Why E-Learning?

More and more organizations are becoming actively involved in eLearning, as they are starting to realize how impactful and rewarding it can really be. It can help organizations become better and stand out from the competition, simply because it provides employees with outstanding opportunities to learn and improve their skills.

Learning and development are crucial because, as employees learn and grow, they become more satisfied with their jobs and they want to push harder and contribute to the company’s success. Before you know it, business is booming, and it’s all because of employees who were empowered to go the extra mile and help their organization thrive.

Why E-Learning is So Effective?

E-learning is hot. And for good reason. If done right, it can produce great results by decreasing costs and improving performance. Also, unlike a one time classroom session, the elearning course is available for others.  This includes the static elearning course as well as any ongoing conversations in networked communities.

Recently, I had a conversation with someone new to elearning and it struck me that she didn’t fully understand the value of elearning.  I think this is common as more people are joining the world of elearning.  Understanding elearning’s value helps you make the best decisions about when and why to use it. 

E-learning Supports the Organization’s Goals

• Improved training costs.  Producing learning content is time consuming whether it’s online or not.  With elearning, each time the course is accessed your return on investment improves because you are dividing the fixed production costs by number of uses.  You also have savings through decreased travel, reduced material, and hopefully improved (and more efficient) performance.
• Decreased material costs.  Let’s say you have to train how to arrange equipment in a sterile environment like an operating room.  If you had to use the real environment, it would be costly.  Even setting up a fake environment has material costs and labor.  By creating the environment online and letting the learner practice, you never have to worry about the costs associated with set up, use, and clean up.
• Increased productivity.  Because elearning is not bound by geography or time, you can control training’s impact on production by training people during down times.  In addition, with the current economy, you’re asking people to do more with less.  So elearning is a great way to give them the tools and skills needed to enhance their performance.
• Standardization.  You may have a great facilitator, but that’s no guarantee that the courses are presented the same across sessions.  Elearning allows you to create a standardized process and consistency in the delivery of content.  It also compresses delivery time.  I’ve combined elearning courses with facilitated sessions.  Elearning delivered consistent content.  Live sessions were interactive case studies that applied the information.

E-learning Supports the Learner’s Development

• Real-time access.  Live learning events require that those who participate align their schedules to the training calendar.  Elearning eliminates this because the course can be accessed anytime, anywhere.  This can also happen without Internet access.  I saw a Red Cross demo where the learners accessed the content on a PC out in the field and uploaded their results when they were back online.
• Freedom to fail.  Let’s face it, real learning requires some failure.  But no one likes to fail in a classroom full of other people.  Elearning lets you fail without fear.  This encourages exploration and testing of ideas.  With the right feedback you create a great learning environment.  Worst case, you can always start over.  Something you can’t always do in class.
• Improved retention.  The combination of multimedia and instructional design can produce a very rich learning experience that is repeatable.  Throw in some good practice activities with feedback and you have a learning environment that’s going to help your learners retain the course content which will produce results.
• Personalized learning.  Look out the window at your parking lot.  My guess is that you’ll see a dozen or more different cars.  They all do the same thing, yet we have personal opinions about what we want to drive.  The same for learning.  Learners want control.  Elearning allows you to offer control to the learners in a way that classroom learning doesn’t.

E-learning Nurtures a Learning Organization & Community

• Ongoing access to resources.  If you take a class in the real world and need a refresher, you better hope that you took good notes.  Otherwise, you’re out of luck.  That’s not the case with elearning.  Ideally, you continue to have access to the online content and resources to brush up on what you learned. 
• Knowledge management.  Many people see elearning as only the authored courses.  But elearning includes all sort of online technologies.  If you incorporate some of the tools that allow collaboration and conversation, you can capture organizational knowledge that is available for future learners.
• Encourage sharing.  The foundation of a learning community is built on sharing what you know with others.  This is where incorporating a forum or wiki really adds value to your elearning.  Depending on how the course is structured, you can encourage sharing of resources and insight gained from the course. 
• Employer of choice.  People want opportunities to grow.  A cafeteria with high fat foods is one way.  Another is a catalog with all sorts of elearning courses.  This allows them to explore other opportunities in the organization.  During downtime, it would be great to spend fifteen minutes learning to better manage meetings or improve working with peers.  Offering these opportunities to learn makes you a place people want to stay.

