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How does e-learning complement traditional classroom training?
E-learning or online web-based learning refers to a range of resources, like electronic books, presentations, videos, test preps, mentoring, simulations and live events, all hosted on the cloud. Learners have access to a learning management system by means of a user login and password.
E-learning can complement face-to-face learning significantly. We have heard clients say that, for instance, they find it hard to book training for a single employee like a chief financial officer who wants to do his training on a Saturday afternoon. This is a logistics issue, not only in terms of time and resource availability, but also in terms of scalability, where a minimum number of seats needs to be filled to make the customised training viable.
Also, there is the issue of scrap learning, where industry research has shown that most learning is forgotten if not applied almost immediately after completing the training. An online learning platform that allows courses to be repeated on demand can address this problem by promoting retention.
In addition, users on our platform have informed us that it is a good way to supplement resources used in classroom-based training. Once each learner has a licence to access the system, the face-to-face trainer can assign pre-course and post-course assessments to the class, assign exercises and send videos to aid learning and retention.
What advantages does your e-learning platform carry?
Besides the obvious advantages of costs and reduction in disruption to workflow, the prime advantages of our platform include the 12-month access that each licence gives learners, bookmarking courses so you can return at the point you left off, and mentoring for certification-type courses. Global expertise is available around the clock to help clarify doubts via a chat-based system. Learners also have access to e-books, book summaries and audio books from more than 300 publishers.
Our courses are aimed at various levels of employees, from office essentials courses for the new recruit to in-depth courses in various technologies and methodologies to two-hour learning tracks for C-Suite employees who do not have the time to learn, but wish to keep on track with the learning going on in their organisations.
A large part of our online assets already have mobile access and we hope to enable this across the entire platform soon.
How can learners track their study and learning progress?
Learners can see what percentage of the course they have covered at any time. Pre-course and post-courses assessments, test preps for certification courses as well as frequent questions posed to learners during the course all help in checking progress. In addition, a designated reports manager can get various reports such as the content activity report or the user learning activity report from the system, to see how many times learners accessed the system and what their test results are. Internal test results can also be tied to the employee appraisal system by the HR department.
What training courses do you offer on your e-learning platform?
The platform hosts courses in IT skills such as Cisco CCNA and CCNP, Oracle, Linux, Net courses, MS SQL server, VMware and many more. We also provide soft business skills such as project management, Prince2, PMI, Six Sigma, negotiations, customer loyalty, leadership skills, and selling skills. Other courses focus on office essentials and desktop skills such as Lotus Notes, advanced Word, power user Excel, PowerPoint, Windows 8 and more. Other courses focus on the environment, safety and health, transportation such as food service worker safety and electrical safety. We also have courses on global banking and financial services including bank branch management, branch security and fraud, anti-money laundering and global initiatives, risk analysis for specialised loans and more.
How does e-learning add flexibility to continuous development?
Employees in an organisation are trained, whatever medium is used, for several reasons: to fill in skills gaps; to cater to the long-term goals of the organisation; and for employee motivation.
Many multinational firms have online learning platforms available with on-demand resources accessible to all within the organisation – employees book and add courses to their learning plan for the year. Learning can take place during working hours or in private time, or a combination of both. It is not only employees who benefit from this just-in-time continuous development – firms also reap the benefits of a skilled and motivated workforce.
Roshan Mohnani is an e-learning specialist at ISL.