I'm very fortunate to be a freelance teacher and eLearning designer, developer. With very few exceptions, I do most of my work from the comfort of my home office. The COVID-19 pandemic has had only the smallest impact on me. Part of my work, though does involve face-to-face training. For example, Adobe had scheduled me to be one of the facilitators for the upcoming Adobe Certified Professional: Adobe Captivate Workshops and a speaker for the Adobe eLearning Conference on the following day. As we now know, Adobe has cancelled these events. That means that I will not be earning revenue as a freelance facilitator and speaker for these events. Personally, this is a small price to pay for the safety of everyone involved.
More frequently, I conduct most of my business entirely online. If you require training on Adobe Captivate, I offer group and more often one-on-one training online. Customers can purchase an hour of my time. I will then meet with them online using web-conferencing software. One of the advantages is that this style of training is relatively inexpensive to conduct. All that's needed is an internet connection and appropriate software. More importantly, right now, this type of training is completely safe. There is no unnecessary contact as each of us can be in our homes while learning about Adobe Captivate.
I still also perform the role of eLearning designer, developer, and the same circumstances exist for this as well. For example, at the time I wrote this entry, I just spent an hour or so discussing a new job with a potential customer via Zoom web conferencing. If all goes well and the project is approved, I will spend the next several months developing online training for one of Canada's largest organizations without leaving my home.
Sometimes you will hear about the advantages of instructor-led training and how eLearning doesn't offer the same benefits. Remember, there are benefits to eLearning that you can't guarantee with instructor-led training as well. One aspect that comes to mind is consistency. You might have trainers across the whole country, and one might be more talented and engaged than the next. Perhaps the trainer in one region skips content he or she feels isn't as important. The result is that some employees may not be getting the best experience and learning in that region. eLearning can ensure consistency. Everyone receives the same training, and the course designer can ensure that delivery is the same regardless of location.
I've also heard people criticize eLearning because it cannot give you that engaging experience that classroom training can. I think it depends on the eLearning designer. If your designer digitizes the PowerPoint file for the classroom training and adds some Back and Next buttons on each slide, then the online training will be less effective. I like to design my online learning to include a variety of techniques to make it useful. I prefer to take the knowledge and skills from traditional training and transform them into scenario-based training. This type of training is far more relatable because it tells a story and challenges the learner to make choices that are not just based on the "right" or "wrong" answers but instead on the customer scenarios that they may encounter in the real world.
In the end, the most significant benefit is the reduced cost of making eLearning available across vast areas that a company may operate. It doesn't get much bigger geographically speaking than Canada. When I taught the store manager curriculum for a Canadian retailer who ran stores across Canada, I traveled from one end of the country to the other. When you add up the flights, the hotels, the meals, and all the cab rides to and from the various destinations, you may begin to question the validity of performing training in this way. The topics in this curriculum were reading profit and loss statements, scheduling employees, inventory management, and so on. I now see how all that training could be online. If I had stayed at the organization, I would have made that recommendation at some point.
So as you're considering your next training initiative, don't discount online learning because of the various items that it doesn't include that face-to-face training has. If you select the right eLearning designer, developer, they can address those issues, given the right amount of time and resources. If you would like to schedule a call where we can discuss your next online learning training initiative reach out to me using the link in the menu at the top of this page. I would be happy to have a conversation about how I can help you and your organization.