eLearning Benefits – eLearning helps organizations of all sizes reach learners quickly and effectively.
Just as you would diversify your investment portfolio, a company should offer a variety of training options to learners. While in-person meetings and conferences may align well with your company’s goals, you shouldn’t forget about eLearning either.
We have all attended an in-person event. They can be fun, right? You can shake the presenters’ hands and network with colleagues. Sometimes you can even feel positive energy as soon as you walk in the classroom.
However, when it comes to reaching more learners in less time, eLearning has proven itself to be the most effective and inexpensive option.
eLearning is Less Expensive
eLearning is a lot less expensive to produce than instructor led courses or conferences. Previously, an organization may have needed an LMS, company intranet or server in order to present online material to customers or employees. Fortunately, the software you need is readily available at half the cost. You can simply create an account with an eLearning webinar platform like WebEx and in a matter of clicks, present your material to anyone in the world. Think of it this way: some web-based platform fees are as little as $39.99 a month. One night in a hotel for an on-site facilitator may cost $200 or more.
eLearning Saves Time
eLearning saves time! Once you are familiar with your platform and material, these web-based programs require very little maintenance. Think of how much time and money is spent on planning one live, instructor led event. We dedicate so much time to planning the event and coordinating schedules, and then poof! It’s over. With eLearning, you’ll spend less time planning, more time presenting, and you can even record previous sessions and host them on your website.
eLearning Helps You Reach More Learners
Computers are smaller and sleeker than ever. Tablets, smart phones and other devices help make online training materials even MORE available to learners. There’s the iPad, iPad mini, Galaxy Tab: all of these devices (and more!) give you the opportunity to reach learners on the go and/or on a budget. A small company may not be able to afford sending out a company representative to attend your conference, but they can afford to attend a 1-hour webinar for half the price! Offering some web-based courses will help you reach the learners you may have normally missed.
eLearning = Happy Learners
Some of your customers may not be able to attend a live meeting due to conflicting schedules or budget restraints. But, they would be delighted to hear that you recorded the meeting and put it on the website for anyone who missed it! Offering eLearning training programs allow participants to learn the information they need on their own time. Learners love having that power and will certainly be grateful for it. And, since producing and maintaining web-based courses are inexpensive, you can charge participants less for attending. Hey, you may even offer free web-based courses!
eLearning Statistics:
eLearning truly is a wonderful thing! A colleague recently sent me an interesting article highlighting some surprising statistics on eLearning over the past few years.
Here are a few of my favorites:
- The eLearning market is now more than 13 years old (the word “eLearning” was coined in 1998).
- eLearning is the second most important training method within organizations, with companies increasingly moving towards blended learning and eLearning, rather than instructor led training sessions.
- eLearning is generally shorter than classroom training on the same subject by up to 25-60%.
- eLearning is proven to increase knowledge retention by 25% to 60%.
Interesting in eLearning? How about self-paced eLearning courses and professional certificate programs?
