils
Blacktown, Camden, Campbelltown, Gosford, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Kogarah, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith, Warringah, Woollahra and Wyong.
Albury, Gundagai, Inverell, Lismore, MidCoast Water, Newcastle, Port Macquarie Hastings, Queanbeyan, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Tweed, Warrumbungle, Wingecarribee, Wollongong, Yass Valley.
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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Use of Learning Management Systems
The type of Learning Management System was listed by 15 councils. These were:
Learning Seat (5), with one council using it for e-learning and Aurion HRIS for learning
data administration
Oracle (2)
Janison (2)
ELMO (1)
Authority HRIS (1)
Aurion (1)
Customised product (3)
0
10
20
30
Yes No
43%57%
Num
ber
of councils
Does your council have a LMS?
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
We haven't considered it
Lack of time
Lack of money
Still looking for a LMS
A LMS is not a priority
Other
Reasons for not using a LMS
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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Other reasons that were cited for not having a LMS related to:
Being in the process of assessing a system currently (2)
Poor timing, with new or pending managers and priorities
Lack of employee access to computers
Uncertainty about commitment to eLearning
Some of the comments that capture the broad use of the LMS are below:
We use LearningSeat for delivering e-learning and reporting on course completions Aurion HRIS is
used for administering the internal training calendar, employees registering to attend courses,
completing forms associated with Study Assistance, Reimbursement, External Training, Seminars
and Conferences, reporting on course attendance and other training metrics, performance
management and individual development plans.
Many and varied reports and sets of stats, collection of certificates and qualifications, production of
certificates, notification of refresher due dates, production of course attendance forms, generation
of restricted training days or periods, lists of qualification and certificate holders etc, etc
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Scheduling courses
Registering participants
Elearning delivery
Tracking progress
Reporting completions
Managing employee development plans
Other
What is your Learning Management System used for?
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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E-Learning in Councils
Success of eLearning
On a scale of 1 (extremely unsuccessful) to 10 (extremely successful), the eLearning
experience was given an average rating of 6.0 by respondents. Scores ranged from 1 to 9.
For most councils the experience has been mixed and in others it is early to gauge its success:
eLearning systems have been used for training on the MS Office Suite of products, ie Excel, Word
etc
Only just started using some programs
We have technical problems with the system which is a hindrance. Generally speaking take up of
new starters is quite good, it’s chasing those that drag the chain that is more of a concern
Some areas more useful than others
Staff complete mandatory training such as Code of Conduct, Child Protection, WHS, but do not
really use for professional development.
Lack of hardware and venues together with workforce workload.
Depending on the user, some do not like it as they feel it is childish, others enjoy it.
0
5
10
15
20
Not at all Occasionally Frequently Extensively
9 (21%)
20 (52%)
11 (26%)
0
Num
ber
of C
ouncils
Extent to which your Council has used eLearning programs
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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Factors contributing to the success or lack of success of eLearning
Twenty councils provided comments about the factors contributing to the success or otherwise,
of eLearning at their council. These comments are summarised in the table below.
Factors leading to success Factors contributing to lack of success
Access, digital literacy skills, quality of product Lack of IT infrastructure
Management support Staff appear to have a preference for face to
Face learning.
Access to IT resources Technical issues and more support from above
Comprehensive trialling and running a pilot
program
Development of eLearning modules takes too
long and no funds to buy them in
Staff who participated were highly motivated.
Also, suited their learning style and IT skill level.
Time. Also, current modules look and feel out-
dated and thus make them less engaging for
staff.
Comfort levels with eLearning Pressure to find a solution within an
unreasonable timeframe; lack of
expertise/honest and frank advice; assumptions
about expertise (ie IT person vouching for the
product when he clearly did not have a lot of
experience with LMS'); getting stuck with a
product that we then have to make work and the
huge amount of time we've expended in trying
to make the most of our investment.
Employees can undertake the training at a time
that is convenient to them. No travelling or
accommodation costs.