• Elearning is good for the environment.  Britain’s Open University’s “study found that producing and providing distance learning courses consumes an average of 90% less energy and produces 85% fewer CO2 emissions per student than conventional face-to-face courses.”  

This is exactly what eLearning can help you accomplish and why it has become so important and popular in the business world, no matter the industry or niche. Here are the key reasons why eLearning is absolutely essential.

1. Speeding Up Employee Training

According to Brandon Hall Group’s HCM Outlook 2017 Survey, eLearning can significantly reduce employee training time. It typically requires 40-60% less employee time than learning in a traditional classroom setting. It enables much faster delivery because employees can access eLearning material anytime they want, and anywhere they are, setting their own pace and training whenever they have spare time.

Therefore, they don’t need to follow the pace of the group and, more importantly, they can easily skip what they already know, and focus on learning what they actually need. Also, they don’t need to travel to their training events or stay after work to engage in training, which additionally saves time and enables them to learn, and improve much faster.

2. Cost Reduction

Cost reduction is often the main reason why companies switch from traditional classroom-based training to eLearning. In-house training tends to be very expensive, primarily because of the need for a professional trainer who will deliver it and who will help employees improve their knowledge and skills.

On the other hand, eLearning requires only an online training software that is not just cost-effective, but also enables employees to train at home. This translates to much lower costs related to travel, training venues, learning material, and trainers, not to mention that eLearning almost immediately leads to lower costs by speeding up employee training.

3. Maximizing Knowledge Retention

Maximizing knowledge retention is one of the most rewarding benefits of eLearning. According to Brandon Hall (2001 and Rosenberg 2001), eLearning can increase knowledge retention rate by 25-60%, simply because it is much more engaging than learning in a traditional classroom setting.

Since eLearning provides employees with various types of interactive content and multimedia, they can retain much more of what they learn and improve their skills and performance quickly. You can include gamification and provide them with interactive quizzes and activities that enable real-time feedback, which will all create an effective learning environment where your employees can truly grow and improve.

4. Increasing Productivity

Self-paced online learning leads to much higher productivity since employees can train at home, and then focus on their core tasks while at work. Learning in their free time will lead to better performance and higher efficiency, especially because online eLearning software will enable them to revisit any information they need, whenever they need it.

According to IBM statistics, eLearning can increase productivity by 50%. By utilizing online learning software, you will provide your employees with an incredible opportunity to engage in their training courses at any convenient time (at home, during downtime at work, or even on-the-go). This will enable them to quickly get up to speed with everything they need to learn, and their training will not get in conflict with their core daily tasks.

5. Better Collaboration

Almost every online learning software provides useful communication and collaboration tools, which are essential for knowledge improvement and building a strong collaborative workforce. This software will enable your employees to communicate with you and among one another in real-time, which will lead to increased engagement and a comfortable and empowering learning environment.

Real-time collaboration and feedback provided by eLearning will help you effectively address everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, and deal with skill gaps, so that you can truly help your learners improve their skills and abilities, and ultimately enable them to improve and grow.

Why Has eLearning Become A Must-Have?

We can safely say that eLearning has become an absolute must in today’s world, because it provides learners with an exceptionally rich learning experience. But, how has eLearning become such an important part of corporate training, and why is it rapidly growing in popularity?

The previously discussed reasons show precisely why eLearning is essential, and why a growing number of organizations are adopting that particular approach to employee training. However, perhaps the most important reason why it has emerged as a must includes the fact that it significantly increases revenue and Return On Investment (ROI).

