If you’re curious about the advantages of eLearning for your company, then this blog post is for you! You might be aware of the huge uptake of online learning software within the business sector – particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, several trends are emerging in the field, offering genuine value to millions of folks worldwide who are training remotely.
There are some solid reasons for adopting a Learning Management System, or LMS, that support how companies need to work to stay ahead in these competitive times. For instance, It’s a given that a qualified and trained workforce is not only going to be happier but also better at their day to day jobs – but why shift to eLearning? Let’s take a quick look at some significant advantages.
Mobile eLearning
With many businesses increasingly encouraging remote working to keep their employees safe, it makes sense to enable remote learning. Online courses can keep them up to speed with new procedures or give them a chance to upskill when things are a little quiet. With eLearning available via laptops, mobile phones and tablets, courses can be completed from any location – say, on a train or in a park – rather than in a classroom. This ‘own time, own place, own space’ kind of training can be much more attractive and enjoyable for many employees.
Flexible Training Online
Aside from the benefits of providing learning and connection opportunities to your remote workers, eLearning is fundamentally flexible. Busy work schedules often mean that traditional training can become sporadic or interrupt the tasks that really need doing. Using an LMS, you can keep your whole company on a solid learning journey by giving them the means to take courses in small sections as and when it suits them. Additionally, you can tailor a package of courses and modules to each individual learner, meaning the eLearning they do is always relevant.
Is eLearning Cost-Effective?
Balancing your budget is the bedrock of your business. Unnecessary extra costs should be avoided if you’re going to succeed – particularly considering the financial toll the pandemic has taken on companies of all sizes. However, this doesn’t mean you should ditch the training since it’s essential to your company’s future.
Elearning is an efficient way to provide high-quality training to every individual at your firm without spending on the ancillary costs that come with traditional training. Investment in eLearning software is an initial outlay but think of the expenditure that’ll no longer be necessary for the future. Trainers fees. Conference location hiring and transport, perhaps. Material printing costs for seminars. Things can quickly spiral, but if you can disseminate courses online via video, or offer reference library content digitally, learners will keep learning without the skyrocketing expense.
Performance Monitoring Via LMS
One key advantage of eLearning is that a great LMS will allow you to monitor performance. Let’s compare online learning to a traditional classroom for a second. Once everyone walks out of that room, you’ve got no real idea how it went. Who zoned out? Who struggled to follow the topic or didn’t need to be there since the lesson covered what they already knew well? Online learning enables LMS admins to drill down into data via a dashboard. After each module or course is completed, it’s clear who understood a topic or who might need a little extra support. Performance monitoring is also a superb tool for the quality control of your courses. Suppose it’s clear from the online statistics that many individuals are struggling with a specific unit. In that case, you can examine whether you have an issue with the clarity of that course and fix it.
eLearning and Self-Assessment
ELearning not only affords managers tools to evaluate staff performance, it simultaneously allows learners to see their progression. This opens up the opportunity for self-improvement, offers encouragement and validation, and helps individuals spot where they might need to focus to reach their career goals.
Ways to Encourage Engagement with eLearning
However, all these benefits to eLearning assume that your employees are completely fine with constantly training independently. Two common issues with online learning that crop up are that not everyone can easily schedule their own time effectively. Some learners may feel isolated from their colleagues as they work through courses. eLearning is most effective when training software is a bridge between the workplace and quality digital training content. Luckily, there’s a whole host of ways to achieve this. Some of the techniques are built into many Learning Management Software systems to avoid the scenario of disengaged and disinterested learners.
Forums and Discussion Boards
One way to make eLearning more engaging is to make the most of LMS features such as forums and discussion boards. Learners can engage with their peers and share feedback on a course or module. It helps to make the whole online experience more interactive if group discussions relating to various topics is a part of your training strategy and L&D goals.
Quizzes vs Tests
Very few folks out there like exams! Instead, a quick quiz presented in an engaging format will likely yield the same result when you’re wanting to find out how much information learners have retained after following a course. Make things fun wherever you possibly can, but especially when it comes to assessment.
Great Graphics and Layouts
V Following on from the idea of fun, don’t forget that the look and feel of a course will dramatically impact uptake and sustained eLearning. Dull fonts and graphics, lumpen layouts, or too much content in the same format is the fastest way to turn employees away from their online training. The inclusion of multimedia, quality imagery and attractive design are essential considerations when creating your courses.
What are the Latest eLearning Trends?
So far, we’ve covered some key pros, some cons, and some ways to minimise those cons, but let’s take a look at some of the latest trends in eLearning. As the eLearning industry grows and incorporates the latest technology and training strategy, businesses’ benefits grow. Microlearning, Gamification, Interactive Video Experiences and Social Learning are currently buzzwords in the eLearning industry. Let’s take a look at how these features can benefit corporate training programs.
Microlearning
Microlearning via LMS platforms essentially means that each course or module is divided into very brief, easy to complete chunks. This approach has a few benefits for businesses, most obviously those with heavy workflow when training can get left on the back burner. Adopting microlearning means that online training is more attractive to employees who are often on the move and can readily find a few minutes to engage with their training via mobile or tablet. Microlearning is also a great way to introduce a complex new topic, ensuring that an employee has understood each mini-module before they move onto the next. Lastly, you may have employees who struggle to stay engaged with long training sessions. Either they have a lot on their plate, which means they’re easily distracted, or they simply don’t have the attention span for traditional hour-long classroom sessions. Microlearning, where each topic can be delivered in a rapid and entertaining format regularly, can truly help these folks acquire new skills without it feeling like a long slog.
Gamification
Another recent trend in eLearning is gamification. Simply put, this means that courses involve a fun, game-like ploy to deliver information or test fact retention. The more fun something is, the more your learners will go back to their online studies, and so great graphics, quirky formats and quickly completed tasks are a surefire winner. Gamification can also include encouraging healthy competition among a group of learners, awarding points or badges as levels are unlocked. Leaderboards, too, can be an effective way to promote online learning success.
Interactive Video Content
Online training software has incorporated video elements for some time now, but interactive video experiences are increasingly becoming popular. It’s one thing to watch an instructional video, but entirely another take part in an interactive one. This could be a slightly game-ified experience or include live support. As technology advances, the eLearning benefits grow with it, ultimately delivering rich and engaging learning sessions.
Social Learning Online
Most of us learn better collectively, either by watching another person do something successfully or through group activities to figure a task out and understand the result. There is a growing trend in the eLearning industry to offer software that stimulates a casual or social learning environment. Corporate employees can connect, collaborate, and network to solve set problems or complete an assignment together. This can involve social media platforms, live chat and discussion boards and works well when combined with more formal training approaches.
Another advantage to social learning strategies via LMS is that it strengthens team bonds and involves more isolated employees who work remotely. In the end, this encourages a positive work culture that is intertwined with a strong culture of learning.
Hopefully, we’ve made a case for eLearning for your business and the advantages compared to more traditional training methods. As an ever-growing industry, recent trends reflect how we’re increasingly doing business these days and staying connected as the online world evolves. In adopting a Learning Management System, the type of learning opportunities you’ll be offering your workforce is a powerful asset for the future of your business.