Lack of success - outdoor workers and childcare
not having access to mobile technology to
complete e-learning or time "off the floor" in
order to complete. This is the case of indoor
workers as well - often because managers do
not realise the staff have e-learning to complete,
the staff fail to allocate the time to complete their
training.
Success is based on easy access to learning
program. Challenge is changing habits from
face-to-face delivery to on-line learning.
Communication and engagement with staff,
monthly reporting to Directors.
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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Benefits and Challenges of eLearning
The primary benefits of eLearning were associated with reduced course delivery and ancillary
costs, although the most commonly nominated benefit was “greater flexibility around the time
and place of learning”.
The greatest challenges with eLearning related to employee reluctance to use eLearning (cited
most commonly as the top barrier) and the inadequate computer skills of employees. Staff
access to computers was also a major challenge, along with access to high quality eLearning
products within budget.
0 5 10 15 20 25
Reduced course delivery costs
Reduced ancillary costs
Greater flexibility around time and place
Better quality training
Greater access to training for more staff
Increased employee computer skills
Other
Top Three Benefits from eLearning
No. 1 benefit No. 2 benefit No. 3 benefit
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Employee reluctance to use eLearning
Inadequate computer skills
Problems sourcing high quality eLearning within…
Difficulties with staff accessing computers
Insufficient time allocated in work hours to eLearning
Technical difficulties
Lack of support from supplier of Elearning programs
Other
Top Three Challenges with eLearning
No. 1 Challenge No. 2 Challenge No. 3 Challenge
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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Some councils expanded upon the challenges they had faced:
1. Poor product 2. Poor resourcing post implementation resulting in "shovelware" (ie electronic
page turning) and inability to create quality e-learning 3. General lack of understanding about e-
learning - an LMS is simply one tool - even the best courseware is not "e-learning" per se.
Getting some traction for the idea that e-learning is much more complex (and worthwhile if you
invest/know what you're aiming for) is an ongoing issue.
Support from above in chasing outstanding
Source of eLearning Programs
Comments listed under “Other” included webinars (1)
What eLearning programs have you developed?
Topics most commonly developed by the 16 respondent councils related to INDUCTION and
WHS, IT and other areas of COMPLIANCE training. The full list of topics is below.
Inductions, compliance training and some regulatory refreshers
Working near overhead power lines, Backhoe operations competencies
Trim, Induction, Bully Free,
1 for Child Care on Curriculum Development
1 for Curriculum Development for Early Childhood Education & Care.
Induction before start date, WHS inductions, Code of Conduct refresher
Orientation, EEO, code of conduct, WHS, Sun Heat and Sharps Awareness
Use of computer applications
IT induction
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Developed ownprograms in-house
Worked withexternal providerto develop own
programs
Purchasedprograms
Other
13
5
16
3
Where did you source your eLearning programs?
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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Too many to mention, some examples: Access & Equity, Various WHS programs, Intro to Recruitment
Child Protection, Code of Conduct, Recruitment and Selection, GIPA, Staff Induction, WHS
Code of Conduct, EEO, Privacy & GIPA
Conflicts of Interest, Enterprise Wide Risk Management, Information Management Business Rules, Gifts and Benefits Customer Service at Council, Manual Task Awareness, Government Info (Public Access) Act 2009, Privacy & Personal Info Protection Act (PPIPA), SPMAS, Workstation Self-Assessment, Sun Protection, Positive Working Relationships (Refresher), Enterprise Wide Risk Management 2014, 2014 CCTV Policy and Procedure
Induction, recruitment and some systems training
Discrimination - Something to think about Emergency Preparedness,WHS Induction
Induction program and policy and procedural roll out.
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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ELearning in the Future
Topics of interest in the future
Other Topics listed by councils were:
Plain English Writing; performance management; the disciplinary process; merit based
selection; behavioural based interviewing; and the list goes on
Induction. Training for Customer Service Officers on process and procedure. That's the start.
