PC-based virtual reality training is typically cheaper than face-to-face sessions with a mentor or

coach. As the recent Hollywood blockbuster Up in the Air showed, multiple members of staff
can be trained by practising various scenarios in a virtual reality environment without having to
leave their desks.

With businesses continually seeking to curb costs, more and more companies may follow the
example of George Clooney's fictitious employer, Career Transition Counselling, and use
simulators to train their employees. But virtual reality training tools are seldom as effective as
working with a real person because the simulation package cannot respond to trainees' past
experiences or preconceptions. For example, software designed to help managers conduct job
interviews may include a number of different simulated scenarios that appear true to life.
However, if the trainee is consistently hostile to the virtual interviewee or overly sympathetic,
the system will not flag this up or suggest they try an alternative approach.

Researchers working on the ImREAL project are hoping to plug this gap between the 'real-world'
and the 'virtual-world' to create a simulated learning environment that responds to users'
behaviour and adapts accordingly. The project is involving seven partners from six European
countries, including Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.

"Training often suffers when there are budget cuts, but having a highly-trained workforce can
help companies get through difficult periods, so cutting or restricting training can be a false
economy," said the project's coordinator, Dr Vania Dimitrova from the University of Leeds'
School of Computing. "Simulated environments provide a cost-effective alternative to standard
face-to-face training, but they need to incorporate the cognitive, social and emotional aspects of
the activities that are being modelled. With the tool we are creating, we will close the gap
between the simulated experience and the 'real-world' experience."

IBM
"I wish I could take this class, but I can't take three days off or travel." "Can you run these
workshops on-site or locally?" "Can you find a way to offer this course online?"

These are typical questions from busy people with regard to conventional, classroom training.
Most appreciate the advantages of face-to-face classes, including hands-on engagement, a
targeted curriculum, and group collaboration. Online learning by comparison is usually a solo
experience, with largely static content and fewer opportunities for collaboration and teamwork.

Model-Driven Systems Development (MDSD), formerly called IBM Rational Unified Process
for Systems Engineering® (RUP®-SE), has been practiced by the Rational team for a number of
years. MDSD is a method for managing the complexity of software-intensive systems, whether
they be aircraft, satellites, IT networks, or complex software applications. The heart of this
method is a technique for modeling systems-of-systems using use cases and use case flowdown,
together with multiple models of the application architecture. These models provide a way to
reason about important system concerns before the system is designed and built, and thus offer
powerful tools for the systems engineer.

These techniques have proved to be effective and successful -- even revolutionary -- in large
client engagements in aerospace and defense, automotive systems, and large-scale application
development programs and projects.

In 2004 a course on MDSD was created to help with the initial training of interested clients.
Since then the material has evolved and been updated to reflect new thoughts and ideas gained
from actual practice with clients. By all accounts the course has worked well.

The format of this training is three fairly intense days of learning and exercises in a workshop
setting. Customers like this because the workshops can be about their own projects and involve
their own teams in hands-on collaboration exercises. But what about those who couldn’t
attend in person for whatever reason? They were out-of-luck.

Meanwhile, over the last couple of years many in IBM have asked if the training could be run in
their local area so they could attend. The problem was that only a few experts could deliver the
course, and they were usually busy working with customers.

At the same time, IBM continues to face the realities of being a successful, competitive global
business that must provide real solutions to its customers in response to market pressures. With
regard to its face-to-face training courses, enablement challenges such as the following are
increasingly relevant:

