DuPriest said Eastman first decided to get involved with e-learning in the early 1990s, back when it was called “interactive media.” “At that point we were focused on work involving general purpose CD-Roms and Web sites. Then, when the pressure increased for employees to receive health and safety training, Eastman decided it was too expensive to send operations employees to training classes as it would mean replacing them with someone to do their work while they were away. So we looked at the possibility of providing that training ourselves on CD-Rom and reducing our costs. That’s when we really began our work with e-learning”

Eastman University was set up to train the company’s employees using a blend of traditional classroom and online on a number of subjects, including health and safety, leadership, human resources and management training.

Although Eastman has always placed a considerable amount of importance on its e-learning efforts, DuPriest admits the significance of e-learning has been highlighted by recent world events and the constant pressure to improve productivity and cut costs.

“E-learning has definitely become more important to Eastman in light of recent events, although there has not been a specific emphasis by management to restrict employees’ travel,” DuPriest said “There has certainly been a decrease in people going abroad, but this has mostly been due to cost-cutting and money-saving priorities. This reduction in outside learning obviously puts more pressure on us to provide valuable and high-quality in-house content, online.”

According to DuPriest, with increasing pressure for content comes the need for more investment in our capability to provide online learning opportunities to our employees.

“Eastman is definitely interested in investing in e-learning and that is something that’s happening within our company already,” DuPriest said. “We are currently in the process of upgrading our internal training and development Web site and are also looking at other resources to enhance our offerings. As another aspect of Eastman’s e-learning initiative, we are currently exploring the possibility of providing our online training to other companies.”

But Eastman is not alone in its efforts to generate benefits through e-learning: Dow launched its primary internal e-learning initiative, learn@dow.now, in 1999.

“The importance Dow places on e-learning is based on the considerable value it delivers through cost savings, improving individual and company productivity and enabling employees to make better decisions through information sharing,” said Dave Kepler, Corporate Vice President, Electronic Business, and CIO of The Dow Chemical Company. “More importantly, Dow’s e﷓learning initiative empowers employees to succeed and offers significant opportunity for personnel and leadership growth. Dow's Web-based training takes employees 40-60 percent less time to reach the same skill level they would in a classroom. And, employees can learn when knowledge is needed, rather than having to wait for classroom session availability.”

For Dow, e-learning already has resulted in valuable cost savings.

“In 2000, e﷓learning resulted in cost-to-train savings of $30 million for Dow,” Kepler said. “Dow’s (e-learning) investments to date have delivered significant returns. Conventional training delivery methods would have cost $30 million more for the year 2000 than using Web-based training delivery. Based on mid-year results, Dow is on track to nearly double this saving in 2001.”

According to Kepler, the recent terrorist attacks in the United States and the downturn in the economy have had little effect on Dow’s e-learning focus.

“Recent economic conditions and other factors have not changed Dow’s strong commitment to information sharing and collaboration through e-learning,” Kepler said. “Rather, Dow’s ongoing commitment to e-learning, combined with its technological capabilities, position the company to effectively communicate and impart knowledge to our employees under any circumstances. Dow’s enterprise-wide Web-based training delivery system (learn@dow.now) operates through one platform that is completely integrated with Dow’s IT systems and has the capability to deliver information to approximately 50,000 employees globally across all businesses and functions.”

For Kepler, one of the biggest factors in driving the company’s advancement with e-learning is support from employees.

“Employee support – through feedback and utilization of e-learning tools – has factored into Dow’s commitment to e-learning,” Kepler continued. “Through post-testing, Dow has learned that employees retain knowledge after completing coursework. Employee input confirms they feel empowered to develop the skills and training necessary to find new jobs within Dow or to simply improve current efficiency training – goals that could not have been attained as quickly or cost-effectively with traditional classroom training.”

Dow, like Eastman, is committed to strengthening its internal e-learning initiatives by continued investment.

“Internally, Dow will continue to add capability to learn@dow.now to support employee needs,” Kepler said. “Likewise, Dow will explore additional methods to deliver educational content aimed at improving individual and company productivity at a cost.”

But Dow, like Eastman, is also beginning to look outside of its own company boundaries.

“Extending its capabilities externally, Dow is actively using electronic channels to collaborate and share information with customers,” said Kepler. “From e-publishing to electronic dialogue, Dow is using technology to empower customers with information and interaction via MyAccount@Dow and Dow.com.

“Today, there are more than 8,000 registered MyAccount@Dow users worldwide, and since January 2001, usage has increased by 10 percent every month. The e-business tool provides Dow customers with transactional e-commerce capabilities, customized business information and opportunities for information sharing and collaboration with Dow. Live information sharing is available via MyAccount@Dow’s Web Meeting feature. This electronic dialogue function allows customers to collaborate and share documents with Dow regarding specific orders or other matters, including training and product development.”

According to DuPriest, Eastman’s ability to link people online for e-learning is one idea the company also is keen to pursue. With increased demand for new e-learning strategies, now may be the time to act.

“There is definitely an increased interest in e-learning,” DuPriest said. “The difficulty at the moment comes in trying to get large numbers of employees together in one room at a time that fits into everyone’s schedule. The idea of classroom learning is becoming more difficult. I do believe the industry needs more online collaboration and online courses to enable people to exchange information and knowledge as if face-to-face. I believe that is the key to the future of e-learning.”