ICT in workplace study and lifelong learning

Galina S Panova
Finance Academy
Moscow, Russian Federation

The Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation (RF), together with the Institute for Social, Economic and Investment Projects (ISEIP, a non-commercial, non-governmental, independent, non-political, scientific and expert organization), recently started to provide workplace training involving ICT. These two institutions, whose mission is to promote the establishment of a socio-oriented and effective economy in the RF, perform a wide range of functions, such as: dealing with expert consultants’ work; introducing up-to-date technologies into the economy; giving professional assistance to clients on their business activities; developing and implementing competitive strategies; and establishing, maintaining and developing productive and stable relationships among the various echelons of expert and business communities. Special attention is paid to providing consultation services to government structures and RF territories’ authorities.

In 2006–08, the ISEIP offered seminars and short-term training for the state public officials of the Russian Ministry of Finance, the Federal Treasury, the Federal Service of Labour and the Federal Service of Statistics. For example, the Institute — in cooperation with the Finance Academy (2006–07) and the All-Russia Distance-Learning Finance-Economics Institute (2008) — provided distance short-term professional training and skill upgrading for more than 25,000 officials from the RF Federal Treasury in all the regions of Russia.
The courses were integrated into training modules and the successful participants received state-recognized certificates of fulfilment (or skill upgrading).

The training process, which included lectures, self-training and consultation, involved:

• distance training based on the use of module-structured electronic textbooks;
• information exchange between trainers and trainees;
• testing the trainees.

Especially for the distance learning element, the process required cooperation and mutual support not only from the trainers and trainers, but also technical, academic and other staff/units, in a wide range of tasks, such as the:

• preparatory work (the preparation of all the materials, the production of electronic textbooks, the creation of new programmes for training specialists in nine courses, DVD-disk preparation, etc.);
• delivery of DVD disks to trainees;
• process of training and skill upgrading for the Treasury officials;
• tests and interviews;
• analysis of the results and conclusions;
• delivery of certificates to trainees;
• preparation of reports, including the Final Report; and
• delivery of the Final Report and other documents to the RF Federal Treasury CEO.

Give the size of the Russian Federation, training was organized separately for participants located in (a) the European part of Russia, its Western and Central Siberia regions and (b) the rest of Russia’s territory. Lectures and case studies were put online — and, when the programme was completed — they were made available to all the officials in the RF Federal Treasury.

During the training, the following techniques were used: case studies, TV, audio, video, computer technologies and the Internet.

This approach allowed trainees greater flexibility in choosing when they studied and the intensiveness of their training. In the light of its success, this programme for enhancing the level of competence of state public officials will continue to be offered.