Survey Sheds Light: How Professionals Learn in a Fast-Paced World

A recent reader survey by the Disaster Resource GUIDE focused on education: What works, what doesn’t work, and how people see their future educational needs being addressed.

Over 500 responses from a wide cross section of private sector and government organizations give insight into the future of education for our industry. Over 60% of the responses are from readers in larger (1000+) organizations, 20% are from companies or agencies with 100+ employees, and 20% from smaller companies. According to this survey, the primary factors affecting education preferences are money, time, flexibility and quality.

Money
Costs are at the center of most education decisions. 64% of respondents attend one or more regional or national conferences per year, with 19% attending 3 or more. The specific expense mentioned most often was that of travel and lodging. Travel costs are a concern when it comes to the national conferences, and a number of respondents commented on the difficulty of justifying the travel expense when other alternatives are becoming available. Of those who commented on money and budgets, the majority said their budgets are shrinking, or flat at best. A few lucky respondents have over $5,000 per year available for conferences and seminars, but most are having to live with under $2,000, and many must pay part or all of their own education costs.

Time
Disaster recovery, business continuity and emergency management professionals have increasingly demanding schedules, which makes time a real concern. “I must find ways to fit education into smaller time slots in my schedule” is a common theme. Travel time makes local workshops or seminars attractive and 82% of respondents take advantage of opportunities close to home. Many would like to take advantage of college courses, but they are rarely available locally. 69% of those in the survey rarely or never attend college level classes. But with the increasing number of online or distance learning opportunities, 55% are using web-based courses at least occasionally.

Flexibility
The ability to learn at any convenient time, from any convenient location is very important. Of all types of learning methods mentioned, three stand above the others. The use of web searches is the most popular method of gathering information. 88% of survey participants use web searches often or very often. The second most popular information source is email newsletters, with 70% using them often or very often. A close third information source is industry publications, with 67% choosing this option often or very often. All of these learning resources are popular because they are available at any time. This preference for ‘on-demand’ learning is driving a shift towards webinars, podcasts and other online options. Looking towards the future, 53% of respondents see various online options becoming more important in their professional education.

Quality
The issue of quality is expressed in several ways. Many of the respondents have been in BC or DR for a number of years and some are finding educational options available to be too basic. They are looking for more advanced best practices. The ability to select sessions based on the topic and presenters, and the networking opportunities, are the approaches that work best for over 80% of conference attendees. Almost all of respondents who commented on the value of face-to-face learning (conferences, seminars) find that to be a preferred method. Sharing real experiences with peers, and networking with them, is generally considered the best way to grow professionally. Therefore a common theme in the responses is regret that time and money constraints are forcing the move away from face-toface and towards online options.

Blogs and web forums are the least favorite form on online education, primarily because of quality issues. Reading poorly written comments and having to sort through too much material makes blogs less efficient. 60% of respondents rarely or never use blogs or forums. Another quality concern is the potential for bias. Some webinars are considered to be more sales pitch than objective education.

Summary
There is a definite shift away from inperson education, primarily because of budget cuts and secondarily because of time involved. Many respondents preferred the quality of presentations and networking opportunities at conferences, and therefore regret this shift to web options. People would increase their use of local educational opportunities, especially college and university courses, if they were more available. Another primary driver in education choice is the desire for flexibility in time. This desire makes web searches, magazines and newsletters popular and widely used.

About the Author
Tommy Rainey is Executive Publisher of the Disaster Resource GUIDE. He can be reached at [email protected]. For the complete survey results, go to www.disaster-resource.com/2007EducationSurvey.