Interactive Learning in Workplace Training

Background

Supporting the knowledge and performance of workers in modern job environments has become an increasingly complex, time-consuming, and costly task due to rapid changes in business activities. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and will continue to double every 18 months, according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD) (Gonzalez, 2004). During the previous 300 years, a person had been considered educated if they had a prescribed stock of formal knowledge. Today, however, because of the exponential growth in available information, a person is considered educated if they have learned how to learn and continue to learn (Drucker, 1994, p. 8). As recently as five decades ago, a man could learn how to drive a tractor and have that job skill remain useful for 40 years or more. Now a person learns how to use a software program and can use the skill for probably 18 months (Moe & Blodgett, 2000, p. 228). Therefore, in this century, individuals have to remain open to new knowledge and developments and need to search for and read information to remain up-to-date (Kawase, Herder, & Nejdl, 2009).