E-learning is one of the bigger topics in Training and Development circles at the moment. Some are claiming it is sounding the death knell for traditional classroom training, others are of the opinion that it's a flash in the pan that wont last the course. It can get a bit heated as this TrainingZone article demonstrates.
I"m of the opinion that e-learning is a an exciting new frontier for trainers and instructional designers. I'm only playing on the fringes at the moment (my budget wont stretch to a proper implementation) and I'm about to start some limited application with a Senior Management Development Programme that I'll be rolling out in my organisation shortly. It will increasingly play a more and more important part in blended learning programmes.
I've found the WWW incredibly useful as a starting point for researching and trialling some of the applications that are out there, and two blogs in particular are worth recommending for anyone who is dipping their toes in the e-learning river.
e4innovation is by Grainne Cronel who is Professor of e-learning at the Open University.
Jane's e-learning Tip of the Day comes from Jane Hart, a social media and learning consultant.
Both have been incredibly useful to me as I've tried to get my head around the thousands of e-learning possibilities.
3 months ago
2 comments:
I wonder if the failure of e learning to achieve critical mass in most organisations is partially due to the bad start e learning had when it first fired up? I explored this issue in a piece on TrainingZone called "The 'Bad Science' of Training"
http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/topic/training-cycle/bad-science-training
Good article Garry, hadn't seen it before. There's a psychological term that describe the effect of something perceived as new and exciting losing it's appeal once you have possessed it for a while. I forget the precise term but it seems like a similar process.
The failure of e-learning to achieve critical mass is probably due to a combination of factors; the unrealistic expectations set by vendors, the fear from trainers who feel threatened, the time it takes to introduce, poor design, set-up costs & training departments ability to influence spend, the traditional trainers reluctance to quantify ROI, etc, etc.
I'm hopeful that we're entering a a phase where (luddites aside) we can think about what the technology can do in the context of everything else we offer. Providing we've not already been distracted by the next shiny thing. of course.
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