If only 7% of companies think elearning is effective, and 42% do not use, or have stopped using it, is there a crisis in the world of 'e'? Linda Loader gives her opinion on the status and future of elearning.

The annual learning survey of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) provoked much interest in the elearning world. There are two facts which have excited comment most of all. First the idea that blended learning (that is the combination of elearning with other development methods) is endorsed by so many learning professionals - 95% of respondents felt that elearning is more effective when combined with other learning and development activities.

The second headline which leapt out at commentators was that only 7% of respondents rated elearning as one of the most effective learning and development practices. This figure, coupled with the statistic that 42% of organisations do not use elearning (or have stopped using elearning) suggests that there is something of a crisis amongst those advocating learning online.

As our primary activity is the creation of learning strategies with a technology component and the creation of those technology components, you might expect us to forcibly rebut those assertions and argue contrary to the findings of the CIPD survey. But we’re not going to! The evidence is pretty clear that larger organisations have embraced elearning and have implanted strategies which have a technology component within them.

The lower figures for private sector uptake of elearning (where the smaller organisations tend to be based) compared to the public sector is unsurprising - especially as there is a recognition that programmes developed for the organisation rather than generic learning programmes, are much more effective. The sheer expense of developing effective bespoke elearning programmes prohibits involvement by any but those with relatively large numbers of learners. In fact, the statistic that 38% of organisations with fewer than 250 employees use elearning is a surprising finding – I personally would have expected smaller organisations to be much less likely to enable access to elearning courses.

The fact that 7% of learning professionals think elearning is one of the most effective learning and development practices seems to us to be wholly consistent with the other headline statistic, in which 95% of respondents believe elearning works best as part of a blend. This has always been the belief of those of us with a more enlightened view of the uses and limitations of 'e' as a learning medium.

Growing elearning further obviously has some challenges and despite predictions that elearning will grow in their organisations, few seem to have identified a strategy to make this happen. According to the survey, 92% believe that elearning demands different attitudes of learners and 80% believes that it requires different skills. Yet only 7% of respondents say they spend most of their time involved with the development of elearning (as opposed to 49% planning new activities and 46% actually delivering in a classroom). So while the learning professionals recognise that the trend is for elearning usage to increase in their organisations (29% expect between a quarter and half of all learning to be online in three years time) and that new skills and attitudes will be required if people are to be able to learn this way, little time is actually devoted to how this disconnection is to be addressed.

One other feature of the survey which remains unclear is 'what do we mean by elearning?' If we are to take the quoted case study as an example of what is going on, it would appear that elearning is either a series of generic, IT-based training modules or an exercise in publishing information online. Interestingly, the measurement of success applied in the case study – the number of downloads of documents from a repository – does not look at how useful or effective the material was, and whether it changed anyone’s behaviour. This is not the same standard as should be applied to a well-structured, guided discovery process involving the appropriate use of multi-media technologies supporting other delivery mechanisms.

The final question to consider from the survey is perhaps the most disappointing. Not in the way it was answered, but the fact that it was felt necessary to ask it at all. The question was whether respondents agreed or disagreed with the assertion that elearning was not an effective substitute for classroom-based courses. Given that the respondents are primarily involved in planning or delivering face-to-face learning programmes, it wasn’t surprising that the response was a resounding 89% agreement.

Frankly, the fact that 10% of respondents felt elearning was an effective substitute is the most surprising finding in relation to this question. The reason it is a disappointing question to ask is that it tests a very outdated assertion. Unless your use of elearning is exclusively linked to computer training, or alternatively your face-to-face courses are endless PowerPoint presentations, we think it unlikely that elearning acts as a substitute for face-to-face. What’s more, we can’t think of anyone in the industry who now makes these claims.

So what is the future for elearning in the UK that we can derive from these survey results? First of all, the endorsement of elearning as part of a blended solution is a welcome message and one which, while it has taken a while to gain currency, is now an overwhelming feature of the training landscape. However, the sense that elearning is an inevitably increasing part of the training mix for organisations seems to be based on hope rather than any structured approach to harnessing the power of technology within learning departments.

The commitment to elearning represented by the survey shows that most organisations make elearning available to all, but shrug their shoulders at usage statistics that show fewer than a quarter of staff actually use the elearning provided. The fact that 68% of respondents think there will be a greater need for alignment between L&D activities and business strategy in the future, and that 35% of respondents believe that L&D makes its best contribution when it is aligned to business strategy provides the best indication as to the way forward.

We will need an increasing focus on tailor-made solutions to meet defined business needs, with the appropriate use of technology as part of a dynamic learning mix. This kind of learning strategy doesn’t happen by chance. It will need careful, strategic planning if 'e' is ever to fulfil its promise.

Linda Loader is the managing director, infinity.
For more information about infinity visit: www.infinitylearning.co.uk