E-Learning Catches on, Shows No Sign of Slowing
Online learning is hardly new, but it is getting the attention of business in a big way.
The continued proliferation of the Internet and access via computers everywhere, along with improved streaming technologies, makes high-tech education a solution to today’s time and distance challenges.
E-learning is focused specifically on the delivery of learning content via electronic media, including the Internet, intranet, extranet, satellite, broadband, audio and videotape, interactive TV and CD-ROM. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to conduct business training.
E-learning enables employers to efficiently train staff without incurring the costs of travel, facilities such as classrooms and other expenses. On one side of the equation, E-learning reduces costs. On the other side, it can also enhance performance and productivity.
The value of training is hard to dispute. Employers have found that providing timely training to employees not only increases the employees’ efficiency, but increases morale and loyalty as well. Companies that offer training have reported shorter downtime and lower downtime cost per hour.
In fact, quality interactive training, when integrated as part of the overall company vision, can have as much as a 30-to-1 return on investment. As a result, companies in ever larger numbers are moving from the classroom to the small screen.
– Corporations Spent
Millions On E-Learning
Last year, corporations spent $870 million on E-learning, according to International Data Corp. By 2003, International Data Corp. predicts E-learning will dwarf all other learning methods and capture 80 percent of the training market. It’s not going to replace the face-to-face contact that some learning situations require, but it is making sweeping changes in corporate America.
E-learning works for the employee, as well. It enables the employee to choose when and where he or she will take a course. For professionals who are pressed to find time to attend traditional classes but are eager to improve their skill set, E-learning provides the flexibility they need.
E-learners can access quality information that is interactive and compelling at times that fit their schedules and therefore better meets their needs. That increases the motivation to learn.
Simply knowing that training is available if and when it is needed increases morale and company loyalty.
– Customizing The
Training Experience
E-learning offers all this while still enabling managers to track and monitor training. How valuable is it for managers to know who has done what training? In our experience, it is very valuable.
It is relatively simple to personalize online training content to meet the goals of the trainee. Today’s Internet technology brings user decision-making into play. The E-learner works with training that customizes as it goes.
The environment makes a difference, too. Rather than depending on a traditional classroom, online training takes place in a more familiar, comfortable setting with all of the learning potential of a classroom experience. E-learners are able to learn in a comfortable environment with information that is tailored to their needs. Both of those factors enhance motivation as well.
E-learning has a variety of applications. The most common are continuing professional education, corporate orientation and education, and ongoing and one-time training. With all of these available to the 21st-century manager, the Internet-based train ing world is the manager’s secret weapon.
Corporate E-learning assures that training information is consistent and current. It also enables a decentralized staff to work from a streamlined information base to access accurate product training. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel for every location. Many companies are discovering that E-learning is the way to go for new employee orientation and various certification programs.
An example of effective one-time training is the online distance learning used by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
The DMV now offers traffic school online and its attendees are raving about its ease and convenience. The ability to pursue this on a Saturday morning or a weekday evening, whenever is convenient, and complete the course from the comfort of home is a great advantage.
There are many new training providers who have jumped on the E-learning bandwagon. There are an estimated 10,000 training companies vying for an estimated 54 million students. The number of corporate universities has jumped from approximately 400 to more than 2,000 in the last few years.
However, that means caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) applies. Many of these newcomers are not experts in education.
Most experts agree that E-learning cannot stand alone , it will not replace all face-to-face learning. There will always be a need for the traditional classroom. Training online, however, can be a powerful and effective partner to classroom learning.
Properly constructed, online programs can provide accurate and dynamic information to a large group of people in a convenient, user-friendly manner. Online classes allow people with hectic lives to further themselves in a way that is not otherwise available.
In a world where, in one sense or another we are all pressed for time, and constant learning is a necessity, E-learning is a phenomenon that is going to get much bigger.
Inscoe is chief technology officer of the Dakota Group.
