What about eLearning?
Not so long ago, the media was full of stories claiming that the future of skills training was on-line. Has eLearning lived up to this fanfare?
In recent years, it has become apparent that some skills lend themselves to eLearning. However, the experience with the training in some skills, particularly the softer skills, has proven that aspects of face-to-face teaching need to be blended with the efficiencies of information technology to create a more
efficient process.
Electronic or eLearning can be defined as learning facilitated and supported through the use of information and communications technology, but the important word is still ‘learning.’ Regardless of whether information is conveyed by a person or a PC, if the recipient does not take it on board the end result is a wasted exercise.
Brian Finnerty, Director of Marketing at Innerworkings, believes technology has forced traditional training providers to look at blended learning models and analyse the notion of having the student absorb conceptual information in a passive manner.
“In some instances, there is a better way to learn than sitting at the back of a large classroom dodging constant interruptions from your phone. ELearning is particularly strong with user interface-driven learning, which requires the use of screenshot and minianimations to familiarise students with best
practices,” claims Finnerty.
ThirdForce CEO, Brendan O’Sullivan, says eLearning has the most impact in situations where the training requirements are well defined and repeatable, where there is a high staff turnover, where there is a legal need to train, where the training has to be repeated, where the learning is modular – so it can be finetuned for different skill levels, and where it is difficult to gather the learners in a classroom.
In terms of business skills, or personal skills like leadership, management or communications,
eLearning is increasingly proving its effectiveness according to Kevin Young, Managing Director of SkillsSoft EMEA. “ELearning that has good instructional design can also give learners the opportunity to practice these types of skills in simulated role plays. The benefit here is that the learner can make
mistakes without fear of embarrassment and can try variations of the skills learned, to
test which action is the most appropriate.”
The time taken to deliver training can also be reduced significantly, adds Young. “What was a five day course, for example, may become a two day course, because some of the training can be done before the classroom based course commences. This knowledge can then be built on during the course and consolidated by eLearning afterwards.”
The key consideration for the customer – apart from price – is effectiveness and Brian Finnerty says participants usually respond positively to having more control over how they learn. “You cannot avoid the instructor-led model for certain types of knowledge transfer such as medical procedures or musical tuition. But, for many people, the eLearning model lives up to the promise of learning on your own
terms, setting your own learning schedule and speed of completion.”
Brendan O’Sullivan claims the return on investment is simply proven “unlike much classroom learning”, although Kevin Young admits that participant response tends to be strongest among younger people who expect (and prefer) to be able to do their training online.
Sean Kelleher, Managing Director of training firm Qualtec, has first hand experience of how technology has impacted on the delivery of training through his work with Chambers Ireland, in their Chambersafe programme. His observation was that the feedback from course participants was very positive.
The ability to deliver training on site is particularly appealing to owner-managers. “For courses where financial support is not provided, there are obvious cost benefits. These include reduced travel time, lower accommodation costs and less time spent away from the workplace,” he says.
“In our experience, while participants appreciate the use of technology, most still prefer the blended learning approach of mixing remote and face-to-face training, as it allows for greater interaction with other participants,” he adds. “However, results in terms of course scores are comparable for both types
of delivery.”
Corporate customers also increasingly look for control over content and content management tools are widely available. Some organisations simply customise the front end of their eLearning portal so when an employee enters the site it contains the company branding and corporate messages. Others customise deeper, by inserting company specific information into the courses, for example, or changing
some of the graphics to more relevant images for their industry.
Wider access to broadband internet services is the dream of every eLearning advocate and
Innerworkings’ director of marketing is no exception. “With companies like YouTube bringing huge amount of video content to the web, even mainstream eLearning has no excuse for not using multimedia content where it is appropriate. Streaming audio and video is no longer the preserve of high end, custom eLearning vendors.”
ThirdForce’s Brendan O’Sullivan says broadband has allowed the company to deploy new content
more rapidly, add new learners and centrally manage the learning process to reduce the overhead for both learners and their employers.
However, unavailability of high speed internet access is not necessarily an insurmountable obstacle to eLearning, according to Sean Kelleher. “While multimedia courses are more enjoyable when participants have access to broadband, they can be delivered on slower, dial-up connections.”
These days, even eLearning product vendors admit that their service is not always the best option. “It doesn’t deliver a particularly good learning experience when you get into the realm of deep technical content, such as software development,” admits Brian Finnerty. “Multiple choice questions and five step simulations just aren’t enough when it comes to learning an object oriented programming language or building a simple web application.”
ELearning can also be unsuitable for skills which require physical ability, says Brendan O’Sullivan, “although it can still train in techniques that can then be assessed in a practical test as part of a blended learning program.”
Kevin Young refers to very senior executive level training as another example of an application where eLearning has limitations. “At this level, personal networking amongst a peer group and peer to peer learning is as important as the training itself.”
Sean Kelleher also admits that eLearning will never completely replace face to face training. “Where demonstrations are required – for example, manual handling – it is better to bring the trainees together, although access to support information online would also be helpful. Theory-only courses are more suitable for eLearning delivery. Also, many people still want hard copies of course materials.”
So what innovations can we expect in the eLearning market in the near future? Brian Finnerty reckons blogs and wikis will change the way knowledge is shared and that syndication will increasingly be used to capture information. Brendan O’Sullivan believes the power and affordability of always-online devices
will enable organisations to deploy personalised training to wherever the user happens to be. Kevin Young predicts growth in the use of streaming video and podcasts to deliver bite-size chunks of information to mp3 players and other mobile devices.
It is clear then that eLearning is not the future of training though it is obviously a very important
component of it. Buyers of eLearning solutions should be clear that it offers an enhanced learning experience and not merely the latest training fad.
Case Study
Alpha Group has used eLearning material from SkillSoft to train staff responsible for packing secure foods and goods onto aircraft. The company is a global provider of in-flight catering and airport retailing and employs many staff for whom English is not their first language but who have to be aware of the stringent security requirements surrounding their job.
Historically, mandatory training could only take place at a specific time three days a week, which placed a significant strain on the three specialist security personnel who, in addition to their day-to-day jobs, were charged with delivering the training.
As well as being time-consuming, costly and disruptive, the training was inconsistent and the results varied. Even more problematic was that night workers and some part-time staff were missing the training altogether.
Ken Reseigh, Alpha Group security manager, was worried that the company was running the risk of non-compliance so he started to investigate new ways to approach his training needs. Having settled on eLearning, Skill- Soft was chosen to develop a bespoke training package for the company.
The requirements were that the participant must be able to go through the course in less than 40 minutes; have flexibility regarding completion time if they had basic skills and/ or limited English; find it easy to navigate and use and be able to see whether they had reached the required standard at the end.
To ensure that the training was global and timeless, it was critical that the text didn’t refer to any legislation, government initiatives or mention laws in specific countries. The wording also had to be chosen so as not to offend people from different backgrounds and cultures.
In the first six months after roll-out of the programme, more than 800 employees completed the training. The pass-rate increased significantly and Alpha is training new staff more quickly, effectively and consistently. “The training has far exceeded all our expectations,” says Ken Reseigh. “We have had our money back already and the potential return going forward is massive.”
Unit manager Teresa Scully adds that eLearning has provided the ability to schedule training into day-to-day operations “effectively utilising down-time rather than having to impose on staff rest days and incurring overtime payments.”
