So, what exactly is so good about e-learning? The Training Journal sums up e-learning as “providing organisations with a great opportunity to develop their employees, whilst giving them the flexibility to learn at their own pace. This not only benefits employees but also the organisation as a whole, ensuring members of staff have more of an opportunity to develop their talents, review the learning and apply it.”
If you’re still weighing up if e-learning is the right sort of training method for your business, we’ve broken down some of the key benefits for you here:
24/7 learning
E-learning enables learners to access resources and courses at any time and from anywhere as it’s all available online. This flexibility enables the learner to complete their courses in their own time, when it suits them, rather than having to adhere to someone else’s timetable or agenda.
Relevant and up-to-date
Because content is online, it can be updated literally at the touch of a button. There’s no danger of someone using an out-of-date text book and therefore not being aware of current laws or legislation. This also makes it cheaper as there’s no need to constantly update printed reading materials or worksheets.
Cost effective
Because all you require for e-learning is a PC or smart device and a web connection (although some apps will allow you to access learning material without the need of the internet), it’s much cheaper than more traditional forms of training. There’s no need to hire a conference space or teacher to deliver the training and, as learners can log on from anywhere, there are no travelling costs required to get them all to one place.
Instant feedback
With Learning Management Systems, marking and certification is delivered in real time so as soon as your staff have completed that Food Hygiene or Health & Safety course, there is immediate evidence that they are compliant with those laws and regulations. It also means L&D teams can easily track a learner’s progress and create learning plans or ‘learner journeys’ depending on what skill set individual employees are missing.
Better engagement
Everyone learns at their own pace. Because of its flexibility, e-learning enables users to complete a course at their speed and control the amount of information they are being presented with in each session, meaning they are less likely to switch off. Many e-learning courses and resources deliver information via micro-learning, which delivers bite-size chunks of information in an entertaining way using games, activities and video.
Sustainable & eco-friendly
E-learning is one way that companies can tick the sustainability box. There are no travel emissions to worry about as learners can receive the training from the comfort of their own sofa if needs be and you no longer need to print out hordes of paper or other paper resources as all the information is stored in the cloud.
If you’ve decided it’s time to incorporate e-learning or micro-learning into your company’s training strategy, Video Arts, an award-winning e-learning provider, renowned for delivering corporate training in an entertaining and memorable way through video, can help. Get in touch