E-Learning and the Global Workforce

Abstract

Workplaces are transforming in the global age. Jobs are expanding and varying. Workers are more and more participating in a global workforce comprising people who are socially and demographically diverse, multicultural, multifaceted, and whose views on workplace priorities, accountabilities, performance, and productivity may be socially and culturally very different from one another. Ultimately, these trends infer that how workers are educated and trained in the workplace must also evolve to meet a dynamic cohort of employees with a progressively complex profile of learning needs. To make matters more interesting, one of the most noticeable trends in the workplace today is ‘e-learning,’ which is frequently upheld as the panacea for workplace adult education and training needs. This chapter is about e-learning, the global workforce, and their social and cultural implications for workplace adult education and training in the global age.

Towards More Socio-Culturally Sensitive Research and Study of Workplace E-Learning

“…Socio-culturally based taxonomies and frameworks for research and study of e-learning in the workplace are presented above, that map out a promising, socio-culturally sensitized agenda (Remtulla, 2007(Remtulla, , 2009(Remtulla, , 2010. This alternate approach thinks about workplace elearning using a democratic and emancipatory lens; gives voice to learners; acknowledges the socio-cultural complexities of epistemology, ontology and pedagogy in adult learning; sees e-learning in the workplace as more than just hardware and software; and finally, may lead to the development of more alternate approaches and methodologies for doing critical and emancipatory research on workplace e-learning for adult education and training in the workplace.…”

“…When it comes to a susceptibility to social change, the workplace is no different from broader society. Therefore, workplace e-learning outcomes for workplace adult education and training are also affected by social change (Remtulla, 2007;Webster-Wright, 2009).…”