Over 40% of companies say that eLearning has helped them to boost revenue levels, and the companies that offer training using technology (including eLearning) have generated more than 25% higher revenue per employee.

Because of this, and all the other discussed benefits, it really doesn’t come as a surprise that eLearning has very quickly become an essential, especially in the last 5 years. The introduction of microlearning, followed by social learning, adaptive learning, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and SaaS LMSs, all of which have made it necessary for making flexible learning possible in an online environment.

This evolution of eLearning is precisely what has enabled organizations to embrace the full power of online learning, and take a huge step towards creating a strong workforce of high-performance and collaborative employees who truly contribute to the success and growth of their business.

Types of eLearning Training

People use eLearning for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s to develop new skills or learn remotely, the convenience and accessibility eLearning offers is huge. Here, we’ll explain the 4 types of eLearning training that LearnUpon helps you deliver.

Employee Training

Employee training is the most frequent type of eLearning organizations use an LMS for. Organizations utilize employee training for numerous reasons, such as onboarding new hires and improving employee performance. Training employees using an LMS formalizes training delivery and makes it more efficient.

Compared to traditional training, eLearning more effectively encourages professional development by promoting knowledge and an eLearning culture. Furthermore, your LMS should allow you to create exams, run reports and gather feedback so that you can continuously assess and improve training performance.

Compliance Training

Compliance training is a necessity for most organizations. It informs your employees on the laws or regulations applicable to their role and industry. Compliance training is mandatory and tackles topics such as health, safety, and dignity in the workplace.  Some examples of compliance training include:

• Diversity Training
• HR Law
• Anti-Harassment Training

Running a smooth compliance training program helps to minimize the risk of non-compliance and maintains your reputation. Your employees will also benefit from a safer, more productive workplace. Furthermore, keeping up-to-date with changing legislation and amending your training materials is made easier with eLearning via a reliable LMS.

Customer Training

The idea of training your customers may seem like an odd notion. But it has profound value! Customer training programs help your customers use and understand your product or service. This type of training is especially popular with software providers.

As well as raising the customer experience, customer training benefits the organizations that run them too. You will experience better customer onboarding, increased engagement with your product or services, and improved customer retention.

Partner Training

Also known as reseller training, partner training gives your partners the tools they need to be successful members of your network. Types of training include product information training, sales training, support training, marketing guidance, etc. Often certified training is a prerequisite to becoming a partner.

Partner training presents many benefits; it can help you engage partners, reduce support costs, scale growth, and protect your brand.

Benefits of eLearning for your Organization

The advantages of each of these 4 streams of training have been briefly outlined, and you’ll now have a better understanding of what eLearning offers you and your learners. Here we’ll talk in more detail about the broader benefits you’ll experience when you use eLearning in your organization.

Cost Effective

This is one of the most significant benefits eLearning presents, and probably the most welcome! Traditional training can be expensive and often frustrating to maintain. eLearning removes the need for costly printed training materials and even on-site instructors. If modules within your content need to change, this can be done easily via your LMS without having to print and distribute updated training materials.

Saves Time

Time is precious, especially in a work environment, so why not save as much of it as you can? For employers, eLearning keeps any updates you need to impart simple.  Whether you need to implement changes to your training content or company policies, eLearning allows you to easily add them to your LMS. This saves you a considerable amount of time on the organization of reprints, etc. Learners can also save time by accessing content where and when they need to, rather than relying on scheduled training. And you can use your LMS to automate manual tasks, making training management more time efficient.

Improves Performance and Productivity

eLearning allows learners to quickly and more easily complete their training, resulting in improved performance and greater productivity. Learners appreciate that they can participate in training at their convenience. They’re likely to feel more motivated to further their professional goals through eLearning, as it gives them the flexibility to learn at their own pace and from a location of their choosing.

