Advance of e-learning continues to be overstated |
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| Technology - News | |
| Tuesday, 08 April 2008 | |
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Over half of learning and development managers (57 per cent) now offer e-learning as part of their training provision. There remain continuing doubts about its effectiveness, however, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s annual learning and development survey. When asked to list the top three most effective training practices, only 7 per cent of respondents mentioned e-learning. For respondent organisations using e-learning, it is on average available to 60 per cent of employees, but taken up by only half of them and only 30 per cent are reported as completing courses. The issues of e-learning are clearly defined: almost all organisations agree e-learning is more effective when combined with other forms of learning (95 per cent) and that it demands a new attitude on the part of the learner (92 per cent). Martyn Sloman, learning and development adviser, CIPD, says that e-leaning is here to stay and adds that over the last decade it has become a permanent feature of the training and learning landscape. He warns, however, that there is still a long way to go to embed it effectively in the organisation as it is clear from the survey that it is still not fully appreciated by learners or by training managers. “Simply saying we support blended learning solutions is not enough. We must work much harder to integrate e-learning into broader learning and performance support activities,” Sloman says. He points out that the best organisations are doing this, but that the worst are simply making e-learning available to the individual on their PC and hoping that something will happen as a result. “Businesses need to remember that technology is there to support people management and development strategies, not replace them,” Sloman warns. Despite e-learning apprehension from both employers and employees, e-learning usage continues to rise: nearly half (48 per cent) agree it’s been the most important development in training in the last few years and almost one-third (29 per cent) say that in the next three years between 25-50 per cent of all training will be delivered remotely. Not surprisingly, large employers are more likely to use e-learning: organisations with more than 5,000 employees have an uptake of 79 per cent, whereas those with less than 250 have a 39 per cent uptake. Possibly due to the government endorsements of e-learning in the Leitch report, there is also an overwhelmingly larger amount of public sector organisations that use e-learning (82 per cent) compared with the private sector (49 per cent). The Learning and Development survey will be available to download from April 18 on the CIPD website. Comments (1)
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To clearly see the benefits and ROI of e-learning, it needs to be fully integrated in to an organisation's training and development plan. Once this is done, it becomes a consistent yet flexible training tool that can accommodate employees at all levels. Like all training programmes, e-learning needs to be regularly updated to ensure relevance and engagement. Employers will then be able to pinpoint the value of its training offering and associated benefits through feedback from the workforce.
Remember, E-learning is meant to be (or should be anyway) engaging, motivating and contextual, resulting in learners becoming more receptive to the subject matter. This is particularly the case when the subject matter is dull. It also empowers employers to monitor progress in a rapid and in depth way, something that is difficult to do when relying on traditional training methods.
From my experience as CEO of a simulation games company, Caspian Learning, e-learning can offer significant cost savings, enable HR people to easily update training games to ensure relevance and accuracy and suit the training needs of dispersed workforces. Added to this, improved skills, better motivation and staff retention are notable benefits that are associated with training staff in new, engaging ways.
Greater awareness of the broad range of benefits associated with e-learning should ensure that more and more companies test it out and measure the benefits for themselves.