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Given the growing popularity of virtual human resources development (VHRD) in organizations and among human resource development (HRD) professionals, it is highly essential to deeply examine the nature and scope of the affective dimensions of the VHRD approach. Over the past decade, VHRD has become an important part of the HRD process.

The present study used an integrative literature review to investigate the nature of VHRD in the literature, present a descriptive analysis of the literature and categorize the existing VHRD research.

The results indicated three major themes, namely, VHRD and socialization, VHRD and learning and VHRD and the psychological characteristics of the work environment. In addition, a new conceptual model was developed based on the findings.

This study has reviewed the main concepts of VHRD. The potential actions which HRD researchers can take to address the identified challenges are discussed.

This integrative literature review could provide a roadmap for future research. Based on this model, the VHRD position is within the organizational context and different tools and processes in constant interaction are introduced. Finally, a general view of the VHRD approach was provided, which can help human resources experts deal with a wide range of technologies in the organization.

One of the misconceptions of teaching and learning for practical-based programmes, such as engineering, sciences, architecture, design and arts, is the necessity to deliver via face-to-face physical modality. This paper refutes this claim by providing case studies of best practices in delivering such courses and their hands-on skillsets using completely online virtual delivery that utilises different formats of 2D and 3D media and tools, supported by evidence of efficiency using learning analytics.

The case studies were designed using pedagogical principles of constructivism and deep learning, conducted within a mixture of 2D and 3D virtual learning environments with flexible interface and tools capabilities. State-of-the-art coding and scripting techniques were also used to automate different student tasks and increase engagement. Regression and descriptive analysis methods were used for Learning Analytics.

Learning analytics of all case studies demonstrated the capability to achieve course/project learning outcomes, with high engagement from students amongst peers and with tutors. Furthermore, the diverse virtual learning tools used, allowed students to display creativity and innovation efficiently analogous to physical learning.

The synthesis of utilised media and tools within this study displays innovation and originality in combining different technology techniques to achieve an effectual learning experience. That would usually necessitate face-to-face, hands-on physical contact to perform practical tasks and receive feedback on them. Furthermore, this paper provides suggestions for future research using more advanced technologies.

As costs around the world continue to rise for education, institutions must become innovative in the ways they teach and grow students. To do this effectively, professors and administrative staff should push toward the utilization of Open Source Software (OSS) and virtual tools to enhance or supplement currently available tools. In developing countries, OSS applications would allow students the ability to learn critical technological skills for success at small fraction of the cost. OSS also provides faculty members the ability to dissect source code and prepare students for low-level software development. It is critical that all institutions look at alternatives in providing training and delivering educational material regardless of limitations going forward as the world continues to be more global due to the increased use of technologies everywhere. Doing this could provide a means of shortening the education gap in many countries. Through reviewing the available technology, possible implementations of these technologies, and the application of these items in graduate coursework could provide a starting point in integrating these tools into academia. When administrators or faculty debate the possibilities of OSS, gaming, and simulation tools, this applied research provides a guide for changing the ability to develop students that will be competitive on a global level.

The purpose of this paper is to present a prototype pluggable service‐oriented virtual learning environment, enabling teachers to create an integrated teaching environment using tools that have been chosen to best meet their academic requirements.

This is an implementation of a WAFFLE Bus. A microkernel software design pattern is used to enable tools to be added and removed from the system. An enterprise service bus is used to provide workflow and message transformation functionality. Tools are managed through web service interfaces and Shibboleth is used to effect interoperability at the web application user interface. The initial services for the prototype were chosen to implement a simple web service teaching workflow.

First, Shibboleth is shown to provide a solution to the virtual learning environment tools' interoperability problem. Second, the service‐oriented virtual learning environment naturally leads to the ability to operate with many different types of information channels in and out of the system. This leads to a multiplicity of possible types of context‐dependent user interface. Third, immersive 3D, possibly the most interesting interface, will provide a context amenable to even the smallest development teams for the introduction of artificial intelligence into teaching. Finally, web service workflow is shown to provide a viable option for the implementation of learning designs with advantages and disadvantages compared to existing approaches.

