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e-Learning is now proven as an effective and cost efficient method for developing people, but there are still many organisations who have not yet adopted this as part of their L&D strategy. In this article Darren Hockley, Managing Director of DeltaNet International Limited, explores the 10 most common reasons organisations choose not to implement e-learning, and argues that many are no more than myths and should not prevent your organisation from using e-learning.
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The top 10 reasons for not implementing e-learning:
1. E-learning isn't as effective as other approaches such as classroom based training...
2. Delegates prefer attending face to face training events to using e-learning...
3. External e-learning providers are too expensive, so we'll build it ourselves...
4. We haven't got a Learning Management System, and they are too expensive...
5. Our workforce isn't IT literate...
6. Our IT infrastructure isn't robust enough...
7. We don't have time to use e-learning...
8. Off the shelf e-learning packages are too generic, and bespoke products cost too much...
9. I need an e-learning solution fast, but it takes months and months to produce a high quality e-learning program...
10. We've created a great e-learning program, but no-one uses it!
Many years ago when e-learning first made its appearance on the L&D stage, a common misconception was that it would take over the training world and replace all forms of traditional training. This was never likely to happen and experience has taught us that e-learning proves to be very effective for imparting knowledge, but has been less effective for developing skills.
Examples of where e-learning has proven to be highly successful include:
- Corporate and departmental based induction
- Legislative training, for example. health and safety training, data protection training
- Product knowledge training
- Process and procedural training
- IT application training
With the exception of the last item, all of these topics include high levels of information. In a traditional training environment these subjects are often considered dry and are difficult to make engaging (death by PowerPoint syndrome); whereas e-learning, with the possibilities of multimedia and interaction, allow a far more engaging and effective experience for the learner, who can also customise the learning experience to suit their own personal learning style.
IT application training is one example of developing skills where e-learning has proved very effective. Here we have seen how simulations of an application can be developed which allow learners to practice their skills in a safe environment. This approach is being increasingly used in simulations of business processes/environments in what can now be considered a new breed of e-learning applications. These solutions, if correctly designed, allow learners to use them for initial awareness training as well as 'just in time' help systems or memory boosters to support them in the workplace as they complete the task or process.
Without doubt there can be considerable benefits to holding high impact events where people are taken out of their normal environments, which allows them to 'think outside the box' and contribute to the success of the organisation in different ways. Using a 'blend' of different delivery techniques allows organisations to reap the cost and educational benefits of e-learning whilst maximising the impact of their more expensive face to face delivery.
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This is often true; many employees consider training a 'perk of the job' and an opportunity to get away from their normal working environment. However there will be others who do not enjoy the less familiar setting of a training environment or who are extremely busy and resent the time lost to training.
For some organisations a hybrid approach might be an option, whereby a training course is also made available in an e-learning format and learners choose the option that best suits them. However in a time of more limited budgets and the drive for effectiveness these luxuries are not always possible. It then comes down to which solution will provide the most effective and cost efficient learning solution which will mostly be decided by the subject matter to be covered in the programme.
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Although it may cost more to get the help of an external provider to produce e-learning content initially, the long term financial benefits of introducing successful e-learning can be huge, so getting some help at an early stage more often than not turns out to be much more cost effective. It is important to identify the benefits of a project at the start, and the methods you will use to measure improvements to allow a return on investment to be calculated.
To save initial development costs many organisations have taken the option to build e-learning content themselves using internal resources. The initial cost savings for this can be compelling, however the skills required to develop an effective e-learning course are very different to those required to develop an effective face to face training course. If e-learning produced in-house proves not to be fit for purpose then this will turn out to be a false economy and will tarnish the reputation of e-learning within the organisation.
If you are considering developing content in-house then an essential step to making this a success is to use an experienced e-learning partner to provide a skills transfer process. Combined with the right authoring software this will allow your L&D professionals to produce high quality e-learning in-house at a fraction of the cost of using external developers.
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Learning Management Systems (LMS) can be very expensive, particularly for the feature rich versions, and this expense alone is often prohibitive for many organisations. But without an LMS how can you launch and track your e-learning content?
A typical 'chicken and egg' situation! However fret no more - affordable solutions are on hand:
- Open source LMS platforms such as Moodle are now available and are becoming common place, and these have undoubtedly helped reduce the capital investment required to get up and running with e-learning. You should be aware that open source does not mean it will be free! If you choose to go this route you will need technical resources in-house to develop and implement the platform for you. If these aren't available, it is likely you'll need to enlist the help of an external partner to do this for you. Still this option can still proved to be more cost effective than purchasing an off the shelf solution.
- Many server-based authoring tools now come bundled with a 'lite' LMS that allows you to launch and track your e-learning programmes without having to make a significant financial investment. These are ideal for organisations taking their first steps into e-learning as they reduce the risks involved whilst at the same time providing a platform for growth once the concept has been proven.
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A well designed e-learning programme will be very easy to use and simple to navigate. What's more using e-learning will help people who consider themselves to be low in IT literacy skills to overcome their fears and become more comfortable with using computers. But we would say that wouldn't we...?
