learning - Academic Conferences Limited

The use of Open Educational Resources in Intra-
Organisational eLearning and Continuing Education
Antonios Andreatos
Div. of Computer Engineering & Information Science, Hellenic Air Force
Academy, Dekeleia Air Force Base, Dekeleia, Greece
aandreatos@gmail.com
Abstract: Sustained learning is a crucial factor of an organisation’s ability to survive and effectively compete in
the globalisation era worldwide. Continually shrinking half-life periods of knowledge and fast changing globalised
workplaces, force employees working in knowledge-intensive companies to acquire new knowledge and skills for
life. The evolution of Web 2.0, the advantages and boom of New Media, the massive production of open
educational resources and globalisation, are bringing revolutionary changes to all forms of education: formal,
non-formal and informal. Thus, the need for continuing education and lifelong learning is obvious. Various
surveys performed worldwide show that university graduates are not well prepared for today's working
environment. Most important skills missing are related to the use of ICT and adoption of emerging technologies,
teamwork/ collaboration, creativity, innovation and change management, diversity and Leadership and
fundamentals of enterpreneurship. Thus, there is also a need for education of newcomers. The purpose of this
work is to examine the use of open educational resources in intra-organisational learning and to examine the
properties of Learning Objects such as their metadata, that will facilitate this task. More precisely, this paper
initially argues about the advantages of using open educational resources in eLearning and continuing education.
Prerequisites for selecting and combining external Learning Objects will be examined. Ways for externalising the
organisation's social capital in reusable Learning Objects appropriate for intra-organisational learning will be
proposed. The issue of certification of informally acquired knowledge and skills will be mentioned. The use of
open educational resources may enrich existing social capital and facilitate intra-organisational eLearning and
continuing education in a cost-effective way. For better results, a formal characterisation scheme of LOs, in the
form of a posteriori metadata, will greatly facilitate their organisation, search and retrieval process.
Keywords: open educational resources, learning objects, continuing education, metadata, intra-organisational
learning, social capital
1. Introduction
With financial conditions changing constantly and affecting every aspect of business activities,
declining resources and growing competition, modern businesses are faced with multiple problems on
all fronts. On the one hand they should be able to do more with less resources, and the other, they
have to plan and achieve goals faster, more efficiently and of higher quality than in the past. As a
consequence, work environments and conditions are continually changing.
Continually shrinking half-life periods of knowledge and ever changing workplaces, force employees
working in knowledge-intensive companies to acquire new knowledge and skills for life. These
professionals have to continually update their experiences and knowledge profile (Fonstad & Lanvin,
2010). Thus, sustained learning is a crucial factor of an organisation’s ability to survive and effectively
compete in the globalisation era (Burke et al., 2006).
In their effort to survive, organisations turn to ICT. Technologists invent and propose new solutions
promising to facilitate enterprises to reduce their working cost and increase their revenues, such as
Cloud Computing and Virtualization. The problem is that all these developments are ... new! Who will
design the plans, who will implement them and who will manage them? The answer is of course “the
business' people”, who should be trained not only effectively but also very quickly in their new tasks.
1.1 The missing skills - what surveys show
Various studies (Fonstad & Lanvin, 2010; Azami et al., 2009; Workforce Readiness Report, 2006;)
concerning three different regions of the World (Europe, Malaysia and USA respectively), state that
graduates are not well prepared for today's working environment.
According to Fonstad & Lanvin (2010), there is a shortage of key ICT skills in Europe. Most missing
skills are basic and professional skills as well as cross-sectoral skills (such as principles of economy
and entrepreneurship). It is anticipated that by 2015 the unfilled vacancies of ICT professionals will be
between 1.7% and 13%.
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