Different types of information channels are associated with different security problems. It will be important to determine what the best ways are of establishing secure channels to student personal learning environments. The present web service workflow design tools are of the highest quality and usability, but the design process is still a job for a specialist. It might be possible, however, to modify these open source tools to bring the design process within the grasp of non‐specialists.

The software system presented herein represents one possible path leading away from VLE monolithy using a service‐oriented approach. A new solution to the tools' interoperability problem is presented along with a multi‐faceted approach to the user interface. The enterprise service bus creates a flexible platform for the delivery of web service teaching and learning workflows. It is posited that the use of an immersive 3D user interface will create a context that facilitates the introduction of an artificial intelligence layer into the virtual learning environment that can serve robot teaching avatars.

This research aims to examine the impact of virtual learning platforms and instructor presence (IP) on learner satisfaction (LS). Further, this study examines the role of learner engagement (LE) in order to improve the LS.

This research uses both primary and secondary data sources to compile the research's findings. The primary source of data includes 610 responses from various higher education institutes in India. The collected data were analysed using the partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique.

This research provides evidence that the theoretical model is accurate with the gathered data sample. In the model, online platform (OP) is an independent variable, whereas LS is a dependent variable, and IP and LE are the mediating variables. The outcomes demonstrated that OP has a positive impact on IP and LE. Also, the relationships between IP and LE, IP and LS and LE and LS are significantly positive. The mediation analysis validates the importance of the IP and LE for relationships.

This investigation presents a comprehensive model, which demonstrates the relationship between OP, IP, LE and LS. The study makes a unique reference to several theories in order to boost interaction and IP in virtual learning, the learner's learning experience can be enhanced. The model helps teachers and educational institutions formalise strategies to boost interaction and examine the institutions' pedagogy to enhance satisfaction.

The concept of e-learning is essential in employee education since it provides different ways to develop employees' knowledge, skills and attitudes using modern technologies. E-learning has been overgrowing in employee education because learning can be held anytime and anywhere. In order to succeed in implementing e-learning and benefiting from its capacities, and avoiding potential threats in the country, it is necessary to address the factors affecting its success. This paper aims to test the role of internet of Things (IoT)-based systems, cloud-based services, virtual classes, evaluation tools, attitude, content management and creativity on the success of employees' e-learning programs based on a framework.

E-learning systems receive ever-increasing attention in academia, business and public administration. With the development of e-learning, employee education has also benefited from its capacities in various fields. To succeed in implementing e-learning and benefiting from its capacities, and avoiding potential threats in the country, it is necessary to address its success. The proposing of Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-based technologies such as the IoT, cloud, etc., in e-learning, can help transform education. Therefore, this paper aims to test the role of IoT-based systems, cloud-based services, virtual classes, evaluation tools, attitude, content management and creativity on the success of employees' e-learning programs based on a framework. The research model and the data collected from the questionnaires have been analyzed via Smart PLS 3.2. This study has utilized the SEM to evaluate the causal model's reliability and validity based on measurement. According to the literature in this study, a framework has been proposed that examines the impact of IoT-based systems, cloud-based services, virtual classes, evaluation tools, attitude, content management and creativity on employees' learning programs' success.

The results have shown that IoT-based systems, cloud-based services, virtual classes and evaluation tools are four significant factors affecting attitude, content management and creativity. The results have also shown that attitude, content management and creativity are three significant factors affecting employees' learning programs' success. The factors above are considered critical in explaining the success of employees' e-learning programs, but, as far as we know, there has been no study in which all these factors were demonstrated together.

From a practical viewpoint, the statistical outcomes support the important role of the following factors: IoT-based systems, cloud-based services, virtual classes, evaluation tools, attitude, content management and creativity. Henceforth, aspects relating to these factors got the attention of any organization to develop e-learning processes.

