Advancements in e-Learning

Advancements in e-Learning

  Examining some trends in e-learning will enable us understand why and how e-Learning will continue to be a driving force in business and industry, as well as in the arenas of education. This will help us anticipate education and knowledge on demand. With e-Learning, the possibilities for getting knowledge and information out to the learner at an accelerated pace is viable. This article gives an overview of the advances in e-learning.

  In the rapidly growing field of education, training and learning definitions and terminologies have changed. The industry has drifted from using such terms as “technology-supported learning, distance learning and distance education” to “online learning and Web-based training” to “e-learning.”

  Today, e-learning allows us to train and develop our workforce continuously, to capture, share, and manage knowledge and skills of the students and professionals who work in our organisations, colleges, and universities, and to get the right information to the right people, when and how they need it.

e-Learning Business Approach

  Organisations deploying e-learning for one set of business reasons are finding it to be an essential part of their operating strategy. Deployments of enterprise-wide e-Learning are used for increasing sales effectiveness, improving organisational competency, and building richer customer relationships.

 Integrated e-Learning Suites

  The e-learning universe is large and diverse, consisting of three major categories: content, technology, and services. In many cases, a comprehensive e-learning solution consists of components of each, integrated into e-Learning "suites" aimed at solving a particular business problem, such as sales or product training.

Blended Learning

  Advancement in e-Learning involves blended learning programmes, designed to integrate e-Learning with traditional training methods to increase overall effectiveness. Blended learning preserves the necessary consideration of how people learn, offers options for learning, improves learner retention, increases completion rates for learning programmes, and has been shown to produce measurable savings in learning offerings.

 Integrated Learning

  There is a tendency towards a seamless transition from one learning activity to another. The trend is towards the integration of these activities or delivery mechanisms. Look for seamless transitions from live group activities to individual exercises, from self-paced learning activities to live and back again, from activities in smaller groups to activities in a larger learning community and back again.

 Learning Management System (LMS)

  A few years ago, Learning Management Systems were said to be able to "do it all" for the internal workings of an organisation. The fact is that no one product can do it all, and it is not reasonable to assume one would be able to do so. True knowledge delivery solutions need to connect suppliers, business units within your organisation, and customers external to your organisation. The LMS is only part of any solution. The trend is to look at the bigger picture of knowledge delivery solutions that address enterprise-wide learning needs from the inside out.

Conclusion

  These five trends in e-learning are intended to provide you with a framework to consider the e-learning needs of your establishment. In the months and years to come, smart organisations will bring together executive decision makers from all parts of their company to understand the corporate needs for e-learning and make purchase and buying decisions based on an understanding of today's business needs and tomorrow's requirements for growth and evolution.