How The Revolution Of eLearning Affects Business
Thanks to technology, the world is in a constant state of flux and it does not show any signs of stopping. Policies change, rules are updated, and technology practically becomes obsolete before it even hits store shelves. In such an ever-changing world, it becomes nearly impossible to keep up. Employees can read up on the latest trends, but the amount of time they have to adapt can severely limit their effectiveness when using new technologies, methods and procedures.
This says nothing about a college education. It’s pretty clear that a college degree is still worth the investment [1]. That’s probably because employers value the fact that employees are willing to work hard to learn a skill or a trade. However, a college degree can only teach someone how to learn and how to think of the industry they want to work in. When it comes to specific work-related skills however, colleges cannot keep up any better than anyone else can on their own.
That’s where eLearning comes in.
eLearning is slowly revolutionizing the way we learn new material, train employees, and prepare them for the current job market. It may be the most effective way to stay updated on the latest skillsets necessary to compete in the workforce today. In this article, we’ll outline how eLearning is changing the classroom as well as how it will affect the future of business.
How eLearning Is Revolutionizing Learning
eLearning has quickly become a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s been estimated that eLearning classes take 40 - 60% less time to complete than the traditional classroom setting [2]. In addition, the retention rates are higher. Retention rates in normal classroom settings are anywhere between 8 - 10% while retention rates online are somewhere between 25 - 60% depending.
The assumption is, eLearning classes allow students to go at their own pace. They can speed through the course materials they find easy to understand while spending more time on complicated topics. This ability to better personalize learning helps speed through some material while increasing retention rates elsewhere.
Some may consider eLearning to be the best of both worlds in this regard.
Ever growing percentages of the world’s population are turning to their mobile phones for their eLearning needs. Whether it’s reading a piece of content, watching a video or taking a quiz to measure retention, smartphones can easily handle the technological requirements of any given eLearning platform.
Not only does this allow students to study when they want and how they want, but it also lets them study where they want. This flexibility cannot be matched in a formal classroom setting whether it be a college class or a workplace training session.
In fact, while some may argue that there is an inherent value in classroom teaching and reading from textbooks that eLearning materials cannot copy, studies suggest that isn’t true. One study found that students do as well with free online materials as they do with expensive materials [3].
This is because, when it comes to learning, the motivation to learn the material is more important than the location or cost of the materials.
How eLearning Affects Business
As we’ve already established, eLearning is revolutionizing the way we teach materials to students. The same goes for business training. There are 3 main ways in which eLearning affects businesses.
1. Mobile Learning
As we’ve said before, mobile learning is incredibly useful for eLearners because it gives them additional flexibility. But what we did not mention is how apps designed for mobile can help add to the experience. Push notifications can immediately alert people when policies and procedures have been updated. Quizzes can be taken and retention can be quantified in real time. A good app will not only help the employees learn proper protocol but will also help managers know who is up-to-date on their training.
2. Gamification
Gamification is a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot these days. The idea is to turn training into a game in order to make it more fun for employees. Gamification increases training retention and further encourages employees to stay up-to-date on their training. Gamification of training also allows managers to create contests to encourage employees to meet certain goals in order to earn prizes. This method improves employee engagement as well as key metrics within the company.
3. Videos
Short form videos bring the brick-and-mortar classroom to the employee wherever they go. Short videos can teach very specific skills in a short period of time which cuts down on the needless explanations that usually accompany the traditional classroom setting. They can also be watched as many times as necessary until the concept is fully understood. Short videos can be produced quickly which reduces the time between policy changes and staff being trained on those changes.
Conclusion
eLearning is a great option for those looking to learn specific skills and for managers looking to keep their employees up to date on the latest policy changes. It gives all involved the flexibility to training when, how, and where they want. It allows managers to create competitions to quantify training and development progress and other company metrics and it is easier to update when necessary.
Let’s see the traditional classroom keep up with that.
References
- 6 key findings about going to college
- Facts and Stats That Reveal The Power Of eLearning
- BYU researchers find free textbooks are just as effective as costly ones
