June 03, 2005, 3:53 PM —
 Contents |
| The lure of "technology-based" solutions |
| Why e-learning is virtually guaranteed to fail |
| How about time and cost efficiency? |
| It all comes down to competency |
In the more than half a decade of e-learning availability, one thing has become clear: the Internet is not a good platform for teaching complex
technical topics.
For the past several years, there has been a lot written about the "miracle of e-learning" and how it would fundamentally change the way companies train their employees to meet the increasingly rapid evolution of information technology.
Proponents of e-learning hailed its development as an educational breakthrough enabling employee-students to work at their own pace, time, and place. E-learning advocates have touted it as the cure-all for everything that ails corporate IT training: the expense, disruption, and dislocation of employees who have to enroll in live, hands-on training seminars, often in cities far removed from their place of employment.
But with over half a decade of e-learning availability, emerging statistics and studies conducted by a variety of institutions have yielded some interesting results:
- 57% of respondents to one study described their e-learning experience as "frustrating, lonely, and stressful;"
- The best e-learning environment (which includes audio and visual techniques) yields only about 40% retention of the material covered;
- Humans, by nature, learn best through social interaction - a critical element removed by e-learning;
- Much of e-learning course material is simply live lecture material posted to the Internet, resulting in a poor learning experience in which crucial context is removed because there is no human instructor to impart it.
The Internet has become ubiquitous, offering many conveniences and advantages, but teaching is not one of them.
The lure of "technology-based" solutions
Today's wireless technology has put seamless communication and 24/7 connectivity within almost anyone's reach, so it's no wonder that IT managers have turned to the Internet instinctively for a solution to the very real challenge of keeping harried employees up-to-date with advances in software development, systems integration and administration, and the dozens of other tasks that fall to the IT department. What could be more convenient than to enable time-challenged employees to learn skills at their own pace, at a time and place of their choosing, rather than cramming another "actionable item" into their busy workday? Conventional wisdom would support this premise. And why not? Can't get to it during your hectic workday? Log on at home tonight or this Saturday in the park and proceed at your own pace, free from distractions. Too bad it's not true.
Why e-learning is virtually guaranteed to fail
Even the most dedicated workers will lack motivation when there is no structure. Who is not guilty of saying, after a long day or week at work, "I'll get to it tomorrow, next week, next month?" Some employees are even willfully resistant, resenting the additional intrusion upon their rapidly-diminishing free time. Scheduled live training classes eliminate the delays that occur when students attempt to implement self-motivated "anywhere/anytime" e-learning on their own. Additionally, it enables the synchronized completion of coursework so that IT teams can better coordinate for time-sensitive project deadlines.
Even if all students were dedicated and remarkably motivated to participate in an e-learning program, human interaction is required to ensure a successful, effective training program. Humans, by nature, learn through social interaction. In a paper published in the July 23, 2004 issue of the journal, Science, researchers have determined that information is obtained by only two means: individual trial-and-error tactics and by watching others. E-learning removes the ability to watch and interact with others and all the advantages that imparts - critical dialog, context, emphasis, and even meaning. In a 2000 study conducted by Peter Honey, Campaign for Learning, and KPMG, 57% of the respondents claimed the e-learning experience to be "frustrating, lonely, and stressful." Think of e-learning as the trial-and-error method of obtaining information.
