Why Do Organizations Use eLearning?

Organizations use eLearning to scale, save money, and have a greater impact on learning outcomes. Without the cost of classroom logistics, and by allowing asynchronous eLearning, organizations are spending less, and learners are learning more. In fact, research claims “e-Learning saves businesses at least 50% when they replace traditional instructor-based training with e-Learning [and it] cuts down instruction time by up to 60%.” Modern learners want their learning experience to reflect their high-tech personal lives, which means greater accessibility and custom eLearning activities that resemble the user experience and user interface of common recreational technologies. Digital learning modalities enable global delivery, capitalize on the rich media available with today’s technology, and, most importantly, apply instructional design principles to performance improvement.

HOW DO YOU USE ELEARNING?

1. BUSINESS GOALS

There are both off-the-shelf and custom eLearning solutions, but regardless of which eLearning solution you choose, it must align with the business goals. You must ask yourself:

• What changes am I trying to make?


• What behaviors do my learners need to change?


• Does the learning modality align with those needs?


• What would my audience most appreciate?

2. LEARNER EXPERIENCE

Next, it’s all about learner experience. You have to evaluate what your learners will expect and experience from the moment they encounter your eLearning program. You must think about your audience and analyze:

• How will they be accessing it?


• What metrics would you like to track?


• What would be the best use of their time?


• How would they learn best (not what are they used to)?


• How can it be most relevant to their day-to-day work?

According to Bersin, next-generation e-learning "can take on a much more interactive and social-oriented format that is embedded in the context of the learner’s work.”

3. IN THE CLASSROOM

A blended solution is one that employs both classroom and on-the-job materials and some digital learning elements. You can target the types of content that would translate into online business training the best, and create a pathway of learning with both in-person and web-based assets. According to the US Department of Education, “students in online learning conditions performed […] better than those receiving face-to-face instruction,” with blended results coming in as most successful (Means et al., 2010).

Some examples of successful classroom uses include:

• Flipped classroom model


• Rich media for classroom materials


• Modular curriculum


• Social element during classroom session


• Real-time polling and interaction


• Gamification and simulations


• Toolkit of web-based assets to use after the classroom session is complete

Learn more about digital and eLearning solutions we delivered to our clients.