E-learning in the workplace: The Benefits
With the emergence of new technologies, e-learning has inundated in the workplace around the world. Workplace e-learning refers to “the means, processes, and activities in the workplace by which employees learn from basic skills to high technology and management practice that are immediately applicable to their jobs, duties, and roles” (Cheng et al., 2012).
E-learning has become an integral component of corporate training in the digital age. In the survey by Dixon and Overton (2012), nine out of ten organizations had been providing some form of e-learning content that was either developed internally or acquired from external vendors. In the corporate world, various forms of e-learning can be seen pervasively on the daily basis. David et al. (2012) described a wide range of common e-learning activities that had already existed in the workplace, such as participating in online, interactive e-learning session with other learners and facilitators, listening to an online podcast, watching a video course on Youtube or Vimeo, and posting comments on an online forum, wikis, or course management system.
When it comes to advantages of e-learning in the workplace, existing literature commonly claimed major benefits of e-learning as cost and time effectiveness, better retention, and more control of learning. David et al. (2012) argued that the difference in learning outcomes between e-learning and conventional face-to-face training was insignificant, so company could take advantage of tremendous economic and social benefits offered by e-learning while still achieving the comparative learning goals as traditional classroom.
Many research indicated that e-learning alone did not lead to better learning results than classroom-based training, but when both modalities were employed together, the learning outcome would be significantly enhanced (Moran, 2011). Moran suggested that e-learning should only be used for refresher training or training expanding the previously learned knowledge. When it comes to delivering completely new knowledge, e-learning should be incorporated with face-to-face training in classroom setting (Moran, 2011).
Even though e-learning requires massive upfront cost for technology infrastructure and instructional development time, cost effectiveness and time saving are tangible benefits achieved when e-learning is implemented successfully in work environment. Moran (2011) posited that e-learning was especially cost and time effective when the training was delivered to a great number of employees and at various geographically scattered locations. With smaller group of learners, e-learning was still efficient in case the training need to be repeated after a certain period of time to refresh knowledge.
Finally, more control of the training is another benefit of e-learning as it ensured the training content and key messages delivered consistently and precisely to all employees regardless of learning sites and time. It is worth noting that these benefits could not be achieved with a poor designed e-learning course (Moran, 2011).
References:
Cheng, B., Wang, M., Moormann, J., Olaniran, B., and Chen, N. (2012). The effects of organizational learning environment factors on e-learning acceptance. Computers & Education, 58, 885-899. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131511002582
David, O., Salleh, M., & Iahad N. (2012). The impact of e-learning in workplace: Focus on organizations and healthcare environments. The International Arab Journal of e-Technology, 2(4), 203-209. Retrieved from http://www.iajet.org/iajet_files/vol.2/no.4/The%20Impact%20of%20E-Learning%20in%20Workplace_%20Focus%20on%20Organizations%20and%20Healthcare%20Environments.pdf
Dixon, G., & Overton, L. (2012). Bridging the gap - Integrating Learning and Work: Executive Summary. Towards Maturity. Retrieved from https://towardsmaturity.org/2012/05/14/2012-13-towards-maturity-benchmark/
Moran, B. (2011). Valuing eLearning. Training and Development in Australia, 38(4), 34-36. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/docview/893889545/E3E018F6F75840F9PQ/5?accountid=10226
