Digital Training Platforms: The Tip of the Iceberg, a Maze … or an Archipelago?

“DIGITAL TRAINING PLATFORMS:

The Tip of the Iceberg, a Maze … or an Archipelago?”

By Claire Mazuhelli // Freelance Writer

Over time, through his reflections and given the diversity and large number of digital training platforms, Daniel Baril wondered if these resources were only the tip of the iceberg or if they were more like a maze in which learners had to find the breadcrumb trail to reach their destination. In the end, Mr. Baril concluded that digital training platforms are like archipelagos, made up of thousands of different “islands” and offering multiple possibilities. It’s up to learners to find a way to navigate between these “islands” in order to find the one that best suits them … a task that is not as easy as it seems.

We had the opportunity to speak with Daniel Baril, Executive Director of the Institut de coopération pour l’éducation des adultes (ICÉA), during an interview on February 8, 2021. He shared his observations on his research following a fiveyear strategic planning process initiated by the ICÉA in 2015.

As part of his work, Mr. Baril read through the ICÉA’s 70 annual reports, noting that in the 1960s and 1970s, the ICÉA was at the forefront of adult education, focusing on the issues facing the emerging community sector and the public education system. During the 1970s and 1980s, the focus shifted to computer science, which became increasingly important. The question underlying his research is: which area will the ICÉA focus on going forward? In his research, he also attempted to identify current major trends, the elements shaping the adult education environment and the ICÉA's role within it, by identifying strategic intervention areas based on the organization’s mandate.

While researching these new trends, one aspect immediately became clear to Mr. Baril: the use of digital training platforms. These platforms have the potential to transform not only approaches to adult education, but also the way in which adults learn. This is a brand new area, made up of multiple private and public platforms, free or not, operating by monthly subscription and allowing access to all courses in the catalogue, through agreements with companies where learners can choose courses, programs or topics of interest. These companies are designing new models for pedagogy and defining how training is structured.

It is a very different reality from classroombased and public sector training, which is structured around preestablished courses and programs. In particular, the emphasis is put on personalized and individualized pedagogical models that are literally integrated into people’s daily lives, through applications that send alerts and suggestions to users. According to Mr. Baril, there are two parallel worlds: the one we know the adult education world familiar to us, and the other, this emerging world that does not interact with the latter.

It is interesting to note that there is little impact on Francophones, given that almost all content is in English. One exception is universities, which are in some ways competitors. In Quebec, there is now a platform called ChallengeU1 that allows students to finish high school using their telephone! However, in the short or medium term, this situation will change with the technological advances to come.

There are countless examples of platforms. Major companies, such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft and many others, are now active in the EdTech sphere. One example is YouTube, an online video hosting and distribution service that includes social features for sharing and commenting content.2 YouTube executives estimate that a billion educational tutorials are downloaded daily worldwide. As a result, they have created a financing fund to support the production and creation of educational tutorials3 (e.g., to explain how Zoom works).

Recently, Mr. Baril discovered a new partnership between edX,4 a university consortium offering online training, and Microsoft Viva.5 Indeed, edX will be integrated into Microsoft Teams and its course content will be available to all employees of companies that use it.

Around the world, and particularly in Asia, these platforms are undergoing phenomenal development. Mr. Baril points out that Amazon entered this market to test training services in India, in light of the potential customer base. It’s clear that in this new world, the market is huge and extremely lucrative.

In this day and age, learning to learn is no longer enough! Learners now have to take charge of their learning journey and become independent in this world where places and knowledge are unlimited. Schools do not guide us in this sense. It is important to note that these platforms frequently target the individual and not the community, based on employability in sectors of the future. And as we have seen since the beginning of the pandemic, employability is not the only criterion, as health skills and financial literacy, among others, also help us get through a crisis. Mr. Baril notes that since the beginning of the pandemic, three main course streams have been offered: computer programming, management and wellness. Moreover, the government’s response to the pandemic has put a burden of knowledge on adults, who are expected to follow instructions, find information, learn new skills, etc. In a sense, the government is nationalizing the knowledge requirements but is privatizing the way to meet them. In short, individualized responses have been provided to address the learning needs that were collectively expressed.

In another sense, this world raises its own set of questions and reflections. Historically, the fundamental mission of adult education has been to reduce educational inequalities. Yet, these platforms increase these inequalities by being more easily available to privileged persons, who already understand the complexity of technologies. This brings us back to the major debates of the past: how do we ensure that technology is available to minority groups?

And if these infrastructures benefit privileged people, how can we turn them into a public good? How do we analyze the question of the common good versus the public good, and what are the roles of the government, the private sector, etc.? What are the implications for the established adult education sector? According to Mr. Baril, the market will not turn to literacy because it’s not a profitable area of investment for them.

However, all these technologies can be used for the common good (e.g., Wikipedia, which is free, where specialists share their knowledge). Mr. Baril’s key message is: “We now have all the means at our disposal ... technological and pedagogical, to meet everyone’s needs. The issue is not the means themselves but, from a political perspective, what we do with those means and how we mobilize and harness them for the benefit of everyone." [translation of original French]6 t

1 https://www.challengeu.ca/ [Available in French only] 2 https://edshelf.com/tool/youtube-edu/ 3 https://www.futura-sciences.com/tech/definitions/internet-youtube-16495/ [Available in French only] 4 https://www.edx.org/school/microsoft 5 https://press.edx.org/edx-microsoft-viva 6 Interview with Daniel Baril, ICÉA, February 8, 2021