Is e-learning about to go through a major transformation?

By Jean-Marc Tassetto, co-founder of Coorpacademy.

This article has been originally published in IT Pro Portal, one of the UK’s leading and most respected technology information resources. To read it in its original and complete form, it’s here.

Here are some extracts of the article:

“E-learning has hit the doldrums. Practitioners and customers can protest all they like, but e-learning isn’t delivering on the educational revolution it promised. You only have to look at the student dropout statistics to see that something needs to be done to put it back on the rails.”

[…]

“There are a large number of people that just aren’t completing courses their organisations have paid for and engagement rates are worryingly low. Our data suggests that 2 and 3 per cent is not unusual for a large proportion of corporate training modules on offer.

So why do we have this black cloud sitting over e-learning? The simple reason is that we have ignored content in e-learning at the expense of the way we deliver and administer it. This means that the Learning Management System (LMS), which is seen as an enormous benefit by the HR administrator, offers little for the learner. This is a crucial point as if the learner isn’t engaged there is absolutely no learning taking place.”

[…]

“LEPs (i.e. Learning Experience Platforms) deliver a consumer-like experience. Firstly, learners recognise their way around from the applications they use on their own devices on a daily basis. Tailored training recommendations prepare their skill sets for individual roles they may take up in the future.

This directly connects e-learning requirements with a learners’ personal goals and experiences – and shows them how they are part of the wider organisational picture. LEPs can achieve this by embedding learning into the learner’s daily activities or the applications on which learners spend the most time.

Employees today are looking at intuitive interfaces they recognise that fit seamlessly into the workflow. They expect a Netflix-like experience in their e-learning solution, for example. Traditional e-Learning just can’t deliver on these expectations.”

[…]

“Organisations need to get the learning experience back to the top of the list. They need to re-think training as a very similar experience to the ones employees look for in their own apps – content that is diverse, interesting and very easily accessible. Mobile, always on, always available, delivered in engaging, bite-sized chunks that are engaging and fill gaps in knowledge where they exist. And where appropriate, utilise engagement techniques like gamification, online competitions and quizzes between learners. Both designed to end the isolated e-learning experiences that lead to users dropping off e-Learning courses.”

Find out more by reading the complete article on IT Pro Portal.