Investigating Self-Regulated Learning in the Workplace

Alexander Mikroyannidis

, Teresa Connolly

and Glyn Owen

Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom

The MRS Consultancy Ltd, North Yorkshire DL8 2PX, York, United Kingdom

Keywords: Self-Regulated Learning, Personal Learning Environment, Cloud Learning Environment.

Abstract: Self-Regulated Learning, as well as its enabling technologies Personal Learning Environments and Cloud

Learning Environments, signify an important shift in the “status quo” of eLearning. These novel learning

technologies enable learners to adjust their learning environment and process to their particular needs and

aspirations. This paper investigates workplace learning within a wide variety of business sectors in the UK.

The scope of this investigation is to determine the current status regarding the adoption of Self-Regulated

Learning in the workplace, as well as the opportunities for the deployment of Personal and Cloud Learning

Environments.

1 INTRODUCTION

The advent of Cloud Computing has significantly

affected eLearning. Learners nowadays have access

to a variety of learning tools and services on the

cloud. These tools and services are usually provided

by different vendors and in many cases are open and

free. Augmenting and configuring the diverse and

distributed cloud tools and services in order to ad-

dress the needs and preferences of individual learn-

ers is a significant challenge for modern online

learning environments.

The Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is a

facility for an individual to access, aggregate,

manipulate and share digital artefacts of their

ongoing learning experiences. The PLE follows a

learner-centric approach, allowing the use of

lightweight services and tools that belong to and are

controlled by individual learners. Rather than

integrating different services into a centralised

system, the PLE provides learners with a variety of

services and hands over control to them to select and

use these services the way they deem fit (Chatti et

al., 2007); (Fiedler and Väljataga, 2010); (Wilson,

2008).

The Cloud Learning Environment (CLE) extends

the PLE by considering the cloud as a large autono-

mous system not owned by any educational organi-

sation. In this system, the users of cloud-based ser-

vices are academics or learners, who share the same

privileges, including control, choice, and sharing of

content on these services. This approach has the

potential to enable and facilitate both formal and

informal learning for the learner. It also promotes

the openness, sharing and reusability of learning

resources on the web (Malik, 2009); (Mikroyannidis,

2012).

Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) comprises an

essential aspect of the PLE and the CLE, as it

enables learners to become “metacognitively,

motivationally, and behaviourally active participants

in their own learning process” (Zimmerman, 1989).

Although the psycho-pedagogical theories around

SRL predate very much the advent of the PLE and

the CLE, SRL is a core characteristic of the latter.

SRL is enabled within the PLE and the CLE through

the assembly of independent resources in a way that

fulfils a specific learning goal. By following this

paradigm, the PLE and the CLE allow learners to

regulate their own learning, thus greatly enhancing

their learning outcomes (Fruhmann et al., 2010);

(Steffens, 2006).

The European project ROLE (Responsive Open

Learning Environments; www.role-project.eu) has

been investigating ways to empower learners for

self-regulated and personalised learning within a

responsive open learning environment. In order to

study and evaluate the impact of SRL in a variety of

learning contexts, the ROLE project has setup a

number of test-beds. Each test-bed has concentrated

on researching a large sample of formal, informal

and workplace learners (Chatterjee et al., 2011);

731

Mikroyannidis A., Connolly T. and Owen G. (2013).

Investigating Self-Regulated Learning in the Workplace.

In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Computer Supported Education, pages 731-736

DOI: 10.5220/0004455707310736

 SciTePress

(Mikroyannidis and Connolly, 2012);

(Mikroyannidis and Connolly, 2013). This paper

presents results of this work related to the

investigation of SRL in the workplace.

The remainder of this paper is organised as

follows. The case study of the ROLE test-bed in

question is presented, followed by the results

obtained from the survey conducted within this test-

bed. The lessons learned from the test-bed are then

discussed. Finally, the paper is concluded and the

next steps of this research are outlined.

2 CASE STUDY

The case study in question is focused on investigat-

ing the challenges and opportunities related with

SRL in the workplace. It was decided that the most

relevant research instrument for this purpose would

be to employ a questionnaire survey. The survey was

conducted in the context of the ROLE project among

the members of the British Institute of Learning and

Development (BILD). Effectively, the survey invited

the BILD members to talk about their use of eLearn-

ing and, in particular, specific aspects related to

SRL, as well as those related to PLEs and CLEs.