• Effectiveness of enablement. Like all companies, IBM needs to do more with less -- such
as building the right skills portfolio, maximizing our investments in relevant skills, and
maximizing time spent with customers (as opposed to being off at a training).
• Silos of intellectual capital development. We discovered numerous redundant or
overlapping intellectual capital development efforts across our organization. Acquisitions
have made this even more of a challenge as we integrate new organizations.
• Expense pressures. Like most companies, we've experienced increased pressure to
minimize expenses associated with travel and living costs for training. We also now need
to show a higher return on investment than we had generally experienced from traditional
training methods.1
• Now, everything didn't go perfectly. Connections were lost, the Web conference froze at
important times, people got dropped from the conference call, and so on. But the team
was prepared. For example, a second person was ready to share the slides if the presenter
somehow lost connection, and a backup Web conference was ready if the one to be used
had a problem. I think we ended up using all of our various backup contingencies at some
point. But people went with the flow, and no one let those issues disrupt the class.
• Given this success, the possibilities are now opened up for more such classes. We're
making use of something called the Learning Portal within IBM to facilitate better
production and reuse of these types of classes. In fact, several classes like the MDSD
virtual Master Class are going on right now and are making use of the Learning Portal
and other captured experience.
 • Some "Best Practices" were captured, both from ideas going into the course as well as
lessons learned during the execution of the course. Practices such as having a lively and
engaging instructor become more important in this format -- even having a couple of
instructors can be useful for making things more interesting. Other practices include
taking participation seriously and keeping track of those who actually participate, as well
as using technology to "engage" the participants so that they're not distracted. Using a
tablet PC and drawing on the slides or whiteboard while lecturing helps lend a feeling of
interaction compared to simply seeing a series of slides. Web conference technologies
can and should be taken advantage of to capture students' attention and help them be
involved in the course.
• Mainly due to the fact that the initial class was considered successful by the participants,
we have another methodology that can be offered within the spectrum of different types
of enablement. Does it "replace" face-to-face training? No. But it can be used to perform
types of training that many times are traditionally done face-to-face. It can be used for
Certification training, for example. And once a virtual class is finished, it can be reused in
an on-demand fashion. The only additional thing needed is the ability to collaborate with
a Subject Matter Expert on the exercises between the different modules.

Hidebound training departments won't survive when traditional corporations transform

themselves into virtual organizations. Flexible and fluid firms need support from versatile
VTOs--virtual training organizations.

Virtual organizations are becoming a virtual reality. Businesses such as Corning, Apple, and
MCI are forging alliances with other firms to streamline processes, cut costs, and crack new
markets. Eventually, first-generation virtual organizations such as these will give rise to true
virtual organizations, in which various companies temporarily pool their strengths to exploit
fleeting but lucrative opportunities.

Meanwhile, as competition heightens and technology advances, both large and small
organizations continue to evolve into more fluid and flexible entities. Companies are adapting
elements of the virtual organization to respond rapidly to customers' changing demands.
Moreover, companies are remaking themselves internally to exploit new opportunities quickly.
Increasingly, companies are

* flattening their hierarchies

* stressing customer service

* focusing on processes rather than tasks

* toppling bureaucratic barriers to change

* involving their suppliers in crafting strategy

* rewarding teamwork.

For virtual organizations to evolve, they need support from learning systems with similar
characteristics, or virtual training organizations. Virtual training organizations devise flexible
structures and systems so that they can respond rapidly to their organizations' needs. VTOs
operate according to three principles:

* Individual employees-not their organizations-have primary responsibility for their personal

growth.

* The most powerful learning takes place on the job, not in a classroom.

* Improved performance hinges not on the relationship between a trainer and a class participant,
but on the relationship between a manager and an employee.

No corporate HRD function yet has attained true "virtuality," but many are striving to do so.
What might a virtual training organization look like? Figure 1 illustrates a VTO model that
incorporates five competencies: strategic direction, product design, structural versatility, product
delivery, and accountability for results.

Figure 2 illustrates each of the five competencies in detail and compares the characteristics of a
traditional training organization with those of a virtual training organization. This comparison
provides HRD managers with a framework for evaluating progress from a traditional department
to a VTO.

Strategic direction

The five interrelated competencies of a virtual training organization represent a loop, but
strategic direction provides the starting point. Strategic direction comprises the following
elements:

Mission. A clearly articulated mission forms the cornerstone of a VTO's strategic direction. A
mission statement provides direction within the VTO and clarifies the way it contributes to the
organization's …