Education and learning domains usually require two basic factors - time and money. These two factors always pose a problem for learners. Even if the learning content is made affordable, the learner's level of interest and the learning outcome may not match the expectations. Additionally, being physically present at the place of education might also be a problem for the learners staying at different places.
At present, the field of education has undergone radical changes due to evolving technologies. A significant chunk of learning and development has shifted online - thanks to the Internet. With the support of the present generation of learners, eLearning is on the upswing and certainly has a promising future. It has brought solutions for all problems related to time, money, accessibility at any place, learner engagement, and the most important factor - achievement of learning objectives.
In this blog, we will discuss the significance of eLearning in the modern world - the role it plays in education and learning, and how it makes things easy for learners and L&D experts.
Learning Made Easy
Here’s a list of benefits of eLearning for the perspective of learners.
Ease of Accessibility
eLearning courses can be accessed from any device including mobile, laptop, desktop, and tablet.
Learner Friendly
A well-designed eLearning course offers the following functionalities for the learner to provide a learner-friendly environment:
Learning Materials: Learners can choose to use forms of learning materials such as images, video, audio, infographics, games, notes, etc.
Learning Path: The customized learning path helps them to complete the course faster and easier.
Content Size: Bite-sized learning content is quick and easy to learn.
Time, Place, and Pace
Every learner might have a preference for the time and place of learning. Also, the pace of learning may be different for each learner. eLearning provides these flexibilities and hence makes life easy for learners.
Tracking Progress
Learners can track their course completion status, assessment results, time spent on various topics, participation level in the learning community, awards and badges received, etc.
Connectivity
Teams that are geographically scattered and working remotely and learners across the globe can now get connected in an online learning environment. This connectivity empowers the learners to join discussion forums and access learning with ease. Such social activities are quite motivating for the learners. Also, collaborative project work helps students build a social connection hence it is becoming a part of the curriculum rather than an option.
Higher Level of Motivation
The gaming features that include leaderboards, badges, and certificates provide the learners with a sense of mission and achievement.
Learning is Fun
Gamification of learning content not only helps the learner to understand the concepts faster, it also leverages their interest level, resulting in a higher completion rate of learning tracks.
Live Sessions
Although the learning instructions are available online, sometimes live interaction may be necessary. eLearning environment provides live facilitation by experts or educators at the time of need.
Certification
eLearning course providers provide certificates upon successful completion of the course that can be downloaded and printed.
So, how do we know if eLearning is transforming L&D and workplace learning globally? Here are some statistics:
Education Made Easy
Here are some of the contributions of eLearning in the education domain.
Learning Management System (LMS)
The LMS platforms provide functionalities to manage a broad range of educational practices online such as administration, registration, assignments, assessments, tracking progress, and providing reports and feedback. This makes life easy for both the learners and the educators. Educators can upload the learning modules, assignments, and evaluation scores of students, while the learners can access the modules and relevant materials to achieve the learning goals.
The two primary forms of LMS software are open-source and proprietary. Since developers have access to the source code, open-source LMSs can be altered. There is no cost per user for open-source software like Moodle. Litmos, Topyx, Saba, or Blackboard are examples of proprietary LMSs that demand licensing fees per user in addition to an additional membership and maintenance charge.
Know more about open-source and proprietary LMS here.
Functionalities in LMS making it popular for institutions:
Student account management: Online student registration
Administration: Assigning project work, tracking progress, providing feedback, etc.
Content management: Uploading course content, lessons, assignments, quizzes, etc.
Collaboration: questions/ answers, communication (students, teachers)
Reports: Progress report, assessment result
Additionally, the advantages of using LMS are:
User-friendly interface: both teachers and students can use LMS without any technical support or training
Collaboration is easy: While students can ask questions in chat or email, teachers also can provide answers, feedback, assessment feedback, or conduct surveys
Access to learning materials: Students can easily access the learning materials at any time from any device like a mobile, laptop, or tablet
Higher level of engagement: Students like the online learning environment hence the engagement level and the completion rate are high
Implementation is easy: Cloud-based LMSs are easy to implement (no downloads or updates) and are accessible from any device.
Learning Communities
Students can get involved in a lot of learning activities by using eBooks, apps, and relevant eLearning materials, apart from the regular academic curriculum. A large number of experts in the education sector help students through the apps.
A free educational app for both students and teachers is Khan Academy (accessible on Windows, Android, and iOS). In order to give students the freedom to learn at their own speed both inside and outside of the classroom, it provides practice tasks, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard.
Easy Access to Education
eLearning courses are accessible to one and all - not necessarily to students. Anyone looking to upskill themselves and get certificates in any subject area can join eLearning courses.
Institutes Choose eLearning
Earlier, educational institutes chose eLearning as a supplement to regular courses. Now various executive development programs are conducted online as a way to cater to the group of senior managers or above. These programs are less expensive when compared to traditional learning programs.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Driven eLearning
There are three types of methods applied in eLearning that are driven by AI, such as:
Adaptive Learning: in this, the concepts are presented to the learners based on the individual's ability of understanding concepts and the pace of completing the learning units. Such methods make learning easier, faster, and personalized
Intelligent Tutoring Systems: In this method, the learning environment mirrors a human tutor to provide feedback, questions, and assessments of the learner's progress based on the individual's needs and abilities
Virtual Facilitators: This includes a simulation of a live classroom with the help of an intelligent tutor
Example: Virtual teaching assistant of IBM's Watson, first introduced at Georgia Tech. The assistant, Jill, can run an online discussion forum and answer questions.
Final Thoughts
We have discussed in detail the significance of eLearning in the modern world. Contributions of eLearning have reached every corner of our lives - organizations, educational institutes, homes, and places where learning is a continuous activity. Irrespective of the various ed-tech trends dictated by the market, the benefits of eLearning are clearly visible. If you are ready to implement any of the current eLearning trends, contact us for creating an engaging learning space at your organization. Write to us at sales@s4carlisle.com for more information.