By way of introduction to this case study, it is

important to know that essentially BILD is a sub-

scription-based organisation that supports its own

community through a programme of Continuous

Professional Development (CPD). BILD has in

excess of 1400 members, all of whom work in the

area of Learning and Development. Further details

about BILD, as an organisation, can be found at

http://www.thebild.org.

In order to situate those who were surveyed for

this case study it is essential to describe the BILD

community constituents. The member organisations

vary in size from small enterprises, such as one/two-

man-band Limited companies and Partnerships, to

large corporate organisations that ultimately support

tens of thousands of learners. In this respect The

BILD is ideally placed to trial innovation in learning

and design approaches in a number of diverse learn-

ing scenarios. It can also be seen that BILD mem-

bers additionally represent the Private, Public and

Voluntary sectors thus covering a wide variety of

Business interest areas.

The survey-based approach of this case study en-

abled us to gather relevant information from partici-

pants in order to evaluate the emergent findings

using inductive investigative approaches via the use

of Grounded Theory.

3 SURVEY RESULTS

An online survey was promoted to in excess of 1400

BILD members through personalised emails inviting

recipients to participate in the investigation. The

survey was open for a period of 1 month. It was

noted that some 159 people completed the survey

during this period. In addition, a further 7 people

completed the survey after the closing date. It ap-

peared that, overall, responses were very positive

about the value of learning technologies. Preliminary

analysis of the survey indicated that the majority of

respondents had used some form of eLearning, for

example, with over half the respondents indicating

that they had used a Learning Management System

(LMS).

The deployed survey revealed an assortment of

information that related to the research topic. Fig-

ures 1-5 illustrate the collected information, whilst

the subsequent section 4 will describe the emergent

themes that were identified from the analysis of this

information. It also indicates some of the subsequent

research that may be possible to develop as a result

of analysing the survey results.

Initially, the survey disclosed the variety of busi-

ness sectors represented by the respondents (see

Figure 1). This respondent community covers a wide

variety of private, public and voluntary sectors, as

previously indicated, which was reinforced by the

respondents in terms of their specific sector types. It

is important to note, however, that many respondents

reported that they worked across several sectors that

included public and private. For example, a training

provider may have clients in multiple business sec-

tors such as Service Provision, Health and Local

Government and work in both the Public and Private

sectors, though their own organisation may be Pri-

vate Sector. Respondents were invited to select ‘oth-

er’ if they felt the Business sectors were inadequate.

61 respondents selecting ‘other’ worked in the Pri-

vate sector, 19 in the Public and 13 in both. 6 select-

ed all three sectors. It should be noted that ‘other’

was often selected in addition to Business sectors

from the list.

Respondents also described a very wide set of

job titles, often using multiple terms such as ‘Re-

search and training” or “Team Leader” and “Devel-

oper”. Figure 2 illustrates some of the recurring titles

used. It should be noted that the supporting descrip-

tions provided by respondents make it very difficult

to group respondents together. It seems that re-

spondents take on a wide range of responsibilities

around learning that may culminate in complex job

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732

titles, for example, “Training Executive for Sales

and Leadership”.

This paints a picture of a highly flexible sample

of respondents with a very rich experience of work

environments. It does however mean that the context

of research must be very clearly defined in order to

get meaningful responses from such a diverse sam-

ple.

31%

13%

14%

13%

11%

Surveyedbusinesssectors

Serviceprovision

Health

HigherEducation

FurtherEducation

NationalGovernment

LocalGovernment

Manufacturing

Figure 1: Identified business sector respondents in the

BILD survey.

Figure 2: Identified job titles from respondents in the

BILD survey.

Figure 3 shows the responses regarding the eLearn-

ing technologies commonly used by the BILD mem-

bers. It is apparent that the surveyed organisations

are more familiar with the LMS and much less with

the PLE. Regarding the adoption of new eLearning

technologies, Figure 4 shows that the individual

respondents and the organisations they represent

have a positive disposition toward new learning

technologies. Finally, the respondents’ agreement to

statements related to SRL is illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 3: eLearning technologies used by the survey re-

spondents.

Figure 4: Respondents’ views on learning technologies.

Figure 5: Respondents’ agreement on statements about

SRL.

4 LESSONS LEARNED

The survey revealed that there was a perception by

100

120

140

160

eLearning

and/or

online

learning

resources?

LMS

(Learning

Management

System)?

MLE

(Managed

Learning

Environment)?

PLE

(Personal

Learning

Environment)?

