An analysis of online and blended learning environments : measuring approach and learning outcomes in corporate settings

Organizations use training as an investment with the desirable end goal of gaining a valuable employee, despite cost and time constraints on their organization. This review investigates how e-Learning and blended learning training methods are currently used in organizations. It measures the Return-On-Investment of e-Learning and blended learning training methods within corporate learning environments and examines means to improve learning outcomes for learners and the organization. For this review, peer-reviewed journals were evaluated to analyze e-Learning and blended learning methods and outcomes. Conclusions reveal that both e-Learning and blended learning training models are being successfully used in corporate training modules. Factors such as development costs, training time, and course design will affect learner outcome and productivity and profitability for organizations. Additional research is needed to verify long term ROI for organizations using online or blended learning methods for means of training

Ethernet - a survey on its fields of application

During the last decades, Ethernet progressively became the most widely used local area networking (LAN) technology. Apart from LAN installations, Ethernet became also attractive for many other fields of application, ranging from industry to avionics, telecommunication, and multimedia. The expanded application of this technology is mainly due to its significant assets like reduced cost, backward-compatibility, flexibility, and expandability. However, this new trend raises some problems concerning the services of the protocol and the requirements for each application. Therefore, specific adaptations prove essential to integrate this communication technology in each field of application. Our primary objective is to show how Ethernet has been enhanced to comply with the specific requirements of several application fields, particularly in transport, embedded and multimedia contexts. The paper first describes the common Ethernet LAN technology and highlights its main features. It reviews the most important specific Ethernet versions with respect to each application field’s requirements. Finally, we compare these different fields of application and we particularly focus on the fundamental concepts and the quality of service capabilities of each proposal

3D virtual environments and corporate learning:An empirical investigation of benefits

Organizations invest significant resources in learning and development (L&D) to both enhance and protect their human capital. As such, they continue to search for innovative design and delivery approaches that are both cost efficient and learning effective. In this article, we consider one organization’s use of a 3D virtual environment (VE) to bring a managerial and leadership development program, informed by collaborative learning principles, to globally distributed participants. To date, there is little empirical evidence that attests to the specific learning benefits of a VE, that is, benefits that derive from distinguishing features such as presence (i.e., the sense of ‘being there’ in the VE). Given this, and drawing from prior research, we develop and empirically test a model that examines the relationships among organizational participants’ perceptions of presence, teamwork quality and outcomes. Our results provide important insights into the mechanisms underlying L&D processes and outcomes in VEs

Instant Messaging and Employee\u27s Performance: A Text Mining Approach

The adoption of Instant Messaging (IM) applications in the workplace remains contentious due to difficulties in adequately quantifying organizational benefits and how it affects individual performance. Previous research on the impact of IM usage on employee performance has been limited to analyzing primary data (i.e., survey methods), making it difficult to extrapolate the findings to a constantly changing workplace. In contrast, we investigate the relationships between these individuals\u27 IM usage at the workplace and their primary assessment metric in their organization, performance evaluation, using longitudinal data of employees\u27 IM activities and their performance evaluation collected from a US Fortune 500 financial company. Using cutting-edge text-mining techniques, we identify the primary purposes of IM utilization in organizations and assess the impact of those attributes on employee performance. Our findings show that IM in the workplace can improve team communication, knowledge-sharing experience, and social networking among employees, but it can also be disruptive. However, the combined effect of team communication and knowledge sharing on employee performance can overshadow the negative impact of IM interruption on employee performance

E-training Environment for Developing Capstone Teaching Skills for STEM Teachers in Egypt

The research investigated the effectiveness of using an E-training environment in developing Capstone teaching skills among STEM teachers. To achieve the aim of the research, the researchers applied the one groups' quasi-experimental design and utilized three instruments as follows;1) list of the Capstone teaching skills; 2) Pre-Post achievement test developed by the researcher and implemented before and after applying the training content; 3) The observation card to observe acquiring the Capstone teaching skills  determined by the researcher and they are two main fields of the needed skills, (EDP Field, and Process management field) comprising eight (8) main skills that are subdivided into sixty four (64) subskills required for the STEM teachers, after applying the training content through the E-training environment. The participants were chosen randomly (N=27) at Obour STEM School Cairo Governorate, Egypt. the researchers selected the quasi-experimental design in terms of the research population, the sample of the research, is one experimental group, and the methodology of the research. The researchers relied on pre-and post-testing procedures applied on the research group, the first test has been posted to the trainees after collecting their responses on the training needs survey or a questionnaire that included 68 questions to identify their needs, the pre-test comprises 70 questions about the 64 sub-skill, then after that the training needs have been determined based on the pre-test results, through a month the training has been held Online on the Microsoft Teams as a main platform, by the end of the training sessions, the trainees have been asked to solve the post-test which is reapplied once again after another month .Therefore, the current research attempted to investigate the effectiveness of using the E-Training environment based on the SOLE technique as (the independent variable) in developing the Capstone teaching  skills as (the dependent variable) among STEM teachers. Quantitative results showed that There is statistically significant difference at the level of (a<=0.05) between the pre-test and post- achievement test of the experimental group on developing Capstone teaching achievement of STEM teachers in favor of the post -test. And also, there is statistically significant difference at the level of (a<=0.05) between the pre-test and post- observation card of the experimental group on developing Capstone teaching skills of STEM teachers in favor of the post -test. So, the researchers recommended employing the E-Training environment based on the SOLE technique in developing the Capstone teaching skills among STEM teachers in Egypt

Video Collaboration: Copresence and Performance

The purpose of this qualitative narrative theory study on video collaboration platform use is to explain how an individual\u27s on-screen performance and their interpersonal verbal and nonverbal communication contributes to engagement and copresence with their audience. The literature review analyzes critical interpersonal communication theories to explain how this affects engagement and copresence levels in mediated virtual environments. The research was conducted through interviews with thirty professional businesspeople about their video collaboration experiences during the COVID-19 2020 shutdown. The interview respondents told the stories of business communication successes and failures that correspond to the scholarly theories in the literature review. The respondents discussed how verbal and nonverbal communication was used successfully and unsuccessfully. They also discussed why their companies found it challenging to communicate virtually during the COVID-19 shutdown with video collaboration. A final discussion analyzes how communication theory and practical experience combined to explain how verbal and nonverbal communication impact mediated virtual communications when using video collaboration. This study offers a model to help explain how interpersonal communication, engagement, and copresence exist in a cyclical motion. This model can be helpful to business people and scholars to communicate in a mediated virtual environment using video collaboration platforms