Sections 5: Trends & Issues

Chapters in Section V identify trends and issues in IDT in various contexts: business & industry;
military; health care education; P-12 education; and post-secondary education. Select at least 3
of these 5 contexts and compare/contrast the IDT trends and issues.

The three contexts that I will compare/contrast are Military Education and Training, Health Care Education and P-12 Technology Integration.

Culture

I happen to have some experience with Military Training as I spent 3 years in the U.S. Navy.  The trends and issues listed in the chapter were familiar with the environment remembered 20 years ago.  The culture of the Navy was that training was very much part of the job.  Although being part of the air wing where there was a day to day business as opposed to a combat type of job where the job is mainly training, we were expected to study on procedures and take on new jobs until we were familiar enough to train the next person coming into the shop.    Procedures and Troubleshooting steps were well documented and we were rewarded for following the rules and order.

The Health Care industry has a culture similar to the Military in that education is an on the job prospect.  Naturally there is extensive training that takes place before attaining a license to practice, but the training seems to come from those within the profession.

The P-12 Technology Integration culture is mostly about educating the students by using methods that are proven.   Professionals in education are encouraged to continue personal education and will attend seminars, training sessions and online sessions which meet the CE requirements.  The students are rapidly approaching if not surpassing the teachers with computer and device literacy which presents a new challenge for teachers. It seems that the teachers are catching up to integrate technology but it has not been too long ago that newer web sites and infrastructure have come of age.   The challenge is how to evaluate the tools and technologies available to the classroom to encourage meaningful learning.

Technology

The military will need a range of technology solutions depending on the situation.  The situation might require a paper job aid or something as complex and expensive as a flight or fighting simulator.

The health care industry will likely use multimedia solutions to be able to visualize parts of the body or things that are too small for the eye to see.  Simulations, dummies and even actors are also part of the technology that might be used for this context.

The P-12 environment is mainly about the internet, software, computers and tablets and possibly devices. This context is mainly considering the typical classrooms, however other specialty classes such as technology, tv and radio media, and even choir/drama might use technology in ways it has not before.  The use of the internet to leverage the social networks and collective information is becoming more and more part of the classroom.

Costs

The costs of ID for the military context is much like you would expect with governmental oversight.  While it can be lucrative, it has it's own issues to deal with.  Many trade off decisions must be made regarding low-tech to high-tech solutions for training.   The scope of training can also be a factor, however the military tends to offset the training costs by creating train the trainer roles.

Health care costs are rising and thus causing more pressure to reduce costs.   The more complicated the "dummies" and other simulations, the more costly the training will become on the budgets.

 Then explain how they are
similar or different from the IDT trends and issues in the context in which you work

I currently work in the business sector.   Training is helpful, but not always considered a necessity.  In the IT world, if there is a new product being supported, then comprehensive training is provided normally on the front end of the process and future team members may or may not be sent offsite for training.  If they do, it will likely be off site unless enough participants are available onsite and it is cost effective.
Managers like to know exactly what will be trained and they may decide to snip certain sections to reduce the amount of money spent to a trainer to be on-site.   There is a deep desire to know exactly what will be delivered in training and if it seems that the manuals or online training can accomplish the same task, they will generally opt for the cheaper solution.  Employees are expected to read up on changes in their field and know how to find answers to problems in an informal manner.

Technology in business education is generally using the existing tools (computer/internet/etc).  In the case of attending training offsite, whatever the trainer provides will be the technology utilized.

The cost of training always relates to return on investment.  If managers cannot see how they will gain from the training dollar, it will not typically be spent.