We know online learning solutions have been immensely effective for organizations. In this blog, we will see how it benefits the employees.
T he e-learning market is now 18 years old (the word “e-learning” was coined in 1998). And since then, its usage has been rapidly increasing and changing the corporate world. A research conducted by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) reported that nearly one-third of all learning content made available is in the form of e-learning.
It’s a well-known fact that using online learning solutions for employee training can and has been immensely cost-effective for corporate organizations. But it’s not just about how economical it is to the organization, but also about how efficient and beneficial it is to employees than traditional learning and training.
Let’s look at the five ways online training can benefit your workforce.
1. Provides access to learning content anytime, anywhere
An e-learning solution allows employees to access material from anywhere, anytime. Because e-learning materials can be accessed anywhere, employees can access relevant resources any time they encounter a question or difficult situation at work. And no matter what shift an employee works, the training content is always available, on-the-go.
2. Facilitates better, long-term retention of information
To be honest, hand-written notes taken during a training session are not the most effective way to retain knowledge. Notes taken in a hurry may not be legible later, or learners may lose the notes altogether. Knowledge retention has always been a challenge but with the dawn of online learning, however, things have changed.There have been many studies which showed e-learning helps employees retain the knowledge to a significantly greater degree than face-to-face instructor led training (ILT).
The Research Institute of America, for instance, reported that e-learning has the power to increase information retention rates by up to 60%. This is due to employees having more control over the pace at which they can learn, and as well as the opportunity to revisit the training as needed. In addition, the video and audio materials used in e-learning can also make the whole learning process more fun, yet effective.
3. Is adaptable to various learning styles
Not every employee learns the same way. You don’t need to look further than yourself or your immediate circle of colleagues to notice the differences in our learning styles. Not everybody feels at ease learning in a large group, especially if they find something hard to understand that their co-workers have no trouble with.
E-learning allows learners tackle the course at their own pace. It allows them to take the course in an environment that is more favorable to their learning style. If employees find it difficult at times to learn new concepts, e-learning gives them the freedom to learn the same concept repeatedly until they’re satisfied.
4. Requires very less employee time
A Brandon-Hall Study reported that e-learning requires 40% to 60% less employee time than the same material delivered in a traditional classroom setting. With e-learning in place, employees don’t have to travel long distances to take training. There’s also no need to schedule rooms or travel to another city. Online training is immediate – employees can complete courses and take assessments from the comfort of their living room, or even in transit on their Smartphones or tablet PCs.
Unlike the instructor-based training, where employees lose valuable work time to attend long training courses, online training improves worker productivity since it’s considerably quicker than the ILT alternative.
5. Offers constructive feedback
E-learning provides real-time feedback during an online training assessment. Providing constructive feedback (instead of a mere “Well done” or “Wrong answer”) can be influential in improving a learner’s competency and motivates them to participate in the learning process. A proper form of feedback basically facilitates the development of self-reflection in learning, as it closes the gap between current and desired performance. (Here are some best practices of giving feedback for e-learning assessments.)
And because everything takes place online, management can also get an up-to-date analysis on how the training’s going on, and track the progress of individual employees.
Online training has quickly come to the forefront of offering solutions to various corporate training needs. For learners, it has proven to be a great enabler of learning by yielding wider access and facilitating continual learning. E-learning provides an “infrastructure” through which corporate organizations can develop interactive and engaging platforms for their employees and deliver effective skill-building and performance-enhancing training.
Did you know corporate companies spent a mammoth USD 1,739.55 million on game-based learning in the pursuit of offering an engaging experience to their workforce? You can unlock these secrets, too. Grab the eBook to know more on how to transform your conventional e-learning to something which is engaging and fun, but effective.
