Over the past few years more and more individuals, businesses and corporations are turning to eLearning. There are a handful of explanations for this great shift. Let’s list off a couple of highly valuable reasons.
1. Student Loans (a.k.a Student debts)
First off, we’ll look at the alternative to eLearning, which is private education delivered by learning providers such as universities. The biggest pitfall of university training is the heavy expense of this approach; in effect, the minuses it leaves you in your bank account. The price of a private university education is rapidly growing. Not only that, but the money being invested in scholarships and subsidized education is rapidly shrinking. The rising prices of private universities make postsecondary education increasingly inaccessible to the individual. According to The Economist, “Institutions’ costs are rising, owing to pricey investments in technology, teachers’ salaries and galloping administrative costs. That comes as governments conclude that they can no longer afford to subsidize universities as generously as they used to. This diminution makes a university education even less manageable to most individuals.”
On the flipside, eLearning is highly accessible to anyone with a computer and Internet access. According to Roland Berger, “Between 2013 and 2019, the number of smartphone users is expected to triple to over 5.5 billion people, and the amount of data shared via smartphone is forecast to increase by a factor of 10.”
So, while you may think, “Hey, it’s not like everyone has a laptop, or smartphone,” based on the numbers, it seems that in just a few years they most likely will.
Once we have all settled comfortably into our computer lifestyles, we may find ourselves asking, “Now what?” Fortunately, there are plenty of reasonably priced online training courses. Its becoming easier and easier to sit in front of our computers and genuinely learn something. We are no longer safety belted to our office chairs. With the accessibility that eLearning has to offer, it is possible to learn, work, or train from anywhere. As Chris Barnes writes in eLearning Industry, “The landscape of learning and training has advanced greatly since the 80s, as more universal access to education and training has become available, particularly through eLearning.”
Companies are benefiting from this as well. Since eLearning programs are so affordable, companies can train and retrain their employees at a lower cost than ever before. The accessibility of eLearning keeps employees up-to-date on the latest strategies and business goals.
2. Timetable Crunches
Universities have a fairly rigid schedule to which they adhere. These institutions often define the schedules of their students, making time management very difficult for students, especially those who are working while pursuing their education. The student is obligated to a time and place within the university. Conversely, eLearning offers flexibility of both place and time. With online education providers like us, the student chooses when to learn and from where. The power of controlling your own schedule allows the student to study and learn when they are most focused.
When training and retraining employees, employees no longer need a set place and time for their courses. Rather, the company has the liberty to set their expected goals within a relatively loose time frame and allow their employees to fulfill those goals at their own schedule.
3. Instant Enrollment
Individuals and employers want the training to get underway as soon as they make the decision to invest in education. Digitalized learning fulfills this need to kick-start the learning process. Students no longer have to wait for a course to begin or end. Rather, when the business or the individual decide its time to stimulate the brain a bit more—when the coffee doesn’t have the same buzz it did three years ago—then they can simply enroll in an eLearning course and get started almost immediately.
4. Learn and Relearn
Here’s the thing: in a university course, its up to you to take the necessary notes in order to properly absorb what is being taught. You might be sitting through a weekly lecture and you are expected to take diligent notes on the days’ discourse. If you are not feeling your best that day and miss an important point, that’s it—it’s passed, gone and lost. With eLearning courses, however, if the student has a hard time understanding or absorbing a certain aspect or idea, they can simply restart and review the course. The student—not the lecturer—sets the pace of the training. This way, individuals are able to learn at their own contented speed.
5. Stay up to date!
In the digitized world we are living in, information is being spread a much wider distance at a much faster pace. This means there is always something new to learn. There are new programs and new breakthroughs that businesses and individuals need to stay up to date with. If the goal of the individual or corporation is to grow and improve their business, then it is absolutely necessary to remain in-tune with, and educated on, the latest developments. As Keith Bachman explains, “The mission of corporate eLearning is to supply the workforce with an up-to-date and cost-effective program that yields motivated, skilled, and loyal knowledge workers.” While this need to constantly renew may seem exhausting, it’s the only way to keep the individual and company young and fresh. And we all know how sweet it is to drink from that cup of youth every now and again.
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