This research will contribute to the literature related to employees' e-learning programs' success by integrating all the mentioned variables. As far as we know, it is the first study to test these variables in Iran.

VIBu – Virtual Teams in International Business – is the name of a training concept, which is aimed at familiarizing participants with collaborating in a virtual environment. Based on the online business simulation RealGame™, participants are assigned to multicultural virtual teams that represent different companies. These companies are either competing with or depending on each other in typical business processes of an internationally operating manufacturing company. Interaction and negotiation are required throughout the whole simulation. All communication takes place via information and communication technology, mainly Skype and Skype chat. The main challenge in the environment is that participants are located in different countries and time zones all over the world. The book chapter first outlines some of the challenges of global teamwork that organizations face. We argue that students need to learn how to navigate in global teams before they leave university as they are bound to become involved in organizational global teamwork sooner rather than later. We draw on frameworks for experiential learning (e.g., Kolb's learning model, Kolb, 1984) and the constructivist learning paradigm (Lainema, 2009) to outline the learning experiences that students need to gather in order to become effective global team members. In addition, we highlight the potential for learner engagement that this approach offers. The chapter concludes by highlighting the key learning and teaching outcomes from incorporating this cutting-edge simulation technology. Furthermore, we direct the reader's attention to ways in which the simulation can be used for research purposes, international inter-university collaborations, and multidisciplinary research on teaching practices and engaged learning.

Teachers have access to a growing range of online tools to support course delivery, but which ones are valued by students? Expectations and satisfaction are important constructs in the delivery of a service product, and how these constructs operate in a service environment, such as education where the student can also take on the role of the customer is unknown. This study focuses on the student perspective of online tools. The aim of this paper is to measure students' expectations and perceived importance of, and satisfaction with, a range of tools available in a virtual learning environment.

A quantitative survey (n=396) was conducted and descriptive measures and statistical analysis were produced.

Results show that the tools that enable instructors to communicate with students and vice versa are more important to students and more satisfying to them than tools that enable students to interact with each other. Also, business students appear to be different from non‐business students, with respect to desired communications tools.

The findings help us to understand business students' communication preference, which in turn helps teachers to create an educationally meaningful learning environment.

This work connects an established model for online interactions with students' expectations and level of satisfaction with tools that are currently being used in the online education environment.

This paper aims to explore virtual simulations, merging artificial intelligence with real-world simulations, supporting Canadian armed forces (CAF) junior military leaders (JMLs) leadership development. Our research questions are: (1) How do virtual simulations support CAF junior military leadership development within a globalized and complex environment in the 21st century? (2) Could virtual simulations support a leadership culture change through efficacious “soft skills” training? In this paper, we explore the efficacy of virtual simulations for enhancing or developing leadership in JMLs in the CAF through a four-day pilot project with twenty JMLs (n = 20).

To assess the efficacy of virtual simulations for leadership development, we designed and studied a four-day leadership workshop for JMLs in the CAF using several virtual artificial intelligence leadership role-play simulations developed by McGraw Hill in their smart book textbook (Manning & Curtis, 2022) and several non-virtual in-class simulations for comparison. We selected four twenty to thirty-minute virtual role-play simulations that synergized with the in-person morning leadership workshop. We facilitated the three-hour leadership workshops and virtual/in-class simulations over four consecutive days. We emulated the ELESS model (De Freitas & Routledge, 2013) to assess soft and leadership skills.

The participants (JMLs) reported beneficial learning utility associated with the virtual simulations. Participants also expressed that further utility might be leveraged through virtual simulations incorporating greater complexity with multiple potential outcomes. They also suggested that leadership simulations designed around military situations would prove highly beneficial, something that was outside of the scope of this small pilot project.

