Evaluation of Technology-Based Learning Grants: Final Report

"Technology-Based Learning (TBL) programs were designed with many interrelated interests and considerations in mind. A primary consideration was to meet industry needs—specifically to provide targeted industries with sufficient numbers of trained workers in targeted occupations. Grantees also considered the expressed needs of employers in these industries, creating TBL programs with relatively short durations and offering courses that did not require workers to be offsite during work hours. This final report...presents findings based on all data collected during the first two years of the grants and focuses on program design, training methods, and partnerships. It also provides a brief discussion of preliminary outcomes and lessons learned that have emerged from the implementation of the programs," (ES, p.2-3). (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

Involving employers and Workforce Investment Board (WIB) partners in TBL program design and development appears to ensure that programs will be aligned with industry needs. Program planners need to keep the technological capacity of their target groups in mind when they design their programs. Employing instructional designers or partnering/contracting with organizations with experience using TBL methods aids the curricula development process. Using existing curricula can speed up the design process, but it may also pose problems in program implementation. Piloting or testing new curricula is critical to smooth implementation. Online and asynchronous approaches are critical in allowing participants to overcome training barriers related to time, transit, and distance, but they generate various challenges. For some participants, at least, asynchronous online materials provide improved opportunities for content mastery. TBL methods pose threats to academic integrity that must be mitigated. To deal with these threats, programs used a variety of methods: they required participants to take tests in person; they timed online tests; they did not allow participants to return to a question once it was answered; and they used randomized banks of questions to create customized individual tests. (p.10-12)(Abstractor: Author, Website Staff) More detailed descriptions of these and other lessons learned can be found on pages 111-119.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2011
• Author(s): Dunham, Kate; Estrella, Rachel; Leufgen, Jill; Henderson-Frakes, Jennifer
• Organizational Author(s): Social Policy Research Associates
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Melissa Mack
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies