Should I Consider E-Learning?
Most people, firms or Companies, when in need of coaching or training either go to College, School, or conduct in house training classes or they use manuals and self-study guides. In some conditions however it is advantageous to use Web-Based coaching and training or different sorts of
E-Learning rather than the traditional standard coaching.
This article will help you to seek answers for these questions by going through the advantages and disadvantages of using e-learning as a training option.
What are the advantages of E-Learning?
E-Learning has advantages over on campus studies for the employees in a company, clients using a product, or students studying in a school.
These advantages contain:
E-Learning is better than reading the manual guides
Many working people do not have enough motivation to sit down and teach themselves by reading to them manual guides. Manuals are usually more effective for reference than for learning. Self-study guides can be a helping factor cannot be a substitute for a complete learning programme. On the other hand, WBT (Web Based Training) attracts the student's attention and can even be enjoyable to use. It absolutely would work better than simply learning from a manual.
Cost-effectiveness
The major consideration for any training programme is its cost. As the number of people being qualified increases, it becomes more cost effective to develop in house training programmes rather than sending out people to have trainings from classes. Providing online training is especially suitable for the companies that employee huge number of staff and they need to updates their skills through further trainings. .
Online Learning is more practical
Additional condition is when the people to be trained are broadly distributed. Travel time and costs to send them to a class could be expensive option and sending trainers to them could not be applied. Getting staff trained online would be more practical option for the companies under these circumstances.
Standardized
Since different tutors and instructors have different ways of instruction, all personnel may not be getting the same level of training. Consistent standards can be maintained through e-learning. E-Learning assures standardization of training and content presented. This ensures that the whole experience of training was equal for all the personnel’s who attended the
online course.
What are the disadvantages?
There are some downsides for using e-learning:
Essential access to a computer
Students should have access to computers either at their homes, at work, or at some coaching site where they could have their web based training through the computer. Generally computer access is not easily available.
Need access to the Internet
In the case of WBT, students are also required to have access to the Internet. This can be a problem for training field personnel who are placed in remote locations where internet is not available, in this case they might have computers but won't readily access the Internet for the just-in-time training or guidance.
Must have enough skills for using computer
Personnel need to get training through e-learning must know how to use computer. At least they must know how to use a keyboard and a mouse. To the minimum some people are at least trained for using the WBT system.
Personnel Confrontation
Some people have fears about using computers, while others hesitate from using any form of computer communication. They feel that it is very unfriendly and do not want to go ahead with this form of learning.
The E-Learning System
The e-learning must be designed in such a way that it is engaging and keeps learners' interest intact, students' attention is maintained from start to finish. Poorly designed system on the other hand can cause dullness or even can lead student to confusion and poor concentration.
Costs Versus value of training
Most of the decisions for the Businesses are based on potential return-on-investment (ROI).The businesses decide whether training their personnel and/or customers is a value-added activity for them and how this training should be conducted. Which routes should be adopted for this whether or not e-learning is the best route to take.
Other factors to consider
- Cost and practicality of sending students to class
- Accessibility of computers and literacy of learners
- Development amount against quantity being skilled.
When
it comes to free education and ease of access in the form of
home or office based study, free online courses are the optimum choice. There are a lot of advantages of taking free online
courses. These advantages include time and money savings, less stress and anxiety,
and flexibility of learning your way. Taking free online courses is considered
an exceptional way to yield benefits of the use of technology in the global world. Free online courses are an
excellent tool for obtaining certifications with no tension of costs for time,
money, psychological and physical stress.
Free online college courses with certificate accredited by local awarding bodies give you the advantages of added value to CV, increased
prospects of a job in your country and
abroad, promotions and base for further studies.