Lower Environmental Impact  

More and more organizations are making a conscious effort to reduce their carbon footprint as part of their corporate responsibility strategy. eLearning is an effective method if you aim to have a lower environmental impact. It offers an alternative to paper-based learning and contributes to a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly workplace.

The Most Important Benefits Of eLearning For Students

Today’s learners want relevant, mobile, self-paced, and personalized content. This need is fulfilled with the online mode of learning; here, students can learn at their own comfort and requirement. Let’s have an analytical look at the advantages of online learning.

1. Online Learning Accommodates Everyone’s Needs

The online method of learning is best suited for everyone. This digital revolution has led to remarkable changes in how the content is accessed, consumed, discussed, and shared. Online educational courses can be taken up by office goers and housewives too, at the time that suits them. Depending on their availability and comfort, many people choose to learn at weekends or evenings.

2. Lectures Can Be Taken Any Number Of Times

Unlike classroom teaching, with online learning you can access the content an unlimited number of times. This is especially required at the time of revision when preparing for an exam. In the traditional form of learning, if you can not attend the lecture, then you have to prepare for that topic on your own; in eLearning, you can attend the lectures whenever you want with ease.

3. Offers Access To Updated Content

A prime benefit of learning online is that it makes sure that you are in synchronization with modern learners. This enables the learner to access updated content whenever they want it.

4. Quick Delivery Of Lessons

eLearning is a way to provide quick delivery of lessons. As compared to traditional classroom teaching methods, this mode has relatively quick delivery cycles. This indicates that the time required to learn is reduced to 25%-60% of what is required in traditional learning. There are some of the reasons why the learning time is reduced by eLearning:

Lessons start quickly and are also wrapped up in a single learning session. This enables training programs to easily roll out within a few weeks, or sometimes even days.

Learners can define their own speed of learning instead of following the speed of the whole group.

Saves time as a student does not need to travel to the training venue. You can learn at the comfort of your own place.

Students can choose to study specific and relevant areas of the learning material without focusing on each and every area. For example, they can skip certain areas they do not want to learn.

5. Scalability

eLearning helps in creating and communicating new training, policies, concepts, and ideas. Whether it is for formal education or entertainment, eLearning is a very quick way of learning!

6. Consistency

eLearning enables educators to get a higher degree of coverage to communicate the message in a consistent way for their target audience. This ensures that all learners receive the same type of training with this learning mode.

7. Reduced Costs

eLearning is cost effective as compared to traditional forms of learning.  The reason for this price reduction is because learning through this mode happens quickly and easily. A lot of training time is reduced with respect to trainers, travel, course materials, and accommodation.

This cost effectiveness also helps in enhancing the profitability of an organization. Also, when you are studying at your own place, you are relieved from paying for travel expenses (e.g. accommodation) when training happens in another city/state and/or external learning materials.

8. Effectiveness

eLearning has a positive influence on an organization’s profitability. It makes it easy to grasp the content and digest it:

It results in improved scores on certifications, tests, or other types of evaluation.

Higher number of students who achieve ‘pass’ or mastery’ level.

Enhanced ability to learn and implement the new processes or knowledge at the workplace.

Help in retaining information for a longer time.

9. Less Impact On Environment

As eLearning is a paperless way of learning, it protects the environment to a lot of extent. As per a study done on eLearning courses, it has been found that distance-based learning programs consumed around 90% less power and generated 85% less amount of CO2 emissions as compared to traditional campus-based educational courses. With eLearning, there is no need to cut trees for obtaining paper. Thus, eLearning is a highly eco-friendly way of learning.

Conclusion 

Given all of these facts and plentiful benefits that online learning provides, it really is clear that eLearning is absolutely essential in today’s fast-paced world. It represents the most effective way of learning and helps organizations create high-quality employee training at a lower cost, empowering their workforce to keep improving and be genuinely excited about learning. As a result, they are more engaged and satisfied with their jobs, and they greatly contribute to higher revenue and ROI.