Since this phase of our research is a pilot project, we secured a small amount of funding to test our hypothesis that simulations enhance leadership development for JMLs. These funding limitations resulted in several constraints in the research, such as the availability of virtual simulations articulating leadership from a military perspective. However, we believed the assigned organizational leadership simulations in the McGraw Hill Smart Book ecosystem would approximate generic leadership situations enough to test the hypothesis with the JMLs. As a pilot project, our sample size was relatively small (n = 20 JMLs) since participation was voluntary amidst a busy spring season for the JMLs. Since this is a pilot project, we suggest that twenty JMLs are an adequate sampling to test the hypothesis that simulations enhance JML leadership development. We will expand the sample size in the next phase of our research as we work with the CAF to expand the pool of participants to at least forty JML participants (n = 40). We also plan to secure further funding to collaborate with subject matter experts to design virtual simulations based on Canadian military leadership scenarios.

The CAF host robust simulations capabilities for combat training, but have not exploited the potential training and analytical capacity of virtual leadership simulations for leadership development within the CAF. We believe that virtual simulations provide an opportunity for the CAF to effect desired culture change through leadership development that leverages the substantial pedagogical benefits of simulations.

The CAF encountered several detrimental leadership scandals that eroded the reputational capital of the CAF. In the current geo-political climate of an expanding North American Treaty Organization (NATO) and threats from several international actors, the CAF seeks to expand its capabilities by adding and enhancing its human capital. However, the CAF currently experiences a significant gap in its human capital aspirations. There is a unanimous consensus that the endemic traditional culture of the CAF, as expressed in the recent explosive leadership scandals, is a deterrent to recruitment and thus weakens the CAF’s capability. The CAF targets leadership development with new leadership paradigms as pivotal to culture change. The CAF suggests that by enhancing leadership development in the CAF the new cadre of leadership will change the culture of the CAF and thereby enhance the reputational capital of the CAF. It is believed that this rejuvenated culture will lead to greater recruitment and retention, leading to a strengthened military. A strengthened military is important to provide effective support and protection for the Canadian people in these volatile and uncertain times. This expanded capacity will enable the CAF to address external military threats more effectively and also the increasing operations other than war (OOTW), such as the military support of long-term care facilities during COVID-19 or the military’s support in fighting record wildfires and the military’s support in climate change related disasters such as flooding.

The satisfaction measures indicated by the participants are typical evaluative measures of leadership development (Noe, 2023). These satisfaction ratings do not, however, indicate whether training has produced a change in behaviour (Brown, 2022). The implications of these outcomes for leadership education are that role-player simulations are useful leadership education and development tools because they provide a theatre of practice in which mistakes are not detrimental and serve as learning moments (Moore, 2012; Piro and O’Callaghan, 2021; Riotto, 2021). Further, the importance of role-player simulations that closely approximate the sector where leadership is experienced and practiced is perceived to enhance the experience. While the CAF invest in combat related simulations, but leadership development simulations are not as evident in the training and development array. This study seeks to assess their potential value as a leadership development tool within the wider context of character development as a leadership competency.

The purpose of this study is to develop a practical method for training students how to conduct statistical analysis and do a course project in design of experiments (DOEs) course through the Web-based virtual catapult simulation.

A step-by-step sequential DOE process for investigating the effects of controllable factors on quality characteristic responses was presented as a guideline for conducting a DOE course project. Each team was assigned to create an innovative teaching material and work on the term report by following the recommended guidelines for designing experiments through the Web-based virtual catapult simulation. Hypothesis was defined to test whether doing a course project based on this approach would impact students’ learning outcome.

The Web-based virtual material was an alternative technique for interactive teaching that could improve students’ understanding and achievement in DOE course projects. There was a significant difference in student learning and understanding before and after doing on the course project through the Web-based virtual catapult simulation. The students had improved communication and teamwork skills after following the recommended procedure for practicing DOEs.

Most students could effectively conduct designing experiments, carry out designed experiments, analyze data and gain valuable teamwork experience. After learning the DOE approach based on the catapult simulation, they enjoyed working on their course projects deploying to the innovative toys and other real-life situations with real measurements.

The use of Web-based virtual material, including catapult simulation, was an alternative technique for interactive DOE teaching to improve the students’ understanding and achievement in DOE course projects.