The COVID-19 lockdown has given the e-learning industry an unexpected boost – while previously distance learning was just an option, today, it is the key to maintaining non-disruptive education from the safety of our homes.
Yet, apart from distance learning, other e-learning facets are equally attractive. In this article, we will discuss the advantages of e-learning and why educators in both the corporate sector and academia should think of adopting e-learning solutions.
What is E-Learning?
Before we proceed with outlining the e-learning benefits, we feel like the term itself deserves a detailed definition. It may look self-explanatory — most of us would define e-learning as using the technology to access educational programs outside of a traditional classroom or to augment the traditional learning experience.
An important e-learning aspect that we tend to overlook is interactivity. The e-learning process implies that educators are not just delivering knowledge to students, but also providing feedback in the form of communication as well as grading assignments and tests.
Notably, the technology we refer to is usually the Internet, not television, or DVD. The education technology (aka EdTech), though, is a broader concept. As of today, EdTech leverages artificial intelligence, immersive technologies (AR/VR), NLP and machine learning, and relies heavily on cloud services. With the ever-increasing number of mobile devices, cross-platform availability has become a golden standard for most EdTech solutions.
Read also: How EdTech Transforms Education
Advantages of E-Learning
Today’s learners want to be able to study anytime from anywhere, value microlearning that teaches them a set of concrete skills, seek personalized learning programs, and find the concept of lifelong learning highly attractive. E-learning meets these demands while offering a quicker and easier approach to education. For educators both in the corporate sector and traditional academia, the advantages are also evident:
1. Saving Time and Money
Organizing the learning process takes time and effort. Venue rental and maintenance, personnel salaries, tackling administrative and management issues are the integral parts of the traditional learning process. E-learning eliminates a great portion of these concerns and enables educators to concentrate on teaching. Large corporate players also find e-learning more profitable — IBM, for example, reports having saved $200 million after ditching the traditional personnel training model.
2. Better Retention Rates
A survey by the Research Institute of America revealed that using e-learning accounts for 25 to 60% increase in learning retention rates. Learners are more willing to complete their e-learning courses than to undergo traditional training. This is largely due to the fact that educators who no longer have to tackle complex administrative issues, can now concentrate on creating interactive and engaging learning content. Modern e-learning platforms integrate gaming modules and offer a set of tools for broadcasting, virtual classes, and live chats
3. Accessibility and Scalability
People from rural areas or learners with physical impairments can now learn remotely and receive the same knowledge as their peers, regardless of physical location. On top of that, e-learning provides scalability — an online class has the potential to accommodate a larger number of students than a traditional classroom. Extended outreach spells increased revenues for commercial educators.
4. Personalized E-Learning
In the corporate sector, failure to offer employees personalized education plans could be one of the reasons they may choose to leave you for competitors. E-learning tools have all it takes to meet the market demand for personalized learning. They also enable students to pick their own learning pace while maintaining the consistency of a course or an education program.
5. Better Efficiency
Powered by AI and cloud infrastructure, modern e-learning platforms offer educators a range of interactive learning formats as well as a range of tools for knowledge evaluation and assessment. They streamline and automate manual processes like maintaining grade books and generating progress reports. Such platforms integrate complex analytic tools enabling teachers to track academic progress, attendance, and expenses, and achieve better efficiency.
How to Implement E-Learning in Your Organization?
EdTech is a thriving industry and e-learning is confidently changing the standards of education. Yet, some educators are wary to adopt EdTech tools and solutions.
Bound by legacy infrastructures and processes, lack of buy-in from the academic and non-academic personnel, high development and implementation costs as well as the talent shortage, numerous organizations are contemplating a shift towards e-learning, but aren’t sure where to start from.
If you share these concerns, this list of best practices in implementing e-learning in your organization should set you on the right track:
– Identify your e-learning needs: use surveys and feedback forms to collect employee input and help you identify the gaps in your education systems that could be filled by e-learning. Use these documents to get buy-in from co-workers and management.
– Select the training programs: start small by selecting two or three courses or training programs that you can deliver by e-learning. Not all your learning content may be fit for online delivery and changing it to match an e-learning format will take time and effort.
– Access the barriers to implementing e-learning in your organization: resistance to change, lack of skills and expertise, technological and infrastructure shortcomings could stand in the way of e-learning implementation. Recognizing these barriers will help you choose a proper e-learning implementation strategy that will help you overcome these challenges.
Read also: Top 5 E-Learning Trends For 2020
– Build vs buy: decide whether you will buy a ready-made e-learning solution or develop your own. The latter may apply when you need to meet the unique needs of your organization, or if the info you are going to share is proprietory and confidential.
– Select a vendor or a tech partner: go for a fair balance between cost and quality when it comes to choosing vendors. If you are looking for a tech partner to develop custom made e-learning solutions, make sure they have a proven track record of building similar projects.
At VARTEQ we specialize in both out-of-the-box and custom-built solutions for the e-Learning industry. Not sure which one will suit you best? Contact us now for a free consultation.