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Demonstration Projects by Six Members of the Consortium for Manufacturing Competitivenes

by Sloan-C

ABSTRACT
Two-year colleges are widely-regarded as appropriate institutions both to meet the technical education needs of post-high school youth and to provide the "life-long" skills upgrading that will allow manufacturing workers to keep up with technological advances in order to find --and keep-- high skill/high wage jobs. Yet, as discussed, gaining new skills via traditional classrooms and laboratories is increasingly difficult for manufacturing managers and production workers in small and medium-sized firms. Through a project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, six two-year colleges that are members of the Consortium for Manufacturing Competitiveness (CMC) have developed ALNs to test how well they can meet educational needs in the technical workplace. Although final evaluation results from the colleges participating in this project are not yet available, preliminary evidence shows an enthusiastic response from companies and students taking part. The CMC is considering a second phase that will convert more courses to an ALN format and jointly package them so that firms have access to the entire array of ALNs by members of the CMC --not just those developed by their local community or technical college.

I. INTRODUCTION

Two-year colleges have changed significantly from when they were merely viewed as low-cost alternatives to the first two years of a university education. After first evolving into institutions oriented toward specific occupational training, many subsequently became dominated by sub-baccalaureate degrees and customized training. Today, in yet another evolutionary step, innovative two-year community and technical colleges are providing comprehensive business improvement services to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that face global, rapidly changing competitive climates. These colleges, particularly in rural areas where sources of training and expertise are limited, are well positioned to help SMEs identify and incorporate the broad range of skills, technologies and business practices they need to compete in high value-added markets. In short, two-year colleges are pivotal economic development catalysts because technical jobs and skills are linchpins to economic success. But even these local institutions are inaccessible to many SMEs that are unable to take advantage of their programs due to scheduling conflicts or distance and time constraints.

As a potential tool for making education, training and skill upgrading more accessible to more SMEs, six two-year colleges are exploring the value of Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs). Through a project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, members of the Consortium for Manufacturing Competitiveness (CMC) have converted existing education and training modules and are testing how well they can meet educational needs in the technical workplace (see Appendix A for descriptions of these projects). The CMC is uniquely designed for such cutting edge demonstration projects. Established in 1988 by the Southern Growth Policies Board and now administered by Regional Technology Strategies (RTS), Inc., CMC is an alliance of seventeen leading community and technical colleges, primarily in the South, that devises and pilots innovative practices that support industrial modernization.

II. THE IMPORTANCE OF MANUFACTURING

Manufacturing is still vital to many regional economies, particularly in rural areas in the Eastern half of the nation. It accounts for most of the nation's exports, provides above average wages, generates wealth, and sustains a technically skilled labor force. The shape of manufacturing, however, is changing. New computer integrated technologies and techniques, such as lean production and just-in-time delivery, are moving production from the hierarchical Fordist model to a flatter, team-based model. Outsourcing and downsizing are reducing the scale of, and thus communities' dependencies on, branch plants.

These changes are increasing opportunities for small and mid-sized enterprises to move "up" the value-added chain to supply end producers that compete in the global market. Firms that ignore these changes by competing on the basis of low-cost labor rather than on the basis of quality, quick response and/or niche markets are losing market share to low-wage foreign competition.

Modernizing SMEs are finding that they, like their larger Fortune 500 cousins and customers, need timely, effective training to acquire the capacity to use new technology and implement new business strategies. The ability of ALNs to expand and improve training to meet these needs is the focus of the CMC demonstration project that is currently underway and will be complete in the Spring of 1997.

III. WHY ALNs?

The primary reason the six two-year colleges are taking part in this project is to analyze the ability of ALNs to expand learning opportunities for workers and individuals who would otherwise be unlikely to take part in training because they are constrained by time and/or distance barriers, either due to a work schedule that conflicts with classes or because excessive travel times inhibit enrollment. Other reasons colleges are testing ALNs are to determine whether they increase the efficiency of current training activities, and to improve the quality of education and training programs beyond what can be offered in a traditional classroom or laboratory. The following sections will explore these motivations in more detail.

A. Time constraints
A recent New York Times article stated that "8-hours a day, 5 days a week" jobs in manufacturing are fast becoming a rarity. Faster turnaround times for product delivery and short-run production schedules have injected new time constraints and less regularity into manufacturing. This means that traditional class schedules are out-of-date; even evening courses often are inconvenient because manufacturing employees often work day, swing and night shifts interchangeably. ALNs, however, transform education from a static, site-based activity to a flexible, work- or home-based activity.