TRIM, TechOne
All soft skills - to be used in blended learning strategies
PID
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
Yes No Unsure
78.40%
2.70%
18.90%
Do you intend to use eLearning programs in the future?(37 responses)
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0%
Intro to local govt
Code of Conduct
Bullying and harassment
Alcohol and other drugs
EEO
WHS for managers & supervisors
WHS for staff
Other
What future eLearning topics would be of interest to you?(35 responses)
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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All topics are of interest in theory. Not sure that generic courseware is the answer though. Not
even sure that courseware is of that much value in an environment where "e-learning" is now
so much more than just content delivered by LMS.
Manual Handling for Indoor Staff, Word/Excel/PowerPoint ‘How to….’
Regional Collaboration
The following comments were provided by councils:
Launched Learning Seat as e-Quip across 5 Councils in mid north coast
More information on systems and processes that worked or didn't.
Good progress to selecting appropriate LMS given their experience
Still exploring
No but would be interested in pursuing
Campbelltown has introduced a very basic online induction program.
Visited a neighbouring Council to look at their LMS as part of initial research.
Only preliminary discussions have been held.
We have talked to providers about a ROC resource situation but nothing has come of it
The eLearning platform we use is a shared resource between 6 MIDROC councils
Initial investigation stage
Further assistance that could be provided by LGNSW
Responses focused on:
Facilitation of information sharing amongst councils
Development of a common LMS platform
Development of sector-endorsed eLearning programs
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
60.0%
70.0%
Yes No Don't know
25.0%
65.6%
9.4%
Have you explored eLearning and LMS options with other councils in your region?
Use of LMS and eLearning by councils
March 2015
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Individual council responses are listed below.
At this stage for Hawkesbury it would be organisations that provide a range of quality eLearning solutions. Topics that we have considered eLearning are around Code of Conduct (Governance, Privacy etc)
reasonable cost for courses - currently cheaper to develop our own than use yours - due to the pay per person cost structure
Have courseware set up so that Councils can "borrow" the e-learning programs and they tailor into the standard HRIS/Recordkeeping systems that Councils use.
Not sure at this stage
An overview/summary of which LMSs are working for Councils (and which are not) and reasons why. Benefits/improvements those Councils have seen/achieved
Recommendations for systems that work within LG, assistance in setting up the modules??
Everything
Provide details of elearning that's successful in other Councils.
If you've got information on TRIM and/ or TechOne modules + the usefulness/ best LMS's, that would be great.
Publish the results of this survey (including lessons learnt by other councils - providers, challenges and how to overcome them, hindsight).
Development of a platform to access elearning programs.
The development of specialised training packages at a reasonable price. It appears that many companies want to sell their E Learning systems rather than appropriate training packages. To us the training modules are far more important than the systems for recording who has completed what training?
Any information is appreciated
None
It would be great to have one standard eLearning and Learning Management System that could be used by all Councils similar to how HR Advance has been used as a great tool in HR.
Developing a core set of eLearning modules for topics where vendors do not provide a standard solution, e.g. Code of Conduct. It would be critical that such modules be strongly endorsed by LGNSW in order to support pushing them through Council & Legal Services who seem to believe that every council requires a bespoke module.
It's a huge area - not even sure where to start. In my view the biggest problem is finding people who know what they're talking about. I spent 12 years in the e-learning space and I feel frustration at the lack of innovation and genuine expertise/experience organisations have about e-learning. Ditto "consultants" - many of them are just marginally ahead of organisations in their understanding of e-learning. I'm not sure that "courses" by LGNSW would help or be useful - it's the sort of thing that really needs a community of practice/project approach over a period of time. It's like saying "What assistance could LGNSW provide re safety?" It's a big question.
Information on what's available for LG in eLearning modules. Any information on LMS being used in LG.
A common introduction to local government e-learning course that is SCORM compliant so we can import into our e-learning course and link to our other induction courses. Potential shared services for a LMS?