E-Learning in our Current Work Environment

People are getting busier and busier. We want information and interaction now, not only on our lunch breaks or at home. As a result of this 'now culture', businesses are trying to get their product or service to the market possibly before or during the training of their staff. There is no time to stop or pause for training. It's about learning it now or in-between shipping this product and the next. I'm not saying this is right or wrong. What I am saying is this is the current state of play.

So how does e-learning fit into our current 'now' environment? Well, it provides an online mechanism for learning on the go. It is consistent, assessable and costs less than hiring a face to face facilitator. According to Blocker (2005) via Brown et al (2006), "eLearning addresses business issues such as reducing costs, providing greater access to information and accountability for learning, and increasing employee competence and competitive agility". In Bonk's 2002 survey of over 200 corporate entities, results from questions regarding web based training, tools, experiences, assessments and so forth included:
- e-learning increased access to training by 86%
- 66% of companies were using e-learning as an alternative to instructor-led training or as a supplement (55%).
-1/5 companies used e-learning as the sole source of training.
- e-learning software was said to be "highly useful by 66% of the respondents and was actually used by 57% of their organisations.

There were some issues though.
- perception of high cost was recorded at 44%
-resistance to the technology was recorded at 33%
-lack of organisational support came in at 32%
-perception of lack of time resulted in 46%.

My response to the issues above are this:
- I agree with the perception of high cost. The costs are sometimes very high indeed. However, I challenge an organisation to deliver Code of Conduct training to 500 + staff in 20 people lots in a total of 1.5 hours. Sure the e-learning may cost up to 10k to be built but how much would it cost to facilitate the abovementioned example in a face to face environment taking into consideration cost for the facilitator and staff absence from work......a lot more.
- Resistance to technology may have occurred in 2002 but its 2018 and I doubt this is still relevant.
- Lack of org support is a real thing. It is often seen as a challenge to change workplace training from face to face to e-learning. Finding 1.5 hours to train is much easier than 2 days, trust me.

I will continue to write blogs like this as and when a relevant topic pops up in the e-learning world. Please feel free to subscribe to my blog to stay updated!

So have a think about e-learning for your business.

Lisa

ps. I have no idea what's up with this font! Sorry, it's not consistent with my other posts!

References:
Blocker, M.J. (2005), “E-Learning: An Organizational Necessity” a White Paper. Retrieved January 31, 2006 from www.rxfrohumanperformance.com

Bonk, C. J. (2002), Online training in an online world. Bloomington, IN. Retrieved April 6, 2005 from www.CourseShare.com

Brown, L., Murphy, E., & Wade, V. (2006). Corporate eLearning: Human resource development implications for large and small organizations. Human Resource Development International, 9(3), 415-427.