That's a really good question! I tend to use e-learning to help learners learn basic skills or knowledge, and then face-to-face learning to give them the opportunity to practice those skills. That way, the instructor is there to give them personalized feedback on their performance.
That's not to say that you can't give learners an opportunity to practice their skills in your e-learning course, but there are limits to how personalized the feedback can be.
Here's an article that you may find helpful about blended learning (a combined approach that uses both e-learning and classroom training).
Jennifer Hofmann of InSync Training has said that "if you can test it online, you can teach it online." She was talking about blended learning, but I think that's a good guideline for determining the modality for any training.
I admit I generally default to online. If you're going to do classroom training, you have to justify why it can't be done online and why the additional cost of travel and time is necessary. You can practice skills online, even with self-paced learning, if you do simulations or branching scenarios. I will also use elearning as the preparation for live training (whether virtual or in a classroom) so the live time has the maximum impact.
With any training, you do your analysis and determine the objectives. For each one of those objectives, figure out if you can assess it online or not (either in self-paced learning or vILT). If you can assess performance online, then you can teach it online. If you can't assess it online (it's a physical skill, for example), then you need to do classroom training. Your answers will be different for different objectives. For almost any topic, at least some of the objectives can be met online.
2 Replies
Hi Ivy,
That's a really good question! I tend to use e-learning to help learners learn basic skills or knowledge, and then face-to-face learning to give them the opportunity to practice those skills. That way, the instructor is there to give them personalized feedback on their performance.
That's not to say that you can't give learners an opportunity to practice their skills in your e-learning course, but there are limits to how personalized the feedback can be.
Here's an article that you may find helpful about blended learning (a combined approach that uses both e-learning and classroom training).
Jennifer Hofmann of InSync Training has said that "if you can test it online, you can teach it online." She was talking about blended learning, but I think that's a good guideline for determining the modality for any training.
I admit I generally default to online. If you're going to do classroom training, you have to justify why it can't be done online and why the additional cost of travel and time is necessary. You can practice skills online, even with self-paced learning, if you do simulations or branching scenarios. I will also use elearning as the preparation for live training (whether virtual or in a classroom) so the live time has the maximum impact.
With any training, you do your analysis and determine the objectives. For each one of those objectives, figure out if you can assess it online or not (either in self-paced learning or vILT). If you can assess performance online, then you can teach it online. If you can't assess it online (it's a physical skill, for example), then you need to do classroom training. Your answers will be different for different objectives. For almost any topic, at least some of the objectives can be met online.
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