E-Learning: training without limits

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With all the recent changes globally, some, if not most of us have had an adrenalin hit of digital meeting and learning platforms thrown at us in the past 8 weeks – Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams to name a few major players! In order for us to connect, learn and explore, we as a company, have had to change and adapt to more diverse and digitally enhanced methods. In times of major disruption, often training and development needs are the first elements which are classified as non-essential in an organisation. However, we know from previous times of crisis in our history, that firms who continue with training and development report and confirm more successful bounce backs from change and disruption (Kim and Ployhart, 2014).

Let me introduce, the RISE of e-learning!

Now, e-learning is not a new method of organisational learning delivery, in fact e-learning has been around for decades! As technology has improved, so has capability in the e-learning space. From the humble beginnings of listening to audio files and reading digital documents to virtual surgery in the 21st century (don’t worry, we haven’t changed our specialty to medical care)! To this day, unfortunately, there still remains much mystery around the effectiveness of e-learning, so we thought we might bust a few myths and affirm a few truths about e-learning if this is something you find yourself on the fence with.

1.     E-learning is not as effective as traditional learning methods

Despite the overwhelming consensus that e-learning is not as effective as traditional methods of learning, most contemporary research will show this is a MYTH! A review in the education sector by Thomas Russell showed that there were no significant differences in learning methods and student outcomes. Another study by Wu and Hwang (2010) showed that e-learning actually enhanced participants’ ability and learning effectiveness. There is a small caveat though, as mentioned by a Scandinavian study which showed that the usability of the e-learning platform, participant attitude and motivation towards e-learning, and previous experience all play an important role in ensuring success.

2.     E-learning is easy and should replace all other training

Ease of usage with e-learning is a massive advantage for employees and organisations, however it might not be the best idea to completely replace traditional, face to face methods of learning. While e-learning clearly holds its own against face-to-face delivery, some contemporary perspectives do report limiting factors such as reduced motivation to engage in e-learning, need for social connection and face to face contact, and technological hiccups. In light of this, it may be that for your organisation a blended approach may be most suitable, providing both self-paced digital content delivery and live face-to-face (which ironically can also be delivered digitally) interactive application sessions. By combining e-learning as one part of an organisational training strategy alongside face-to-face and other training methods you get the best of both models!  

3.     E-learning is boring and lacks engagement

Besides all of the statistics that show that elearning is as good and in some cases even better than traditional methods of learning, many individuals report low levels of motivation and engagement with elearning. Why? Studies have shown this is largely due to historical technological limitations of e-learning platforms and modes of engagement. The boring old read-and-quiz approach is not the most interesting way to experience learning! This has changed drastically over the past decade with e-learning now creating engagement on multiple fronts with the use of different media as videos, gamification, assessments, reading material, audio material, and more. Some platforms also have the option to host communities for collaboration such as forums and threaded discussions that amp up the interactive nature and embedding of the e-learning.

E-learning is a hugely exciting and large growth area for training and development. Used in a blended learning approach, it has the potential to create geographical reach, self-paced learning and can appeal to new waves of worker generations as technology usage increases in the workplace. As well as all of the above, it is a greener option for training which appeals to many socially and environmentally conscious organisations.

Blog by Seth Heynes