Never

Some mes

O en

Almost

always

100

120

140

160

organisa on

welcomes

online

learning

technologies

personally

interested

online

learning

technologies

managers

are

interested

online

learning

technologies

Our

learner

support

team

keen

online

learning

technologies

organisa on

keen

try

out

new

learning

technologies

Don't

know

Strongly

agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

Disagree

100

120

Employees

can

iden fy

their

own

learning

needs

and

set

their

own

learning

goals.

Employees

can

work

their

own

pace

The

learning

content

use

lends

itself

SRL

The

learning

content

develop

lends

itself

SRL

are

able

evaluate

the

impact

SRL

the

workplace

Learners

have

uncontrolled

use

external

resources

Learners

can

choose

their

own

learni ng

tools

Learners

choose

from

selec on

learning

resources

that

the

organisa on

makes

available.

Strongly

agree

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly

disagree

InvestigatingSelf-RegulatedLearningintheWorkplace

733

respondents with respect to SRL that it was more

time consuming for the learner than classroom

teaching:

“Time is the greatest barrier to SRL, especially

as many learners are contracted so the company

needs to ensure that learning is value for money with

a minimum of time away from the workplace.”

“As I say, time pressures on management often

means that training is pushed to lowest priority. If

we offered self-paced learning, it simply wouldn’t be

done. Currently we offer 1/2 day courses at max,

which are driven by me in a classroom setting.”

It was also indicated by the respondents that

learners needed to be ‘prepared’ in some way, for a

SRL approach to learning. By contrast, however, it

emerged that a high number of respondents reported

that some employees already exercised choice in the

type and style of their learning content, their selec-

tion with regard to personal goal setting and electing

to adopt appropriate tools. These types of responses

would merit further exploration and research in

respect of the respondents understanding of SRL and

the contexts where it is used. An example of this

approach is:

“elearning and materials are made available on

our LMS through external resource link such as

(BRAND). Main barrier is communicating these

resources to employees and encouraging employees

to be proactive.”

Other information that emerged from the survey

indicated that respondents were interested in finding

content to support specific skill and knowledge are-

as. There was also evidence of further high levels of

interest by respondents in evaluating and trying out

new content. It is important to note, however, that

some BILD members are actually developers of

learning software. This type of work tends to be

highly bespoke and often directly defined in terms of

the learner’s experience i.e. learners progress

through an instructionally designed learning pack-

age.

Additionally, most of the survey respondents ap-

pear to concentrate on the idea of a blended learning

scenario, where online learning is an adjunct to more

traditional learning, to deliver specific learning skills

e.g. Customer Care scenarios/videos, can be

achieved. Finding high quality content and the eval-

uation of eLearning against more traditional teach-

ing approaches was raised as a concern for example:

“At present we have made strong progress in the

supply of materials and options but we now need to

evaluate their usage and impact on learners.”

“The biggest issue for us is lack of quality learn-

ing material available on-line that are directly rele-

vant to sales people.”

It is clear from the survey that the BILD re-

spondents, generally, are keen to try new learning

technologies themselves. Nonetheless, they need to

have evidence of their effectiveness in order to per-

suade their clients to adopt, use or incorporate such

learning technologies, particularly with those organ-

isations where more traditional learning approaches

are currently used. It would appear from the survey

responses that eLearning for many BILD members

tends to take the form of complete learning packages

that lead the learner through a designed series of

learning experiences. Assessment is usually tested

within the learning package for instance respondents

remarked that:

“Most learning topics are provided by the com-

pany in a structured way. However more than 500 e-

learning titles are available to all employees 24/7. “

“Learners are encouraged to choose - from a

range of modules - those which will provide for them

the most appropriate enhancement to their chosen

Modern Apprenticeship programme.”

The survey also indicates that many BILD mem-

bers continue to have an interest, or perceive they

have a vested interest, in prolonging face-to-face

teaching as the only effective delivery method. This

would appear to be generally related to the experi-

ence of delivering training in the workplace, clients

expectations and the condition of systems available

and the available work in areas of compliance train-

ing. The following quotes from survey respondents

reinforces this point:

“In general, organisations I work with prefer

face to face learning”.

“Training is almost always selected on opera-

tional need and thus delegates must attend certain

courses to have authorised access to systems”

“SRL is currently overshadowed by the under-

standable prioritization of Statutory and Mandatory

training, in these times of efficiency savings.”

“This seems to be a very nice idea for some sec-

tors but has limitations when organisations need to

ensure employees have required knowledge and

many are not very good at identifying their own

learning needs as they assume knowledge they only

partially have”.

