A training program for online learning support staff for housewives, baby boomers, and other people with work experience
A training program for online learning support staff for housewives, baby boomers, and other people with work experience
*This initiative was carried out at the Human Innovation Research Center (HiRC), Aoyama Gakuin University 's Organization for Social Collaboration, as a commissioned project by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology from 2008 to 2010, and has continued as an in-house project since then.
Program Overview
This project develops and provides an educational program to train online learning supporters (e-mentors) who will be responsible for supporting learning through online communication in distance education using ICT such as e-learning. The main participants are expected to be baby boomers who have retired from companies and housewives who have temporarily left the workforce due to childbirth and child-rearing.
As long as there is an internet connection, e-mentors can work anywhere, and there is a growing social need for this type of occupation to lead education using ICT to success. Participants are expected to write action plans for specific activities in situations where activity guidelines for learning support are presented, and to become able to carry out basic online learning support activities.
Program implementation report
This project aims to support reskilling for working adults by providing educational programs that meet the needs of both participants and society. Therefore, we are developing content, training, and tests aimed at helping participants acquire practical skills that will contribute to their re-employment.
Specifically, we combine e-learning for acquiring fundamental knowledge with face-to-face training for acquiring practical skills, aiming to enhance convenience for participants while guaranteeing results that are useful in their work. The training process begins with a simple skills check test to confirm the minimum required PC skill level. Those who pass receive an orientation on the systems and programs used. Following this, e-learning and face-to-face training are provided alternately to enhance learning effectiveness. Finally, a completion test is administered to guarantee results (see diagram).
This program, organized by HiRC, is equivalent to an extension program for working professionals. It incorporates the content of regular courses related to learning support offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as the Aoyama Gakuin University 's research findings on e-mentoring, resulting in a highly regarded and socially recognized educational service. Therefore, it offers a more comprehensive service compared to other extension programs.
Program Outcomes
Online learning supporters (mentors) are still in their infancy, and are not very well known at present. For this reason, we have made it possible for the "eLP Tutor" qualification, which is related to learning support and is among the e-learning professional qualifications offered by the Japan e-Learning Consortium (abbreviated as eLC), a non-profit organization, to be mutually certified. In addition, we have received cooperation from external cooperation organizations, companies, chambers of commerce, etc. in implementing and evaluating this project.
Over the two years, the course has produced over 140 graduates (who received certificates of completion from HiRC), of which approximately 17% became eLP tutors. In addition, approximately 28% of the graduates have found full-time or part-time employment and are active as online learners, achieving the goal of the business of re-education for working adults. In Japan, there were almost no learners who had systematically acquired knowledge and skills related to online learning support, so the significance of this business is extremely great.