E-learning has erupted in the past few years, with more employers taking their training back in house to save costs and valuable time, it enables learners to carry out their essential training at their own pace, and with a good system, allows the employer to track their employee’s progress and manage their learning patterns.
In the CIPD’s 2013 Learning and Talent Development Study, 74% of companies reported using some level of e-learning with 91% of companies reporting it to be very useful when combined with other methods and nearly ¾ of respondents saying it is essential for learning.
With this in mind, we’ve decided to put together a rundown of what we believe are the ‘Top 10’ benefits of e-learning:
1. Anywhere anytime learning. Simply put, e-learning enables it’s learners to access their courses 24/7 as it’s all online. This flexibility enables the user to complete their courses in their own time, when it is suitable for them. Even more so, with the development of technology and apps, users can now even access their e-learning without a web connection! The whole world can now be your classroom, or your teacher.
2. Accessible to all ages and experiences. Web-based learning allows people of all ages to log in and start learning something new, anywhere at any time . No restrictions of term times and enrolment deadlines, learners can access courses to help improve their career, learn a new skill or even gain a promotion!
3. Instant feedback and results. Marking and certification is all sorted for you in real time with e-learning systems, so as soon as your staff have completed that Food Hygiene course, they’ll be able to access their certificate – talk about instant gratification! It doesn’t stop there either, most systems allow the person managing the training to access advanced real-time reports so they can track learner’s progress.
4. Up-to-date content. All online course content can be updated as easily as changing your profile picture on LinkedIn: it truly is that simple. As there’s no printed learning materials, updates will always apply to everyone’s courses, meaning all learners are reading the correct, current versions of content – all with the latest laws and legislation.
5. Maximised learner retention. We all learn at our own pace, and e-learning offers the user the time and flexibility they need to complete a course at their speed, controlling the amount of information they are being presented within each session. They can also go back and refresh or update themselves on any area’s they feel they didn’t quite grasp.
6. It’s entertaining (most of the time). Training deployed in a fun way will always amp up the learners enthusiasm for the subject. Including gamification, using great imagery, in-topic activities and interactions and adding video can all help achieve this great learning experience that is not only holding the learners attention, but actually encouraging them through the course.
7. Tailored learning. Creating learning plans or ‘learner journeys’ is a great way to set out what you want users to learn, and setting deadlines enables your audience to know when this needs to be completed. All can be tailored to provide different roles, management tiers and responsibility holders with a bespoke learning package that has been created just for them – remaining focused on what they need to know.
8. Learning without limits. Snow day interruptions... not any more. With e-learning, you can log in from any computer or device with a web connection (or again, with flick - without a connection - think of us as the BBC iPlayer of e-learning!). So the next time you can’t make it into the office, school, or college, no worries – grab a hot drink (and a blanket if it’s particularly cold), settle at your computer, log in and get going with your training.
9. Cost effective. No conference rooms, no travelling, no day long trainer to be hired, all you require is a PC and a web connection (or if you’re with flick, your smart phone will also do the trick!). Cost savings for delivering training via e-learning are vast, so for companies that are on a budget, it’s the perfect way to remain compliant and tick all those boxes without breaking the budget.
10. Sustainable, eco-friendly and green. We all have a responsibility to be a little greener these days (just think of how many coloured bins we all own for our recycling) and e-learning can help tick your eco-friendly box too. As the training is delivered directly to the learner’s computer or mobile device, there is no requirement for the learner or tutor to move anywhere, cutting out the travel omissions. No paper? No problems – with the friendly info structure of web-based learning, you no longer need your note pads, files, folders and other resources, everything you need is in a neat online ‘cloud-based’ package, the tree’s will thank you.
So now that you've read our blog about how e-learning can benefit you - why don't you put it to the test?
Follow this link for a free white-paper on how to calculate your own benefits of e-learning.
