Here we look at IT training that is delivered through e-learning and the potential issues that raises.
We expect e-learning to be making inroads into classroom-based training. But young people are still attending plenty of classroom-based learning and lectures.
Richard Chappell, managing director of IT training company Learning Tree says: “For any training above basic end-user IT training or management theory training, there is no substitute for the classroom environment, where attendees can learn from intensive hands-on exercises, course activities and simulations under the guidance of an expert instructor.”
If your organisation does provide e-learning it’s very likely it will include IT course content. This can be a cheaper way of providing training and development and some of it will be to a certified standard with tests along the way. But it is a potentially dull medium and you cannot expect users to trudge through it for hours on end.
It is best dipped in and out of as an aid to traditional learning mediums. And candidates taking e-learning courses can’t ask questions of their trainers. E-learning also assumes that all candidates start off with the same skills and knowledge.
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Dropping out of e-learning does not have the same guilt factor as failing to turn up for a traditional course. If you use e-learning to deliver compulsory training, you may need to issue regular email reminders.
Many training providers believe that virtualisation (a life-like replication of the classroom or workplace through streaming video) will propel online learning forward. The virtual world of Second Life is increasingly seen as a valuable training tool – Glasgow Caledonian University uses it to train and test student nurses. Training that involves technical knowledge seems to be especially well suited to this format.
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