E-Learning: A Means to an End

E-Learning is a means to an end. This may be a strange topic to discuss considering many of us are heavily involved in the E-Learning market, and for many of us it being our sole profession and source of sustainability. Clive Sheperd shed a light on what exactly that phrase means. It is easy to get caught up in the means we use to achieve our goal, the latest device, platform, or company birth in the e-learning space but we are to be wary of not becoming occupied with these things and to focus on the true purpose. Are we making our game simulations so visually focused that we lose the objective and only entice users to be excited and have fun rather than learn?

Now that we have pioneered several technological methodologies of delivering learning material, we must focus on the user and their performance.  Businesses are allocating budgets to learning and development to see an increase in efficiency, not merely more e-learning courses. Executives are not concerned with how learning is delivered; they want to know how it is going to impact the business.

The functionality of learning solutions should complement the content and focus largely on user needs and employ a blended-mastery approach to implementing the material. What we need are learning resources that can cater to a variety of needs and provide a plethora of information based on demographics such as career industry and location. Specialized content that is specific to an individual within the scope of their company’s objective is an area for opportunity that has yet to be fully explored. For instance, a new Sales Manager at an environmental manufacturing firm in Toronto has just been hired and is going through training using an e-learning course with simulations that make the training engaging. Great! What could be even better is if there were push notifications that suggested workshops in the Toronto area that focused on motivating and empowering employees as well as a recommendation to a LinkedIn group or blog that united similar people in the industry of environmental products. All of this information could still be transmitted through an internal LMS, for example, but now the focus is on the learner and how to increase their performance.

Here’s a question to consider: are e-learning courses a formal or informal method of learning? Naturally, a large part of learning occurs outside of formal structures and this sort of learning can be made accessible through e-learning resources. Learners need a holistic learning environment combining online courses, webinars, face-to-face instruction with forums, assuming roles in practice and user – generated content platforms.

If learners can make a self-assessment based on their level of confidence with a small qualitative portion to make comments on any areas of special interest, learners can skip to areas of need, providing a more blended, personalized approach to learning which ultimately saves time.  There is certainly much more to consider in stressing the importance of learning rather than e-learning than has been discussed, but it is important that we begin to refocus our energies on the learning objectives and in what ways we assess it.

People can pass tests or choose the right multiple choice answers through the process of elimination but the value in a learning experience comes from the change in behaviour, and that is what should be measured. Understanding that e-learning is a means to an end will prompt us to change the way we deliver learning material and how we assess learning overall.

Genele Rose