In response to the educational opportunities made available by dramatic technological innovations, Korean business organizations have been seeking for more effective and efficient training solution using Internet since mid-90\'s. As common in instructional design field, every effective course design should be based on needs assessment, and Internet-based training is not an exception. However, empirical and systemic research efforts on the needs analysis in business Internet-based training course develpment have been lacked.
Current study investigated social, business, and individual learners needs for business Internet-based training course development. Using one-on-one interviews, focus group interviews, and on-line and off-line survey methods, the researchers collected data from opinion leaders in Korean society, major business managers, and learners of Internet-based training courses offered by C e-Learning contents provider. Five opinion leaders representing major publishers and news papers, 15 managers from major business conglomerates, and 1,913 learners participated in this study as interviewees and survey respondents.
According to the survey, the researchers report three major findings.
First, there are needs for establishing dual-mode curriculum in Interneb-based courses. For the business management courses, high quality in terms of learning objectives and instructional design strategies were suggested. For the foreign language and computer software training courses, the quantity or the variety of courses provided on time was considered important.
Second, needs for combining traditional instructor-led training (ILT) and e-Learning solution have been detected. For the achievement of complex learning objectives such as skills for business strategies planning or problem solving in real business setting, taking good advantage of the two mode of learning - on-line and off-line - is necessary.
Lastly, large discrepancy between needs fromm business managers and individual learners has been detected. While those business managers who represented business needs unanimously agreed for their needs of higher quality business courses such as finance and organizational management issues, the learner-respondents asked for more foreign language- and software literacy courses. It seemed obvious the needs for the two major clients of Internet-based business training courses - training managers and learners - are different.
Interpretation of the results of the study are provided in light of past experience and additional data collected from the study. Implications of the study are also discussed alont with suggestions for future research.