When a customer says it as well, this is probably time to take notice. We were commissioned to produce a pilot e-learning project for United Utilities to introduce their new Intranet site. At the time this was United Utilities' first venture into e-learning and one of their main concerns was how non IT users would get on with it. Their evaluation report makes interesting reading; click here to download a copy.
Final thought:
Let's face it computers are here to stay and will impact on more and more job roles as we all drive to be more and more competitive. Therefore the entry level skills for using computers will rise all of the time.
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Improvements to broadband connections, enhanced desktop facilities and careful design techniques have removed what has traditionally been one of the main barriers for organisations adopting e-learning. In our experience e-learning is now possible for all but a small fraction of organisations.
Organisations still need to be careful about what is and isn't possible on their network. For example video and 3D graphics are still hungry for bandwidth and may not be possible for widespread use within e-learning. It is important to:
- involve your IT team carefully in the planning of the project so that you can understand what is possible and obtain their buy-in.
- test different media across your network first to ensure it is able to deliver them to your learners before you invest a large amount of time developing the assets.
- consider all of the links in your network; it is likely some 'pipes' will be smaller than others and may lead to bottlenecks, and you normally have to plan for the lowest common denominator!
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When implemented correctly e-learning saves your learners time:
- One hour of e-learning can usually include content that would normally be covered in 1/2 a day of classroom training.
- Travel time is removed.
- Learners are not forced to study things that they already know. They can spend more time on the topics that are new to them and skip over things that they already know.
- The most effective way to study is in small timeslots of approximately 20 minutes as this increases retention considerably. These smaller time windows are often easier to fit around existing work patterns and preferences than larger face to face sessions.
Normally when organisations say they have tried to implement e-learning but people didn't have time to use it this normally means we did not implement it correctly and manage the learners through the change.
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Off the shelf e-learning packages are very generic by their nature – they have been designed to meet the needs of a wider audience. This can lead to learners not fully engaging with the e-learning as it is not entirely relevant to them and therefore they become less effective. An extreme example of this is where narration is supplied in an American accent, which can mean that the learner doesn't engage with the experience as much as if it were narrated with an accent local to where they work. More subtle examples can be on health and safety courses where the company's policies and procedures are not referenced within the training.
Bespoke e-learning provides highly customised and specific e-learning, and if it is produced to a high quality, provides a very engaging learning experience. It is also true to say that producing bespoke e-learning will be more expensive, and for organisations with tighter training budgets this is not always an option.
However there are solutions that aim to offer the best of both world; These solutions involve taking generic content, for example on topics such as Health & Safety or Equality and Diversity, and having it customised by adding your organisations branding, building in details specific to your organisation (such as policies and procedures) as well as changing media features such as audio and photographs to make the learning experience more relevant to your workforce.
These solutions can be available at a fraction of the cost of developing bespoke materials, and are often no more expensive than buying licences for generic off the shelf content. Shop around to find the right solution for you.
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This may have been the case in the past, but the introduction of 'Rapid' e-learning solutions means that highly engaging and effective e-learning courses can be put together in days and weeks rather than taking several months.
These solutions de-skill the process of creating effective e-learning materials by building on work already completed by instructional designers and web developers.
The actual content-development work is done by the L&D professionals within an organisation. This removes the bottleneck experienced with the traditional development approach, and is the perfect solution if you need to produce an e-learning solution in a short space of time. It is also worth noting that 'Rapid' e-learning solutions are often very cost effective.
However there is a note of caution: Instructional Design remains King if you are to produce an effective solution, and you need to make sure your L&D professionals get some support with the transition from becoming face to face trainers to e-learning authors. Click here to find out more about what support should be provided.
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So here's the situation:
You've produced a great e-learning programme. Everyone involved with the development thinks it's much better than anything that's been done before and the feedback from the pilot has been excellent. But six months later only 10% of the people you were expecting to complete the programme have done so. And what's more most people haven't even started it yet!
This situation is all too common with e-learning projects. After all the hard work of putting the programme together you find that people have not used it. Introducing e-learning is like introducing any other initiative; it involves change and people are generally reluctant to change. If you are serious about introducing e-learning into your organisation you need to think seriously about how you are going to implement it:
What barriers exist and what strategies can you devise to overcome these?
How do you create awareness of the project?
People within the organisation are antagonistic towards the project, how can you bring these people on-side?
How do you manage people's expectations?
Normally you need to give incentives if you to people to do things – so do we use a carrot or stick approach' for our e-learning project?
e-learning undoubtedly has many benefits. If you want to realise these benefits you will need to answer these and many more questions through your implementation strategy.
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Darren has been Managing Director of DeltaNet International Limited for nearly 10 years, and has extensive experience of designing, building and implementing effective e-learning solutions. As an active member of the BILD (British Institute of Learning and Development), Darren regularly speaks on their behalf at conferences and network meetings and contributes to best practice within the industry. If you would like to discuss this article with Darren or ask his opinion on other related matters please contact him at darren@delta-net.co.uk.
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