Dear Professionals & Friends
I thought it best to share with all the professionals in the training and Development space, about e-learning and its benefits. Although a commonly used term, “e-learning” can mean different things depending on the context and the audience.
Definition:
"Instructional content or learning experiences delivered or enabled by computer-based technology."
While general e-learning receives much attention in industry publications and research studies, few studies have focused exclusively on the application of e-learning for “soft skills.”
Definition:
"Personal and interpersonal behaviors that develop and maximize human performance (e.g., coaching, team building, decision making, initiative). Soft skills do not include technical skills, such as financial, computer, quality, or assembly skills."
THE CASE FOR E-LEARNING
An organization can be motivated by a number of factors to begin using e-learning. We created a list of 17 potential reasons, based on a literature review. We then asked respondents to identify all the rationale their organization used in its decision-making to use e-learning to develop soft skills. The resulting analysis yielded four primary factors.
Factor 1: Improving Learning Efficiency
Increased flexibility of learning was the most common reason for introducing e-learning methods. Other benefits, such as just-in-time delivery, reduced travel, lower costs, and increased variety, added to the appeal of e-learning.
Factor 2: Extending Global Reach
Although it is a unique benefit that might not apply to all organizations, e-learning's global reach allows organizations to offer a wide variety of learning options regardless of employee location. Web-based learning, electronic performance support systems (EPSS), and CD-ROMs can be delivered anywhere in the world, as long as the appropriate equipment and infrastructure are present.
Factor 3: Maximizing Impact and Integration
Some organizations believe that by offering e-learning they will increase the overall effectiveness and impact of learning. Given that learners have different learning styles and preferences, it makes sense that a greater variety of options would better facilitate learning. Additionally, e-learning technology has begun to blur the lines between learning and development and other organizational systems.
Factor 4: Responding to Demand
E-learning has become an option requested by some learners and their managers, partly because of the high levels of attention it has received in recent years. With so much media focus on the advances in learning technology, people are compelled to investigate it because they don't want to feel as though they are being left behind.
Some other important aspects of e-learning that you might want to know
E-learning for soft skills development is working to fulfill its promise. Many organizations are running into barriers related to user acceptance, equipment, features, and quality; however, few would deny that e-learning offers a great deal of promise for the future. E-learning is off to a slower start than many had predicted, but it is growing in use and acceptance. As barriers fall and adoption increases, more users will learn to leverage the primary advantages of the technology.
E-learning success depends on a complex mix of factors. In many cases, introducing e-learning requires experimentation and constant adjustment to determine what works best. Foreseeing barriers in the context of new paradigms can be difficult. Even the best-quality e-learning program can fail if there is no organizational support or if learners are not held accountable for applying their skills. In this sense, the process for ensuring the effectiveness of e-learning is no different from any other program. Good planning, careful needs analysis, building support, effective implementation, and thorough follow-up are the keys to success.
HR professionals need not fear e-learning technologies, but there is a lot of learning to do. For many HR professionals, the introduction of e-learning has served as a forced primer in modern learning technology. HR departments are working more closely with MIS and IS professionals or hiring technical experts to be part of their HR teams. As new standards for quality and delivery develop, navigating the wave of information and choices might become easier. Nevertheless, knowledge of technology has increased and will continue to increase in the HR function.
E-learning cost savings come from longer-term use and scale. In addition to the promise of greater learning flexibility, many organizations are counting on the long-term benefits of reduced costs through e-learning technologies. When the learning process becomes more automated, it should also cost less to deliver. Every time an employee uses an e-learning system, the overall acquisition costs are reduced. Additionally, the ability to immediately update e-learning resources eliminates the need to purchase all new materials. Scheduled instructor-led sessions addressing predetermined topics can be replaced by just-in-time application of automated systems over a broad population. The move toward e-learning can incur high initial costs in addition to the cost of the programs themselves; however, the real payoff appears in volume and ongoing use.
I have much more information on e-learning based on worldwide research. If you want to know more with no strings attached, do contact me, and I will try to help you.
