Should you consider eLearning?
Most people or companies, when in need of training will either go people to school, go to in-house training classes, or use manuals and self-study guides.
In some situations it is advantageous to use Web-Based Training or other forms of eLearning instead of the traditional training.
Questions you may have concerning this are:
What are eLearning advantages?
What are eLearning disadvantages?
How do you make the decision?
This article will help answer these questions for you and explain the advantages and disadvantages of using eLearning as a training option. You can then determine when your company should use that method.
What are eLearning advantages?
eLearning has advantages over traditional classroom training for the workers in a company, customers using a product, or students in school.
These advantages include:
Better than reading the manual
Many working people do not have the motivation or skills to sit down teach themselves by reading a manual or self-study guide. Manuals are usually more effective for reference than for learning. Self-study guides can be considered a drag. On the other hand, WBT (Web Based Training) attracts the student's interest and can even be enjoyable to use. It certainly would work better than simply learning from a manual.
Cost-effective
The major consideration in training is cost. As the number of people being trained increases, it becomes more cost effective to develop eLearning material than to send people to class. This includes situations where many people must be trained, as well as cases where companies have a high turnover of personnel.
Practical
Another situation is when the people to be trained are widely dispersed. Travel time and costs to send them to a class could be prohibitive, and sending trainers to them would not be practical. Sending WBT material to these people would make more sense.
Standardized
Since different teachers and trainers have different styles of instruction, all personnel may not be receiving the same training. eLearning assures standardization of training and content presented. This is also true for any testing or certification the students may receive.
What are the disadvantages?
There are some drawbacks on using eLearning:
Need access to a computer
Students must have access to computers, at home, at work, or at some training location in order to use WBT. Sometimes computer access isn't possible.
Need access to the Internet
In the case of WBT, students need to have access to the Internet. This can be a problem for training field personnel who may have computers but can't readily access the Internet for the just-in-time training or guidance.
Must know how to use a computer
To use eLearning, it is assumed that the personnel being trained are somewhat computer literate. They certainly must know how to use a keyboard and a mouse. Some people must be trained to get to the point of being able to use a WBT system.
Personnel resistance
Some people have phobias concerning using computers, while others balk at any type of computer interaction. They may feel it is too impersonal or that the computer is out to get them. Some people may simply freeze up when confronted with learning on a computer.
Must be well-done
The eLearning must be designed and written in a quality manner for the students to keep interest and learn. A poorly designed WBT system can result in boredom or even confuse the person supposed to learn the material. In my opinion, a person can learn more from a poor teacher than from a poorly designed WBT system.
How do you make the decision?
Businesses make most sound decisions based on potential return-on-investment (ROI). It is assumed that the company has already determined that training their personnel and/or customers is a value-added activity. Now, the question is whether or not eLearning is the best route to take.
Criteria for deciding on using eLearning include:
- Cost and practicality of sending learners to class
- Availability of computers and literacy of learners
- Development cost versus number being trained
Weighing these issues, an effective decision can be made.
