!44: E-Learning Versus Traditional - Why Traditional Classroom Training Still Rules Over E-Learning

!±8± E-Learning Versus Traditional - Why Traditional Classroom Training Still Rules Over E-Learning

The majority of all corporate and technical training is still done in the traditional classroom.

Hasn't e-learning replaced it already? One would think so from the many claims made by e-learning pundits but e-learning is getting the press because it is the new kid on the block. Okay, it is the newer kid on the block.

E-Learning has been around for a fair while and predictions of its rapid rise are finally coming true. We are seeing and will continue to see more and more e-learning options available to the learner. There are benefits to e-learning including both a reduction in travel expenses and a reduction in the actual delivery time. There is usually a time-saving of around 40% over the traditional classroom training.

One of the big boons to the recent growth of e-learning is the availability to have instructor-led webinars. While the classic page turners still exist with the only interaction being emailing a course facilitator, the webinar has enjoyed enormous success even while it takes away one of the advantages of e-learning in that the student is no longer learning at his own pace.

So with all the wonderful things that e-learning provides, why is almost 75% of all training done in the classroom using traditional methods.

One obvious reason comes from the word traditional. We do it because we have always done it. It has a history and we know it works. It is comfortable and both management and workers trust it. Many people still consider e-learning to be a fad and not 'real' training. As such, there is not always the buy-in from either employees or management in using e-learning.

Many people have had bad experience with e-learning because, well, there is a lot of bad e-learning courses out there. Oh sure, some classroom training is crap, also. It is traditional crap that we are familiar with already. We have an instructor right there in front of us to either blame, vent to, and try to nudge into turning the class around.

Having both the learner and the instructor/facilitator in the same room provides a level of trust and communication that we can't get from most webinars. We are community oriented and we prefer to actually gather together. E-learning does not allow the body language of the participant to be conveyed. In some cases, we aren't even sure there is a body on the other end of a webinar or that it is the body that is supposed to be there.

In the classroom, the instructor knows whether the student is bored or engaged. They see the confused look on the face as well as the eureka moment when the learner has learned.

The students see the instructor's body language as well. They see the hand gestures that signify whether this is really important or not. The tone and timber of the instructor's voice are not filtered by any limitations of the technology being used to transmit their voice. The classroom allows the instructor the most freedom in how he delivers the learning. He can play the room to bring out the best synergy from the participants. He can be up front delivering a PowerPoint presentation or right behind a student showing him where to click the mouse.

When technology fails, out comes the good old-fashioned flip chart and the Mr. Sketch pens. According to a survey conducted for the American Society of Training and Development, 45% of companies thinking of implementing e-learning solutions were concerned about the technical competency required.

There is a flexibility in the traditional classroom when changes need to be implemented. With technical training, procedures can change frequently with software and hardware revision. The training has to be revised as well. For e-learning, this can be a very costly and timely process involving new screen captures or creating new video. In the traditional classroom, new software and new procedures can be implemented immediately with an instructor just explaining the differences.

E-learning is making great inroads but people still prefer the comfort of an instructor led traditional classroom. In designing training courses, one can optimize both method by blending them and offer some parts of the learning through e-learning and then following up with traditional classroom training.