Workers at Gulf States Steel in Gadsden, Alabama, for example, rotate shifts week by week, making it almost impossible to dedicate a block of time every week to class attendance. In response, the demonstration ALN project at the Bevill Manufacturing Technology Center, associated with Gadsden State Community College, is developing two ALN courses in advanced manufacturing processes that these workers will take at their convenience via on-site computers in a dedicated training center. At another site, Chattanooga State Technical College is creating a digital electronics course for industrial maintenance workers who find it difficult to commit to a regularly scheduled course because their shifts vary according to maintenance schedules and breakdowns--typically with few back-up personnel to help out.

B. Remote location
Distance has always been a barrier to education for rural and small town inhabitants. Because manufacturing companies often choose sites based on the availability of land or other natural resources rather than population centers, many are far from institutions of higher education. In response, a number of two-year colleges have adopted distance learning technologies to reach students too far from campus to regularly attend class. ALNs offer an attractive new take on distance learning, however, because they are more interactive than technologies such as video-based learning and more flexible than technologies such as remote broadcasts or "smart" classrooms. In addition, students' ability to frequently communicate with each other and the instructor eliminates the passivity associated with the "unplugged" Computer-Based Training of previous decades.

In an effort to meet the training needs of remote firms, Wytheville Community College (Virginia) converted two courses to an ALN format--D.C. Electronics and A.C. Electronics--to train 25 employees at seven small manufacturers in a rural, mountainous region. Two very small rural high schools in the area (one has a senior class of seven this year) are planning on taking part in next semester's ALNs because small enrollments and decreasing state and county funding have ended their "live" electronics courses. In another example, New Hampshire Technical College--Stratham is offering a biotechnology course to workers at a biotechnology firm located 100 miles from the college.

C. Efficiency
More efficiently allocating educational resources is another reason some two-year colleges are interested in ALNs. At the Gulf States Steel plant in Alabama mentioned earlier, for instance, on-site training provided by the local community college is literally a full-time endeavor. The company contracts with the college to provide so much in-house training that three instructors spend approximately 40 hours a week at the plant. Because workers' schedules are staggered and irregular, instructors spend much of their time teaching just a few students at a time and repeating lessons over and over. Through ALNs, the college anticipates being able to offer the same amount of training with fewer resources. Employees access courseware at the plant and communicate with the instructor while they are on campus instead of at the plant's training center, freeing up more of their time and reducing training costs for the company.

At another project demonstration site, Augusta Technical Institute in Georgia pilot tested a web-based ALN in Computer Numerically Controlled machinery to 18 students spread among six firms and some home-based learners. Now that the course is developed, the college expects to teach more than 300 students over the next year at less cost than traditional on-campus delivery since there is little overhead associated with the ALN.

D. Quality
Improving education is another reason two-year colleges are exploring ALNs. In Charleston, South Carolina, Trident Technical College has converted a manufacturing production and inventory control course to an ALN in part because the subject matter--computerized inventory processes--can perhaps best be taught using computer-simulated manufacturing software. The college is also planning to develop export training modules delivered via an ALN. Part of the curriculum will be developed in conjunction with technical colleges in Ireland and Denmark and offered to students in all three countries at the same time. Students will not only gain a perspective on trade from other nations, they will also make potentially valuable trade contacts, something that would not happen in a traditional educational setting.

At New Hampshire Technical College-Stratham, the instructor is enhancing a biotechnology course by scheduling on-line visits with industry representatives and experts from across the country who would be less accessible in a traditional classroom. The course also provides hyperlinks to biotechnology web sites all over the world and requires students to conduct Internet-based research that teaches them how to stay up-to-date on the latest technological breakthroughs in the field. On-campus traditional students as well as the off-campus ALN students are taking part in these course activities, creating opportunities for exchange between students already working in the industry and those "just learning the ropes".

IV. EVALUATION OF ALNs

In the Spring of 1997, RTS will evaluate outcomes from these six initial ALN projects. Through survey data and site visits, the evaluation will seek to answer such questions as:
How do students and instructors assess the learning that takes place through ALNs?
In what areas can an ALN add the most value over traditional methods?
Are there guidelines to help colleges decide where to invest resources for ALNs?
Are there certain ALN delivery mechanisms that appear more successful than others?

RTS will disseminate case studies and results from these projects to the National Institute of Standards and technology's Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Association of Community Colleges, and others interested in new approaches to training.

