Learning is big business…
First of all because of the ever existing gap between knowledge and skills you gather at school and that what you need in business. To close this gap companies offer in-house or external trainings and courses to further develop employee knowledge and skills.
Another reason why learning is important is the fact that continuously new methods, tools, technology and other changes affect our work environment. Learning is therefore also a means to keep pace with all these changes.
… And E-learning is a logical next move.
We all value the importance of learning, but when a company’s results is under pressure, spending on learning and trainings are normally the first to be cut.
And this is a good reason to search for efficiency in the learning business. E-learning could then be very well the answer; it will save on transport costs and on time. Both are valuable incentives to change the learning environment from a traditional training centre with teachers, to a online situation where the course (material) is managed virtually through the internet (web based learning).
The acceptance of internet as a mature communication medium was a previous requirement for the success of e-learning. Attending an online course is a much more solitary operation and that is not acceptable by everyone. Some people favour a face to face contact as a learning environment.
Also, the educational material is different in an e-learning environment. It is not possible nor enough to merely copy a teachers syllabus to a series of WebPages and scroll your mouse. In the end, the question about what is cheaper is not easy to make, but the time saving by less travel cost will remain.
© 2006 Hans Bool
