Two New Surveys report on where e-learning is working - and where it isn't!
The
CIPD 2007 Learning and Development Survey (due to
be launched at HRD 2007 in April) is likely to show - in the opinion
of respondents - that e-learning is the least effective
way that people learn in organisations. However, the
recent survey funded by the Skills for Business
Network (whose preliminary findings were presented at the
Learning Technologies Exhibition) shows that 45% of learners (N= 727)
agree that they are able to quickly put into practice what they learn
from e-learning (compared to 53% who attended a classroom), and are
able to use the learning points in the workplace. Are we at a point
where e-learning is close to overtaking classroom training or are
there some other issues at play?
The “Towards Maturity” report funded by the
Skills for Business Network does show that the significant
advantage of e-learning is that it provides convenience for learners
as to place. 70% agree that it allows them to learn in a place that
is convenient for them. With the current time pressures on workers,
this seems to be one of the most positive features of e-learning
from the learners’ perspective. The other is the ability for
individuals to request their own training and take ownership of
their development - a statement agreed with by 65% of learners.
Convenience as to the place in which e-learning
is carried out seems to be a greater benefit than its flexibility
as to time. Only 42% of learners agree that managers make
time for them to learn at work, dropping to 39% of learners
who agree that their manager allows them work time to learn at home
or locally. If convenience as to location is such an important asset,
what can we do to improve this? 63% of organizations make their
e-learning available for study at home. Although 39% provide a learning
space away from the work area, a mere 7% provide access at an external
learning centre, and, although 55% have in-house learning centres,
only 3% of learners use them.
Providing greater freedom of choice as to location is considered
a key benefit that is under exploited. With 53% of UK homes
connected to broadband more use can be made of home access; 57%
of adults regularly use the internet at home, with 17% using it
in a library or educational institution. (Source: Ofcom Market Survey:
June 2006)
However, the use of portable devices is low, with
only 6% of adults accessing the Internet on a WAP enabled portable
device. The increased availability of both video ipods and podcasts
will increase the number of adults accessing Internet material in
this way. Whilst little research has been conducted into the effectiveness
of this as a learning medium, it undoubtedly increases the flexibility
as to place for the delivery of learning.
Providers of electronic learning material have to consider
multiple methods of delivery. Secure podcasting, secure
external websites as well as CD all need to be available. Then more
learners will say that e-learning is convenient because ‘I
can study it where I like’. The usefulness and effectiveness
of both CD and online material has been researched (for example,
59% of learners would recommend e-learning to a co-worker as part
of an ongoing skills development plan), although there has been
little study of the effectiveness of podcasting. Intuitively we
can say it is more convenient but its effectiveness remains unproven.
Given that audio tapes were frequently used in the past, both internally
as corporate learning and by commercial providers of language and
motivational learning, do we know how many of those are now delivered
as audio downloads for the first generation of ipods? What do learners
think about them and does it make a difference for them?
Both the CIPD 2007 Learning and Development Survey, and the Towards
Maturity E-Skills UK report will be released in the next couple of
months. I will provide further insight to these reports and others
in future newsletters.
Howard Hills
Author of the Towards Maturity: Facts and Figures document
which is part of the e-skills survey report.
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