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“We provide basic e-learning courses, from

which learners can choose. Most training to-date is

classroom based and tutor led.”

“A lot of our training is technical, mandatory,

Health and Safety related training and with such

compliance culture not many learning options exist

for the student. They do what they must do to remain

suitably e-qualified.”

Despite the various barriers to SRL and eLearn-

ing, the majority of respondents saw potential in

eLearning and welcomed the opportunity to get

involved for example:

“Very interested in PLEs as they are clearly the

way learning needs to go. Happy to be involved

with any workshops, developer opportunities and

being involved in any pilot studies, etc.”

“I would like to be able to use this opportunity

to introduce development staff at Education Busi-

ness Solutions to these tools - so they can evaluate

them in the context of working with teachers and

secondary school children”

There were also respondents who presented as

mature eLearning practitioners who were keen to

extend their knowledge of PLEs and CLEs. They

noted that:

“We provide diagnostics and the learner is en-

couraged to determine their own development prior-

ities and approach.”

“I currently promote ePortfolios (eFolio) as the

tool to support independent study, mentoring, peer-

review and collaboration.”

Nonetheless, in terms of lessons learned, it has

emerged that further work needs to be carried out in

a number of the investigated areas, for example, in

evaluating specific learning technologies and draw-

ing comparisons with other teaching approaches. It

can also be noted, at this point, that the BILD com-

munity has many members who specialise in the

area of empirical research and, as such, can be en-

couraged to try out and possibly adopt new learning

technologies, such as PLEs and CLEs.

With this in mind, the BILD has offered in the

context of the ROLE project a series of webinars and

seminars to its members, covering a variety of SRL-

related topics. These events have targeted a broad

audience, including those non-developers who are

mainstream trainers, and have enable BILD mem-

bers to be introduced to the concepts and applica-

tions of SRL. The ROLE project has used these

events in order to engage with a specific learning

community and promote PLEs and CLEs as an in-

novative and representative learning catalyst for an

existing learning community or membership group

i.e. BILD. This has offered the opportunity to those

participating to explore key issues, and raise aware-

ness about the perceived barriers and benefits of the

SRL approaches to learning.

In order to further motivate and facilitate the

adoption of SRL within this community, we have

also endeavoured into developing and delivering

multi-format learning materials about SRL. These

learning materials are freely available as Open Edu-

cational Resources (OER) and consist of:

 An online course about the principles of SRL and

the tools that enable it (http://labspace.open.ac.uk/

course/view.php?id=7898). The course introduces

the concept of SRL and guides learners into using

the ROLE tools in order to apply the SRL princi-

ples into their own learning.

 An interactive eBook about PLEs and SRL, avail-

able for iOS devices (http://projects.

kmi.open.ac.uk/role/ibook/ROLE.ibooks). The

eBook provides an introduction to PLEs and SRL

and gives an opportunity to readers to try a selec-

tion of ROLE widgets through a set of interactive

learning activities included in the eBook.

 An introductory video about SRL, available in

English, German and Chinese

(http://youtu.be/jTa1vOH6JjA, http://youtu.be/

UkAkFQ5TPOI and http://youtu.be/

yRy5ZLT3jQQ). The video explains the basics of

SRL through a simple example involving tourism

and travel.

5 CONCLUSIONS

In summary, the case study of the BILD membership

organisation has been carried out within an identi-

fied learning community belonging to a wide variety

of business sectors. It involved the deployment of a

questionnaire survey and the analysis of the results.

The results obtained have helped us gain an insight

into some of the challenges and opportunities for

enabling SRL through the use of new learning tech-

nologies in the workplace.

What we foresee as the next steps of this work is

the closer involvement of business stakeholders and

the collaboration with them in order to bring PLEs

and CLEs closer to business requirements. We plan

to collect case studies of stakeholders sharing their

experiences through describing their learning pro-

cesses as individuals in addition to being seen as

InvestigatingSelf-RegulatedLearningintheWorkplace

735

sharing that representation with the wider learning

community. This would serve both as providing

research evidence as well as valuable learning re-

sources for the wider eLearning community too.

This would also provide empirical evidence of the

value and benefits of the SRL approach.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research work described in this paper has been

partially funded through the ROLE Integrated Pro-

ject, part of the Seventh Framework Programme for

Research and Technological Development (FP7) of

the European Union in Information and Communi-

cation Technologies.

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