For Catherine Owens
E-learning
Type the phrase "eLearning in training" into Google and the search will produce no fewer than 75,000 hits! The extraordinary growth of information technologies in today's world now requires that a trainer also make decisions about how to develop and use electronic support related to the training (Dobbs, 2006; United Nations, 2013; Onguko, Jepchumba, & Gaceri, 2013) and especially when e-learning is used to supplement traditional face-to-face training delivery, known as blended learning (Bonk, Kim, & Zeng, 2005).
The allure of eLearning in training is based on two primary issues: speed and savings (Allen, 2013; ASTD, 2012; Jochems, Koper, & VanMerrienboer, 2013; Pelet, 2013). Well researched organizational examples of this idea include the Dow Chemical Company, which reduced average spending from $95 per learner per course on classroom training to only $11 per learner per course with electronic delivery; this reduction translated into an annual savings of $34 million (Shepherd, 2003). Ernst & Young cut training costs 35% by condensing 2,900 hours of classroom training into 700 hours of web-based learning, 200 hours of distance learning, and 500 hours of classroom instructional cut of52% (LiveOps Receives Brandon Hall Group Excellence in Learning Award, 2013). Specifically, eLearning, especially when used to supplement traditionally face-to-face methods, can accomplish the same amount of instruction or information as in a classroom 25% to 60% of the time (Jochems et al., 2013; Rosenberg, 2001).
According to the Brandon Hall Group ("LiveOps Receives," 2013), there are several reasons e learning can reduce the time it takes to train people:
Learners can go at their own pace, not at the pace of the slowest member of a group.
Time in classrooms can be spent on questions or topics other learners introduce that are irrelevant to the needs of the individual learner.
There is less social interaction time.
It takes less time to start and wind up a learning session.
There is less travel time to and from a training event.
Learners learn what they need to learn, and they can skip elements of a program.
But What Is E-learning?
E learning is any technology-enhanced learning, computer-based instruction, Internet-based training, or virtual instruction (Larson & Lockee, 2013; Pelet, 2013; Vijayasamundeeswari, 2013; Wan, 2013). Specifically, e learning includes numerous types of media that deliver text, audio, images, animation, and streaming video. It includes technology applications as well as local intranet/extranet, smart phone apps, and web-based learning (Wan, 2013; Werner & DeSimone, 2011).
E learning is unique because it is both a delivery method and a medium; it can be self-paced and asynchronous learning; that is, not in real-time, such as with the use of a YouTube® video or podcast. Or, with an instructor, it can be synchronous; that is, in real-time, such as that seen on platforms like Skype® or FaceTime® (Allen, 2006; Driscoll, 2010). E learning is usually blended in conjunction with other delivery methods, such as instructor led (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010; Dobbs, 2006). In other words, when it comes to e-learning, it is not necessarily an either–or approach, but could include both. However, e learning has issues other delivery methods may not have. According toLin (2007), when developing e-training tools, particularly, issues of copyright, learner privacy, and accessibility must be considered.
However, as technology becomes more pervasive in the workplace, e learning still must be developed with adult learning principles in mind (Larson & Lockee, 2013; Wan, 2013). That is, e learning, too, must be interactive, problem oriented, and relevant to real-world issues, and it must lead the learner toward intrinsic motivation (Dobbs, 2006; Knowles, 1973; Stolovitch & Keeps, 2011). With this in mind, e-learning seems to be effective, according to Allen (2013); a 9-year survey of the research literature in training published by Tobias and Fletcher (2000) and commissioned by the American Psychological Society says: "Learners learn more using computer-based instruction than they do with conventional ways of teaching, as measured by higher post-treatment test scores" (p. 414).