Regards,
Kenneth Lewis
I thought it best to share with all the professionals in the training and Development space, about e-learning and its benefits. Although a commonly used term, “e-learning” can mean different things depending on the context and the audience.
Definition:
"Instructional content or learning experiences delivered or enabled by computer-based technology."
While general e-learning receives much attention in industry publications and research studies, few studies have focused exclusively on the application of e-learning for “soft skills.”
Definition:
"Personal and interpersonal behaviors that develop and maximize human performance (e.g., coaching, team building, decision making, initiative). Soft skills do not include technical skills, such as financial, computer, quality, or assembly skills."
THE CASE FOR E-LEARNING
An organization can be motivated by a number of factors to begin using e-learning. We created a list of 17 potential reasons, based on a literature review. We then asked respondents to identify all the rationale their organization used in its decision-making to use e-learning to develop soft skills. The resulting analysis yielded four primary factors.
Factor 1: Improving Learning Efficiency
Increased flexibility of learning was the most common reason for introducing e-learning methods. Other benefits, such as just-in-time delivery, reduced travel, lower costs, and increased variety, added to the appeal of e-learning.
Factor 2: Extending Global Reach
Although it is a unique benefit that might not apply to all organizations, e-learning's global reach allows organizations to offer a wide variety of learning options regardless of employee location. Web-based learning, electronic performance support systems (EPSS), and CD-ROMs can be delivered anywhere in the world, as long as the appropriate equipment and infrastructure are present.
Factor 3: Maximizing Impact and Integration
Some organizations believe that by offering e-learning they will increase the overall effectiveness and impact of learning. Given that learners have different learning styles and preferences, it makes sense that a greater variety of options would better facilitate learning. Additionally, e-learning technology has begun to blur the lines between learning and development and other organizational systems.
Factor 4: Responding to Demand
E-learning has become an option requested by some learners and their managers, partly because of the high levels of attention it has received in recent years. With so much media focus on the advances in learning technology, people are compelled to investigate it because they don't want to feel as though they are being left behind.
Some other important aspects of e-learning that you might want to know
E-learning for soft skills development is working to fulfill its promise. Many organizations are running into barriers related to user acceptance, equipment, features, and quality; however, few would deny that e-learning offers a great deal of promise for the future. E-learning is off to a slower start than many had predicted, but it is growing in use and acceptance. As barriers fall and adoption increases, more users will learn to leverage the primary advantages of the technology.
E-learning success depends on a complex mix of factors. In many cases, introducing e-learning requires experimentation and constant adjustment to determine what works best. Foreseeing barriers in the context of new paradigms can be difficult. Even the best-quality e-learning program can fail if there is no organizational support or if learners are not held accountable for applying their skills. In this sense, the process for ensuring the effectiveness of e-learning is no different from any other program. Good planning, careful needs analysis, building support, effective implementation, and thorough follow-up are the keys to success.
HR professionals need not fear e-learning technologies, but there is a lot of learning to do. For many HR professionals, the introduction of e-learning has served as a forced primer in modern learning technology. HR departments are working more closely with MIS and IS professionals or hiring technical experts to be part of their HR teams. As new standards for quality and delivery develop, navigating the wave of information and choices might become easier. Nevertheless, knowledge of technology has increased and will continue to increase in the HR function.
E-learning cost savings come from longer-term use and scale. In addition to the promise of greater learning flexibility, many organizations are counting on the long-term benefits of reduced costs through e-learning technologies. When the learning process becomes more automated, it should also cost less to deliver. Every time an employee uses an e-learning system, the overall acquisition costs are reduced. Additionally, the ability to immediately update e-learning resources eliminates the need to purchase all new materials. Scheduled instructor-led sessions addressing predetermined topics can be replaced by just-in-time application of automated systems over a broad population. The move toward e-learning can incur high initial costs in addition to the cost of the programs themselves; however, the real payoff appears in volume and ongoing use.
I have much more information on e-learning based on worldwide research. If you want to know more with no strings attached, do contact me, and I will try to help you.
Regards,
Kenneth Lewis