Why eLearning in the company: advantages and opportunities

Why do eLearning instead of relying on traditional didactics and classroom lectures?

The big question, which has always been on the table, came up again with great clamour during the COVID 19 pandemic that also hit our country.

The reason, as simple as it is difficult to translate to companies and schools, is that the advantage of digital training is the possibility for each worker to undertake training independently and flexibly, managing working and course hours as he or she prefers, while at the same time being part of a strong learning community.

Productivity remains high, while the skills of the employees are continuously updated, thus guaranteeing the company maximum specialisation and competitiveness.

These undoubted advantages do not yet seem to have fully penetrated the companies; which is incomprehensible especially for small and medium-sized companies given the obvious advantages of eLearning, which are manifold.

The advantages of eLearning for corporate training

First of all flexibility

Lessons and online modules can be used at different times of the working day, from any fixed or mobile device.

Interactivity

Digital specialisation and refresher courses contribute to the consolidation of team work: the involvement offered by lessons in which you feel free and encouraged to actively participate strengthens group dynamics, consequently improving productivity in the company.

Modularity

Each online course is subdivided into modules and lessons, and microlearning involves teaching structured in stages and specific objectives. Achieving results such as finishing a module or passing a quiz test entices participants by making them active participants in their own training.

Personalisation

The focus of eLearning training is on specific needs tailored to the company project. After analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the team, the best solution is identified in terms of objectives to be achieved, timeframe and content to be covered.

Speed

Online courses are born out of the need to automate and speed up employee learning, and tracking systems ensure that results are continuously monitored and updated in real time.

Distance learning: the technologies and tools

That said, it would be a mistake to think of distance learning as the result of this emergency phase. In fact, distance learning is far from new: for several years now, the computer revolution and the potential offered by digitalisation have opened up new horizons in the world of education and training in general. 

At the heart of this dimension are, of course, audiovisual and, especially, the latest generation of computer technologies. eLearning is essentially based on the conviction that online learning can facilitate not only teachers' work, but also students' access to teaching resources and services, especially with a view to continuous and customised training. In this sense, videoconferences, group chats, the use of digital platforms for the transmission of multimedia material are some of the most important tools for connecting distance learning.

On the other hand, the mere transmission of teaching materials or the simple assignment of tasks to be carried out does not fall within the concept of distance learning. In fact, the teacher's support is a fundamental element in the learning process and cannot therefore be lost in the distance mode.

What changes profoundly is the spatial-temporal dimension of the learning process. It is therefore important to change the approach and go beyond traditional practices.

In distance learning, activities such as videoconferences, for example, must be constant because they serve to maintain contact, but they do not have to be omnipresent. The need to make students feel cared for and supported must not become an intrusive presence. Also because people's concentration threshold when they are at home is not always constant, home being a comfort zone. This is why it is useful to diversify the tools and not to focus only on videoconferencing and the virtual lesson. Written messages, videos, podcasts, although not involving direct contact, are still very effective tools to stimulate the attention and interest of the learner.

For all these reasons, the simple reproduction of traditional activities should be avoided at all costs. Flexibility and creativity are instead essential to make the most of the potential of distance learning while limiting its disadvantages.

Distance learning in support of Continuous Learning

As a fundamental lever to embrace and foster innovation, the creation of a corporate environment conducive to Continuous Learning appears increasingly crucial.

According to a McKinsey Global Institute study, by the end of the decade some 375 million workers will be forced to change jobs or acquire new skills, a trend that continues to accelerate.

What is Continuous Learning? the definition tells us that it is the process of learning new skills and knowledge on an ongoing basis.

Already from its specific definition, therefore, we can deduce its objective: to foster Continuous Learning is not only an opportunity, but more a necessity. In the digital age, change is so rapid and pressing that it imposes the need for continuous updating and training.

The benefits that Continuous Learning brings are unquestionable and can be seen on several fronts: it keeps people and the company up-to-date at a high level, combats routine, allows new talents to be discovered, and constantly reshapes skills with a view to broadening them.

But, how to cultivate an effective Continuous Learning environment in the company?

Change has to start with the company leaders, including in HR.

The diffusion of an encouraging culture, open to growth and inclined to change, which rewards those who want to constantly update themselves and makes the time used to update perceived as well spent.

Such an ecosystem favours the introduction of resources and tools useful for continuous learning. And going into the specifics of tools, we can only turn to eLearning.

In the digital era, eLearning is the most important resource for fostering Continuous Learning and the reasons are intuitable:

• the modularity and customisation of the learning environment;
• the specificity of vertical content;
• the ease of use, from different devices and locations and without the need for too much free time to devote to individual sessions, which can be conveniently broken up;
• the ease of updating: an eLearning platform can easily augment new content, an undeniable advantage especially in the face of a time-based subscription allowing constant access to new content;
• the measurability and monitoring of the activities carried out, with the opportunity to establish small goals and paths designed according to gamification schemes;
• sharing: many eLearning platforms allow interaction, real-time exchange, and comparison.

The concept of eLearning contains the very principle of Continuous Learning: not just 'electronic learning', but concepts such as everywhere, everyone, evolving, efficient, engaging.

Training for everyone, accessible from everywhere, evolving, engaging, efficient. A training that is consequently continuous, that can become the basis of a digital and innovative mindset and allows one to cultivate without limits the constant improvement and refinement of one's skills.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator