New training methods offer personalized e-learning

by Lori Mitchell

April 13, 2001 —

In today's labor market, companies face high turnover rates, making it difficult to retain and attract skilled employees. And recruiting processes are often tedious and time-consuming, costing organizations a bundle. As such, training programs have become important corporate perks not only for employees, but for employers, too.

As a result, electronic learning or e-learning systems have caught on rapidly during the past few years. E-learning programs provide a training system that employees can log into from anywhere, at any time, a great advantage for workers who are constantly on the go.

E-learning programs continue to evolve as they grow out of infancy. The future direction of e-learning has been defined as "blended learning," according to many company executives. E-learning system providers, such as Centra and Mentergy, have found that their customers are blending multiple training practices to provide a fuller, more beneficial training experience for their employees. For example, a student may take a segment of a course through self-paced e-learning and then attend a classroom session for the latter part of the course.

Match content to training method

1. Know your business problems, goals, and objectives.

2. Know the content being delivered and ask how it might be received.

3. Determine the length required for the class.

4. Find out the knowledge level of the student.

5. Determine how the student learns best: at his or her own pace or from a classroom instructor.

Weighing learning methods

E-learning courses add value to traditional learning modes by offering self-paced or live, instructor-led classes. Specifically, self-paced courses can be taken at the student's leisure and are good for self-motivated students. Typically these types of courses have been well-suited for IT training and can be taken at anytime, anywhere, making them convenient for busy workers as well as for globally dispersed employees. Companies such as Digital Think and SmartForce provide a number of self-paced courses.

Live e-learning takes place in a virtual classroom at a scheduled time that students commit to attending, just as they would a traditional class, minus the travel. Students can collaborate, share information, and ask questions of one another and of the instructor in real time.

Live e-learning is good for sharing information. Soft skills such as management, leadership, or team building can be tackled in this environment. However, this type of training works best if the class size is limited to 25 people to allow for optimal group interaction.

Not to be overlooked, traditional classroom training will always be an effective means of learning. Classroom training is still unbeatable for the amount of face-to-face interaction with both the instructor and classmates that is necessary to learn certain management, leadership, and other highly collaborative skills.

Blending your training methods

Matching your company's content to the appropriate learning method is critical for an optimum training program. Companies will want to consider the curriculum method best-suited to their employees' needs. Begin your training program by following these five steps.

1. Start with the business problem that needs to be solved and determine the purpose of the course. For example, is the course designed to teach customer satisfaction techniques? Increase sales?

2. Determine the best way to deliver the content. Will students be learning a new behavior, new facts, how to build or put something together? Consider these factors on a case-by-case basis and match them with the appropriate learning medium.

3. Determine the length of the course and the amount of time students will have to spend in each class. In-depth, lengthy courses may be broken into segments, and some segments may be better suited for different delivery methods.

4. The job function of the learner and the learner's background and understanding of the material should influence which method is used. For example, determine if all the material is necessary for all students, and if the course can be modified or personalized for each person.

5. Discover how your employees learn best. Are they self-motivated; do they enjoy interaction and collaboration? Generally, IT personnel are self-motivated and able to learn via self-paced courses, but employees should be able to choose the method that works best for them.

To keep up with the competition in a fast-changing world, employers need to be able to offer training quickly and effectively to their employees.

Choosing the appropriate method for your company's curriculum can be just as important as providing the training. Keep in mind the different training options available and, above all, consult your employees to find out which method they prefer.

InfoWorld