By Rick Nigol
The end of a year is traditionally a
time for stock taking and reflection. And the end of 2006 is also
the end of eLearn Campus' fourth year in existence. My business
partner, Michael Grant, and I set up eLearn Campus to fulfill what
we perceived to be a need to help guide people through the eLearning
maze, doing what we could to help them realize better training
results through online learning. We have learned a lot through our
first four years. Here is a brief summary.
eLearning is Still in Its
Infancy
When we started eLearn Campus we were concerned
that we may have been too late, that the eLearning train had already
left the station. Well, we soon got over that delusion as we
discovered that there are many organizations just starting to find
their feet with eLearning, and many more just now ready to try it
out. Even a full decade after the birth of the World Wide Web as we
know it, eLearning only accounts for 15% of training expenditures.
If the eLearning train has left the station, it is leaving it in
slow motion, but we are confident that it will pick up speed very
quickly.
Perception is Reality
If people do not believe that eLearning works, or
do not believe that their people are "ready" for it, that is their
reality. We try to address these perceptions head on with facts, and
reason, and research. But in the end, if someone is not ready to
believe that an alternative training method can produce results, it
is no use banging your head against the wall. There are enough
people who see the promise and realize that it can work.
Technology Obsession
Persists
There are still many in the eLearning field
looking to technology for salvation. They believe that the answer to
all their problems lies in finding the right LMS, LCMS, or authoring
tool. But tools are tools are tools.....what you really need are
talented people with the right competencies who can use these tools
to create learning environments that meet organizational
goals.
Unrealistic Expectations
Related to the point above, most organizations
have highly unrealistic expectations regarding the range of
competencies required to produce high quality eLearning, especially
at high volumes. I have seen far too many large organizations that
expect two or three people to do it all in terms of eLearning
design, development, delivery and evaluation.
Off-the-Shelf Losing
Favour
People are starting to come to the realization
that there are not many off-the-shelf eLearning solutions that will
meet their organization's specific needs. The days of buying a
library suite of online courses that no one in the organization
utilizes are drawing to an end. Organizations are starting to
realize that customized solutions are the way to go.
Time is the Most Precious
Commodity
Time is a scarce and precious commodity these
days. This phenomenon affects eLearning in two ways. Developers are
expected to produce and deliver eLearning much more quickly than was
acceptable in the past. And learners have much less time to do
eLearning, resulting in eLearning being delivered in smaller
"chunks" and via at-the-point-of-need electronic job aids, rather
than courses.
Blended Learning on the
Rise
Related to the point above, organizations are now
much more open to creative mixes of face-to-face vs. eLearning,
asynchronous vs. synchronous learning, and self-service vs.
facilitated eLearning, in order to meet their training needs.
Future is Still Exciting
All in all, eLearning has a bright future. As
organizations do more eLearning and gain more experience, they are
starting to realize what approaches work best in what situations.
Still more effort could be given to evaluating results (see Will
Thalheimer's blog on this), but the field is slowly building an
understanding and appreciation of best practices in eLearning. So,
the future is still exciting, as we have only just started
scratching the surface of eLearning's potential.
Rick
Nigol is Co-Founder and Director
of Education for eLearn Campus.
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