Once upon a time, training was seen as a one-time event delivered on an as-needed basis. With the eLearning industry projected to reach $350 billion by 2025, it’s clear that one-off training is a thing of the past. Instead, organic, continuous eLearning allows learners to pace themselves, choose their own training, and reach new potential as part of your organization’s everyday culture.
If your training feels stale, tools like microlearning, blended learning, and gamification can completely revitalize your organization’s learning and development and initiatives. Compare your current strategy with eLearning, and you’ll find ways that it can fit into your L&D for better results and more satisfied employees.
What are the advantages of Corporate eLearning?
Autonomy
Traditional training programs force all employees to go through the same process, even when there is a huge spectrum of existing knowledge in one training room. Making the switch to eLearning means each learner can piece together a custom learning experience and still arrive at the same endpoint.
BYOD
An eLearning approach gives you the chance to co-opt a number of different technologies that are already at your learners’ fingertips: the ever-present smartphone. Using quick videos, messaging, apps, location services, and email, eLearning turns smartphones into any time, anywhere learning devices.
Time
Instead of requiring learners to block off entire afternoons for training sessions, eLearning respects learners’ time. Learning can be delivered in quick snippets via microlearning, or with blended learning or multimedia options. This reduces the amount of time (and possibly travel) required by typical training and makes any moment a teachable one.
Cost savings and sustainability
You can’t ignore the cost savings and ROI of corporate eLearning. One of the major advantages of eLearning in the workplace is that you can repurpose content again and again. Rather than holding a one-time event, you can leverage online learning libraries so employees can find what they’re looking for whenever they need it. At the same time, you save on employee materials and manpower because they aren’t dedicating entire blocks of time to training.
What are the disadvantages of Corporate eLearning?
Less formal
Some learners enjoy the face-to-face aspect of training in a classroom because it makes it easier for them to focus, and they enjoy the social aspect of learning with their peers. Blended learning (combining both classroom and eLearning methods) can give more traditional learners a chance to interact while also incorporating eLearning in your corporate eLearning strategy. What’s more, video conferencing plus blended learning allow your team to connect in meaningful ways when they’re apart.
Organization buy-in
Introducing the idea of eLearning requires buy-in from the top down, as learners and administrators may be resistant to change. When an organization has trained one way for years, it’s understandable that switching to eLearning might be a hard sell at first. It’s important to highlight the benefits of eLearning and launch a new initiative with a hearts and minds campaign. Show learners what’s in it for them and use your LMS to track progress so you can offer concrete results to wary managers.
It’s clear that eLearning has its pros and cons, but the disadvantages aren’t insurmountable. Solutions are readily available to sway even the most resistant learners and managers toward eLearning, so when you’re ready to switch to eLearning, just make sure you clearly articulate its many advantages—especially in today’s increasingly remote work environments.