V. WHERE MIGHT ALNs FIT INTO FUTURE TRAINING NEEDS?

The demand for technical education is at an all-time high. At an RTS-sponsored conference on technical education in March 1996, Anthony Carnevale, vice president for public leadership at the Educational Testing Service, discussed the structural economic changes taking place in the American economy. Well-paying jobs are highly correlated to working with technology--an ability high school graduates rarely have. Manufacturing firms across the nation report serious shortages in "skilled labor" able to operate today's computer-driven machinery.

In response, two-year colleges are widely-regarded as the appropriate institutions both to meet the technical education needs of post-high school youth and to provide the "life-long" skills upgrading that will allow workers to keep up with technological advances in order to find--and keep--high skill/high wage jobs. Yet, as discussed, gaining new skills via traditional classrooms and laboratories is increasingly difficult for manufacturing employees. If ALNs are successful and widely adopted, they will increase the likelihood that youth and workers will receive the education they need to compete in the high performance manufacturing workforce of the next century. While this project has been a first step in that direction, larger scale efforts will be necessary for more widespread impact.

Although final evaluation results from the colleges participating in this project are not yet available, preliminary evidence shows an enthusiastic response from companies and students taking part. The CMC is considering a second phase that will convert more courses to an ALN format and jointly package them so that firms have access to the entire array of ALNs by members of the CMC--not just those developed by their local community or technical college. The intention is that the CMC-sponsored alliance--tentatively dubbed Connect Tech--would broker a growing multitude of ALNs, in essence creating a marketplace for manufacturing-related ALN training that will be available to companies in many states. Initial modules would range from export training, to electronic commerce to biotechnology. In all cases, the goal will be to strengthen regional economies through improved access to high quality, relevant education and training for small and medium-sized manufacturers.

VI. APPENDIX A

Augusta Technical college's (Georgia) first ALN course is Computer Numerical Control machinery. Several local firms host computers on-site for workers, and it is also offered to the general public. The courseware, which uses graphics and animation to enliven the topic, is located on the college's home page server. Supplementing the subject matter content, students e-mail each other and the instructor, access their course progress report, and review "frequently asked questions" and course announcements on-line.

Bevill Center for Advanced Manufacturing Technology (Gadsden, Alabama) is creating two ALN courses: Microprocessor Fundamentals and Introduction to Programmable Logic Controllers. Using "Authorware" as the basic development software package, the courseware will include graphics, simulations, and video clips. The courses are located on CD-Rooms connected to computers located on-site at Gulf States Steel, where irregular shift workers are the initial students. Communication between students and instructors takes place via a Netscape internet newsgroup and e-mail.

Chattanooga State Technical Community college's (Tennessee) ALN project is a Digital Circuits course for maintenance technicians in two small local companies. These workers must troubleshoot and repair increasingly complex equipment. Many have no formal electronics training, and distance and work schedules are barriers for skills upgrading. The course uses a mix of computer-based laboratories and exercises, original video productions, on-line communication using the internet, three "live" hands-on laboratory sessions and supplemental written materials. The long term intent is to "re-engineer" existing credit courses in automated control systems to an asynchronous format that is both convenient to students and firms and pedagogically valid.

New Hampshire Technical College--Stratham converted a basic biotechnology manufacturing course to an ALN format for delivery to technicians already working in the field. The course contains three components: video presentations and written materials that make up the "knowledge" portion of the course; computer-based laboratory sessions with digital images, and animation delivered over the internet that make up the "skills" portion; and an on-line communication network that includes "topics of the week," on-line visits with industry representatives and assignments, and relevant world wide web hyperlinks. "Chat rooms" and e-mail link both asynchronous and traditional on-campus students taking the class to enlarge the peer group and enhance learning for both types of students.

Trident Technical College (Charleston, South Carolina) developed a review course for technicians who want to take American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS) certification examinations. Although traditionally taught using lectures and texts, the best way to simulate the concepts of computerized planning is using computer-based learning, making it ideal for ALNs. Classroom attendance is also usually difficult for these workers because of the substantial time commitment they entail--six courses at 20 hours each. Using CD-ROMs to store the course and Quest, 3-D Studio, and Visual Manufacturing software to create the content and graphics, workers at several local manufacturers are taking part in the pilot project. Communication takes place via the internet.

Wytheville Community College (Virginia) converted two courses to an ALN format--D.C. Electronics and A.C. Electronics--to train employees at small manufacturers in this rural, mountainous region where rotating shift work and remote locations prevent workers from attending on-campus courses. Making sure the courses are "user-friendly" and easy to follow is particularly important since most of these students had never used a personal computer before. Developers enhanced their courseware with software packages that simulate electronics laboratories and integrate problem-solving and critical thinking exercises related to electronic circuits. Students communicate with each other and the instructor using e-mail.