It’s widely assumed that anything involving technology is inevitably expensive. Though this is a very relevant question within and outside L&D, the fact is, both the amount of time and money depend entirely on the duration of the course, its level of complexity, and the format used.

Videos and audio podcasts are easy to make, don’t need much time to produce, and are relatively inexpensive. Game-based designs and simulations on the other hand, involve high level interactivities, take more time to develop, and cost more as well.

In the larger scheme of things, online learning actually is more cost effective than ILT, especially in businesses with a global presence. With online training, you can do away with recurring costs for the training venue, instructor fee, employee accommodation, traveling, and refresher training every few months.  Moreover, you can opt for rapid eLearning solutions using authoring tools to save development time by up to 40%.

Post-training knowledge retention is one of the measures of training effectiveness. So, what is it about eLearning that lets learners beat the forgetting curve and helps retain knowledge? An effective and engaging online training program is a mix of the right instructional strategy – using bite-sized microlearning modules and providing spaced training over a period of time.

• Effective Instructional Design Strategies ensure learners stay engaged throughout the course. The most popular strategies are storytelling, scenarios, guided learning, gamification, and game-based designs. Each strategy offers learners a unique experience that’ll help them understand and retain the information they acquire.
• Microlearning involves small and focused learning modules, each focusing on a single learning objective. The idea underlying this training methodology is that small information chunks are more easily retained than longer eLearning cou Microlearning modules provide specific focused information without beating around the bush. They also avoid the monotony of longer courses.
• Spaced Learning offers training at regular intervals across a time period. Knowledge is more easily retained when it is served at intervals to learners with breaks in between, than overwhelming them with too much information at once.

No, not at all! LMSs still are an important aspect of eLearning training programs. It’s just that they are not the only players in the market now. An increasing number of management systems such as Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS) and Learning Record Stores (LRS) are being used by organizations with or without an LMS. According to the report two-thirds of their respondents used some form of social knowledge management and talent management platform alongside their LMS.

While new management platforms include many different features, none of them offer tracking, analyzing, and reporting on the scale an LMS does. Moreover, LMSs too are evolving and offering in-built or plug-in options for most eLearning related operations.

L&D is abuzz with the ‘new-age’ eLearning trends – Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality, and Virtual Reality. Agreed, these are very high-end technological solutions, but are they really relevant for your organization at the present time.

While these new age learning trends can seem very pervasive in L&D, at present, most organizational training hasn’t evolved enough to need them. Are you now ready to embark on the journey toward online training or do you need more insights on eLearning? Please refer to our eBook for more information.