ELearning has been around for years and is not something new with our advancing technological applications. What has changed is the environment with which organisations provide and manage the training. As work environments evolve, eLearning becomes an even more important tool to empower the workforce with the essential skills needed. Organisations must understand how to blend eLearning with traditional forms of training.
Online training can be the perfect fit for a primarily FIFO workforce because the logistical considerations associated with classroom training are removed. With traditional training, the more people being trained and the more geographically dispersed they are, the greater the training costs.
Online training can greatly reduce these costs. Location and trainee numbers are no longer a barrier to offering effective, engaging training to employees. Online training can be rolled out swiftly and uniformly across the workforce or be tailored to every individual requirement.
Moreover, eLearning makes economic sense. Providing eLearning to your workforce guarantees consistency and saves time and money.
Benefits of Online Training
Online training provides many benefits for both organisations and trainees.
Consistency of delivery
- Online training ensures that the same information is delivered to any number of trainees no matter where they are located.
- Delivery of information is not dependent upon the calibre and delivery style of the individual trainer.
Flexibility | 24/7 | Self-paced
- Scheduling and managing the training is a challenge many companies face. Online Training allows trainees to access and review learning materials at their own convenient time. The training materials can be reviewed by the learner as often as required and retained as a reference.
- Online training can be delivered on-demand, when and where it is needed, whether on-site or off-site.
- Online training can be delivered as ‘just in time’ training to enhance the learning process. This reduces the period between learning and applying the knowledge or skills to the workplace.
- Everyone learns at different rates. Through online training, trainees can control the pace at which information is delivered, enabling them to fully grasp each concept before moving onto the next.
Time reduction
- Because of the nature of online training, the time taken to learn the information is significantly reduced. Research indicates that a time reduction in the order of 30–50% is common. Because employees spend less time undertaking training, companies pay less for lost productivity.
A lot of companies have avoided online training, feeling they could not afford the costs to have the training programs developed. The reality is that eLearning courseware can be developed far more easily and cheaply than companies may realise.
It is possible to spend a lot of money creating highly animated courses that are like playing a computer game. However, there are also informative, engaging and interactive courses which can include videos, links to documents, external websites and learning games that do not cost much and are likely to be just as effective.
Online training courseware should be viewed as an asset. Once created, multiple trainees can access the information repeatedly with little or no extra cost.
What about the learner experience?
When comparing classroom learning with online training, trainees have expressed higher satisfaction from online training and rated the learning as more effective than in the traditional classroom setting.
Trainees responding to a survey said they chose the online format because of the flexibility and convenience. Some of their comments included:
- “I wanted the flexibility to study any time during my busy schedule.”
- “I was able to work with my instructor, receive tremendous support at all hours of the night and gain the same quality content and evaluation as my peers taking the same course in training centres.
Reference: Employee engagement improves company performance. Alex Edmans, MIT Sloan School of Management,
Bluegem EXPLORE® Training Management System | Learning Management System
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