Selecting the Elearning Approach to Set Your Company Apart

Designing Digitally

01/22/2019

Custom elearning

Many companies are incorporating eLearning into their training programs. The employees are able to perform their jobs, well-prepared and confident, due to the comprehensive education eLearning provides. It’s likely that this trend will continue and online corporate learning will become the norm.

Once a business understands the value of implementing eLearning into their employee training, the next step is to determine the right approach. By taking the desired outcomes and the individual needs of the company into account, eLearning providers can design customized training to meet the company’s specific needs. ELearning will raise the quality and effectiveness of the training and provide both quantitative and qualitative results.

Questions to consider

Before deciding on the type of training that will be used, it’s helpful to give some thought to these questions.

  • What is the training supposed to accomplish? Is the purpose to onboard? Are there new products the employees need to learn about? Think about the end goal.  Conducting a needs analysis first will determine the training needs.
  • Who are the learners? Is the training for new employees? Do the customer service representatives need some review on their customer interactions? The audience is an important factor in choosing an eLearning approach.
  • What type of media or devices are the employees most familiar with? Do most of the learners use smartphones and tablets in their everyday lives? This can affect the choice of educational method.

A variety of approaches

The choice of the educational method chosen for the company should always encourage the highest rate of knowledge retention. There are a number of valid ways to accomplish this.

Let’s take a look at some of the options and their benefits:

  • Rapid eLearning. This involves chunking information into manageable, easily digestible bits. The benefits include:
    • The turnaround is quicker. Smaller units can be developed and accomplished in a much shorter time than a full course.
    • The costs are lower. The faster turnaround time means greater efficiency and time is money!
    • Maintenance and updating are easier. More compact bits of content can be updated quickly and easily.  
  • Blended learning. This approach is a combination of the traditional and the modern. There is still some classroom-type instruction involved, but it is supplemented with eLearning activities that reinforce the concepts. The benefits of blended learning:
    • Learners engage in real-world scenarios. Employees get the chance to practice what they have learned right away when they engage in an activity immediately following instruction.
    • Cooperative learning is encouraged. Learners can interact with their peers and get the benefit of viewing situations from differing perspectives.
    • The content can be personalized. Each employee can strive to meet their own distinct goals that are unique to their learning gaps.
  • Mobile learning. Employees can use their mobile devices to access training programs at any time and from any place. Mlearning has several great benefits:
    • It’s much more versatile. Learners can access the information they need, when they need it, no matter where they are.
    • Employees retain more of what they have learned. The targeted content increases the chances that learners will remember and apply what they have learned.
    • Employees are more motivated and engaged. The convenience of mLearning makes employees more likely to be invested and push themselves to learn more.

Taking the time to really assess the learning objectives and needs of the company and the employees can result in a successful business that is a cut above the rest.   

Designing Digitally, Inc. specializes in creating custom eLearning solutions that improve corporate training results. To learn how we can help your organization select the best eLearning approach to increase employee retention, improve productivity, and positively impact the bottom line at your company, book a free consultation with our team today.