You are an office supervisor of 25 employees and have just found out that everyone needs to attend a mandatory "Discrimination in the Workplace" class by the end of the week. Someone from the corporate office will be coming by on Monday to audit your records. No problem, right? There is plenty of time to find an instructor, agree upon payment, reserve a conference room and schedule all of your employees to attend. You should have plenty of time to do all of this in between your regular job duties. Also, it shouldn't be any concern that all of your employees will be unavailable, and unproductive, for a three hour block, how much could that really impact operations anyways? The answer is simple, it is not that easy and it will impact operations. Fortunately, there is a solution: E-Learning.
What is E-Learning? E-learning is essentially using the computer to teach skills and knowledge. E-learning includes internet-based learning, computer-based learning, virtual classroom opportunities and digital collaboration. Content is delivered via the internet or your local network, and can be self-paced or instructor-led.
Pros
- Classes/courses can be taken at convenient times
- Eliminates the need to "schedule" a class
- Eliminates the need for a classroom
- No need for printed materials
- No need to hire instructors
- Students can learn at their own pace
- Can be accessed from anywhere
- Cons
- Relies on technology
- Lack of instant feedback
- Inability to ask questions in real time
A recent study by the U.S. Department of Education had this to say:
"The meta analysis showed that "blended" instruction - combining elements of online and face-to-face instruction - had a larger advantage relative to purely face to face instruction or instruction conducted wholly online. The analysis also showed that the instruction conducted wholly on line was more effective in improving student achievement than the purely face to face instruction. In addition, the report noted that the blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions."(1)
What is blended learning?
Blended learning is a combination of both internet and classroom instruction. This type of training is most beneficial when the subject is something where students would need hands-on training to reinforce what they learned via e-learning. For example, a person wanting to learn CPR would not benefit fully from a solely internet based class. To get the most experience, they would require a hands-on session. This method still proves to be cost and time effective as compared to traditional classroom only sessions. Instead of a four hour classroom session, much of the content could be delivered via e-learning prior to the student attending the classroom portion. The classroom portion then would only need to be one hour to reinforce the skills learned.
Blended learning retains the face-to-face element making it essentially the best of both worlds. For instructors who are not fully comfortable with a fully on-line environment, they can slowly transition some of the content to e-learning and expand on it as they gain more expertise. For the learner, it enables them to still get real time answers to questions they may have about the content presented.Whether you choose an e-learning environment or blended learning, the addition of the online content is sure to prove its value. It will help reduce company downtime and expenses and allow your employees to study the material at their own pace without the pressure of a classroom setting.
Deepa Singh
Business Developer
Web Site:-http://www.gyapti.com
Blog:- http://gyapti.blogspot.com
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com
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