How Will You Learn?

This course is designed to be practical. We have developed stories that encourage you to think and act within a human resources context. The course content is introduced to solve the problems in the stories. We call this 'just-in-time' learning. The short training modules have audio overviews of the concepts, with plain text alternatives.

We follow Ben, a Human Resources Advisor, through a typical working day. Ben works at Antz, a developing construction company with a number of sites and a pre-forming plant. It is a diverse company, and Ben handles a number of different human resources situations during the day. Each module is divided by a time and situation change.

The course overview gives you information about the course, an introduction to your tutor, and access to any assistance you may need. Read it carefully, as it gives important information you will need to complete the tasks.

The virtual office

In real life, people look for help to solve their human resources problems. One place they might look is in their office. We have presented much of the course content as a virtual office.

There is an audio overview for each new module - these arrive as emails on the PC in the office.

Research and analysis is a core part of this course, and the resources in your office provide important background theory and concepts for you to research. This will help you offer solutions that meet the needs of Antz and its staff. We recommend that you complete all the activities.

Reproduction or redistribution of material

You can use the text content in printed format if you prefer. All text versions of resources can be printed easily within your browser. Either use the print icon, shortcut keys or file menu to print.

If you have a slow internet connection which is problematic for downloading media resources, ask your tutor to reproduce the media objects on CD-ROM.

Virtual teams

Each module ends with a group task to complete in your virtual teams. How the teams work is explained below. The tasks and forums will reinforce your learning and prepare you for your assessments. When the group work is submitted, your tutor will give you feedback.

Why are we doing this in groups?

In real life, you do not work in human resources on your own. Human resources is about creative problem solving, good communication skills, and being well informed. Discussing the approaches you think will be best in particular cases will help you to develop these skills.

Learning through online group work helps you build essential skills for the world of work today. We think it's important that:

• you get a feel for what it means to 'talk' to people you may never meet
• you can agree (or disagree) with a group and find a solution without any visual clues
• you develop the skills to negotiate online.

Global business is increasingly done virtually and online communication skills are crucial.

How will we make virtual teams work?

We have divided the larger group of learners into smaller teams. Each team must decide on a different facilitator and reporter for each task.

• Facilitator:
• Initiates the discussions and keeps the work on track.
• Reporter:
• Makes sure the deliverable - based on the team members' contributions - is submitted to the discussion forum on time. A few days before the deadline, the reporter should post a draft for further input by the team. This will ensure the deliverable is the product of a joint team effort.

In each team, you work together towards a solution to the task by using the discussion forums. You don't all need to be online at the same time. Post your contributions when you are online and others in your team will read them when they log on.

As a team, you will have to complete the tasks before the deadlines - so it's important that you contribute regularly and that you all move through the course at the same pace. This is the only way that we can make collaborative learning work.

A chat room is set up for each team, to support your work with real-time communication.

And don't forget, you have an introductory session before you get down to the 'real' work. We'd also like you all to do the icebreaker activity and then introduce yourselves. It will help you a great deal in communicating within groups when you know a bit more about each other.

Further research

There is a lot to learn about human resources. We hope that this introduction will inspire you to find out more. There are many wonderful books, magazines, and internet resources to help you gain in-depth knowledge of human resources.

Enjoy!