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e-Learning or Instructor-Led Training?

There’s no comparison!  Review the matrix below to see how e-Learning is the real customer-driven training. 

 Why investing in e-learning Exceeds the

Value of short term Instructor led training

With the movement away from long-term company loyalty, it is increasingly important for companies to invest in keeping their current employees satisfied and to create an atmosphere that interests prospective employees. One key way to ensure that you both keep existing employees and attract new ones is to provide continuous training to your employees.

Higher Rand costs of Instructor-Led training versus E-Learning

Sound expensive? It doesn't have to be. In the past, training has at times been prohibitively expensive, but with e-Learning (previously referred to as Web-based training), companies can provide ongoing training for significantly lower prices than one time only instructor led training.

Costs of instructor-led training typically run thousands of Rand per person for a few day session. On the other hand, high quality e-learning courses such as those developed by MindLeaders, can provide an employee with unlimited access to a complete subscription of numerous courses for much less. With e-Learning companies also eliminate the additional costs associated with ILT. Travel expenses etc add up quickly and should be added to the cost of ILT for a true cost estimate.

Higher Opportunity Cost of Instructor-Led Training versus E-Learning

In addition to the significantly higher Rand cost of ILT, there is also a higher opportunity cost; employees are out of the office and off the job during an instructor-led training session. With E-Learning, employees don't lose time out of the office, resulting in more productive time in the office. In fact, according to the report "Return on the investment and Multimedia Training", edited by Brandon Hall, Ph.d., "the actual time required for training by computer averages about 50% that of instructor -led training...."(http://www.caicbt.com/roi.html). That benefits both the employer and employees.

E-Learning: Available Anytime, Anywhere

Employees want to have access to training at anytime. They do not want to sign up for courses months in advance. Managers do not want key employees absent from the office for days at a time. With e-learning this situation is completely eliminated. For example there are hundreds of courses provided, available anytime, anywhere, via the internet. Employees gain access to a subscription plan of high quality courses for an entire year, versus scheduling an inconvenient, one time only ILT course.

Effectiveness of Different Types of Training

What about the effectiveness of e-Learning? Many times e-Learning is more effective training method than ILT. For instance students using e-Learning take courses at their own speed , whereas with ILT, students are pushed through the course in a specific time frame. This provides e-Learning students to focus on and learn what is important to them and skip unnecessary or already learned information. ILT student s however are all taught the same information at the same level as all the other students in the class, regardless of previous experience and knowledge. Also adding to the effectiveness of e-Learning are enhanced retention levels achieved by students learning chunks of information over short periods of time. By taking online courses in twenty to thirty minute segments over a number of days, retention increases significantly over day and week long instructor led training that is not easily retained.

The Importance of Consistency and Follow-Up

e-Learning also provides consistent training across and organization. While different ILT instructors have different approaches to teaching a particular topic and present training of varying quality, giving students access to e-Learning ensures training is consistent from student to student. In addition to consistent training between students, e-Learning provides all students with access to courses at anytime for a refresher or to use as reference material. While ILT students may receive a workbook for use as a reference after class, manuals are notorious for their inconvenience and inability to easily access the information one needs. Of course, if any employee did take instructor-led training, he or she could use e-Learning as a compliment- either as a prerequisite to instructor-led courses or in follow-up workshops.

Ease of Student Administration

If you are interested in keeping track of your employees progress, e-Learning is also the favored training approach. The administration of e-Learning is much easier than that of instructor-led training. With MIindLeaders e-Learning courses, an administrator may track the progress of employees and measure learning effectiveness via a Web-based utility provided by MindLeaders at no additional cost.

Why E-Learning

So why should you invest in e-Learning in general and MindLeaders in particular? The reasons are many. MindLeaders e-Learning provides highly effective training, available anytime and anywhere. Every student receives consistent training and has the ability to follow up on learned material. In addition to gaining better trained employees, companies also benefit by incurring lower Rand costs and opportunity costs than instructor-led training, and can easily track student administration. In other words, e-Learning is a win-win situation for all involved.