How the New Digital Age is Changing the Way We Learn
The birth of eLearning was supposed to revolutionize the way in which employees acquired new knowledge and skills. Learning Management Systems sprung into the market offering thousands of hours of pre-designed learning content that employees could easily access from their computer. And organizations bought into this promise at unprecedented levels. In 2017, according to TechJury.com, a research website that follows trends in the technology industry, 77% of U.S companies offered some form of eLearning to their employees and the global eLearning market was estimated at $176 billion with expected growth to $325 billion by 2025. These numbers suggest that eLearning works, right? Why else would companies continue to make significant investments. The truth is, traditional eLearning doesn’t work.
In fact, according to MyQuest, an action-based eLearning solutions provider, apart from required content such as compliance training, the completion rate of traditional eLearning is roughly 2% and knowledge retention is only slightly higher. The reasons are clear. Traditional eLearning is completely void of the factors that make classroom training so effective. David Robert, Chief Strategy Officer at Loeb Leadership, offers his perspective. “Learners like to interact with each other and with the facilitator. These dynamic interactions are perceived as central to the learning experience. Traditional eLearning remains static and one-directional, depriving learners of the opportunity to build relationships and practice new skills.”
In many ways, we have been groomed to be disappointed by eLearning. But there’s good news. Advancements in eLearning have opened new windows into how technology and behavioral psychology can be leveraged to make eLearning accessible, engaging and effective. New-generation digital learning platforms are disrupting the eLearning industry by challenging our assumptions about what we can accomplish through an online learning experience. “We’ve already begun to see the benefits of incorporating digital learning into our existing development solutions,” says Robert. “For many of our clients, it’s not feasible to rely solely on classroom training to develop organizational skills due to budget constraints and the geographic spread of the employee base. Digital learning is a perfect fit for those clients who want to offer development opportunities to a wider range of employees yet don’t have the budget or resources to pull it off.”
Natalie Loeb, CEO of Loeb Leadership agrees. “Practicing new skills is an essential part of the learning process. What can be more impactful than applying those new skills on real team issues?” says Loeb. “New digital learning platforms allow for rich engagement between various levels of learners and provides opportunities for participants to see the possibilities of how those new skills can be used to benefit the team.”
Here’s how it works: Rather than forcing a learner to sit in front of a computer screen for an extended period of time absorbing training content, new eLearning platforms offer rapid knowledge transfer—let’s say five or ten minutes of content—followed by an immediate request to apply that new knowledge. “Our clients want tangible ROI on their development investment,” says Loeb. “We see no better ROI than having learners actively applying new skills.” At any time, learners can engage each other and a facilitator within the platform to dive deeper into concepts, clarify expectations and problem solve.
The demand for skill development will continue to rise. And so, too, will the need to do more with existing development budgets. Digital learning could be a viable solution for organizations who seek to expand the reach and impact of their existing development programs while not significantly increasing their investment. “The new generation of digital learning is not only impactful, it’s accessible from both a usability and cost perspective,” says Robert. “We’ve done some creative things with our clients’ existing development budgets to include a greater number of employees in the learning process. The possibilities are endless.”
For information on Loeb Leadership’s training solutions, including our digital program called Making an Impact, visit us at www.loebleadership.com.