Challenges facing universities are leading many to implement institutional strategies to incorporate e-learning rather than leaving its adoption up to enthusiastic individuals. Although there is growing understanding about the impact of e-learning on the student experience, there is less understanding of academics' perceptions of e-learning and…

Explores whether choice of specialty, employer, or job function minimizes obsolescence for engineers. Considers whether engineering is a lifetime career or a potential springboard to other occupations. (SK)

HRD is extensively concerned with human capital investment, but only focuses on how skills and knowledge become obsolete to a limited extent. In this paper we look at the speed of obsolescence. Using data from a survey among Dutch public sector employees, we find that the yearly rate of skills obsolescence is 2.6%. Subsequent analyses show that…

The abundance of leisure time which superior technology has afforded industrial societies threatens to become a curse. (Editors)

A look at the courses and measurement of obsolescence is presented, along with a discussion of career development to combat it. (BB)

In this study, current knowledge in the field of physical education is defined and categorized; an instrument and techniques for assessing the extent of obsolescence is developed; and parameters of obsolescence in a sample of physical educators is estimated. (MB)

Discusses conditions that contribute to worker displacement, and suggests that retraining and adult education are only part of the solution. Lists six other recommendations which, if implemented, would contribute to the resolution of this problem. (NRJ)

The author reports on a survey of 64 human resources managers. Forty-eight percent of the respondents indicated that their organizations had some type of retraining program. Topics covered include (1) retraining topics, (2) employee types, (3) program content, (4) trainee scheduling, (5) completion rates, (6) payment, and (7) program success. (CH)

To provide information on the relationship of automation to changing occupational patterns and related worker displacements, examples of automation and technological change in industry are given. Some summary findings are: (1) Technological advancements cause some jobs to disappear and also cause some new jobs to appear, (2) Many workers dispaced…

Research on the effects of numerical control (NC) machining on the skills of machinists presents mixed results. Interviews with a small group of machinists experienced in both conventional and NC matching suggest seven major factors that affect whether NC automation changes the overall skill level. The deskilling hypothesis is not supported by…

The authors critically examine the analysis by Hull, Friedman, and Roger finding that deskilling and heightened alienation are not necessarily the outcomes of increased technology. The authors suggest that the outcome of technological change be approached as an indeterminate process shaped by prevailing relations between workers and management.…