Online learning and training have grown with increasing value for organizations and their employees.
According to a 2018 joint research by the Boston Consulting Group and Arizona State University, students taking online courses were expanding at a rate of 5% each year.
As organisations were giving more emphasis on employee training and development, the transition to online education was already underway even before the onset of Covid-19. However, with the events of 2020 and 2021 and the paradigm shift to only learning and working, it is only fair to expect this growth to accelerate in the future.
As businesses continue to recognize the potential and advantages of online training and learning in their workforce, the presence will only increase.
Online learning, often known as remote learning or online education, provides students/employees with the opportunity to learn at their own pace while also allowing companies to encourage employee growth.
What is online learning?
Online learning, also known as computer-based training, remote learning, and e-learning, is a type of instruction that takes place entirely on the internet. The online platform contains many multimedia components, including images, audio, video, and weblinks. People do online training courses, particularly those given by international institutions, making online training more popular and widely used.
To sustain long-term business and ensure success, your employees must be engaged at work and perform to the best of their abilities. One approach to do so is to provide your staff with high-quality learning and development opportunities. While there are other L&D solutions available, this post will focus on the advantages & disadvantages of online training for your employees.
Top 5 Advantages of Online Training
Implementing a training program is critical to maximizing your human capital, creating a competitive advantage, and assuring employee happiness! Some of the companies with best training programs often use online training to speed up and standardize training for their new as well as their existing employees. Continue reading to learn more about the benefits of online learning.
Implementing a training program is critical to maximizing your human capital, creating a competitive advantage, and assuring employee happiness! Continue reading to learn more about the benefits of online learning.
1. Easy accessibility
Working a 9-5 job plus taking classes might be exhausting, especially if you have to go to a training center before or after work.
The accessibility of online training is at the top of the list of advantages of online learning. The employee has access to online training resources throughout the day. As a result, it is much easier for employees to comprehend the subject they desire to learn.
Unlike traditional learning techniques where a classroom is provided, the online training system ensures that students can learn at their own pace, enhancing productivity.
2. Addresses all skill levels
In-person training is frequently taught at a pace that suits the individual with the least expertise in the room. As a result, if a lower-skilled person is studying alongside a higher-skilled worker, the latter is unlikely to obtain the degree of knowledge that they had hoped for.
On the other hand, online training allows you to rapidly and effectively meet the individual learning demands of employees at all levels of your organization.
3. Reduces learning time for your employees
Time is one of the most significant barriers to employee participation in training programs.
According to studies, online training may save an employee’s learning time by up to 60%.
However, while online skills training takes far less time, employees must still make time for it. Workers are interrupted every 11 minutes, according to research. Online training allows you to break up hour-long sessions into shorter learning parts (also known as microlearning) to accommodate distractions.
4. Scalable for any number of employees
Online training has been shown to have a favorable impact on any business. Employees will be more equipped for the challenges that lie ahead.
The more effective the training becomes, the more employees they can use the same training for, and the sooner they can reduce the cost of training an employee.
Online courses improve an individual’s capacity to learn and use the newly acquired knowledge in everyday duties. It also helps improve one’s ability to remember knowledge for extended periods.
5. Maintains employee productivity
According to an IBM study, every dollar invested in online training results in a $30 increase in productivity due to employees’ ability to resume work more quickly.
The number of e-learners are expected to grow and reach upto 57 million by 2027. More and more companies are adopting the online learning methodology, as these skill trainings saves you money on traveling and keeps your employees productive. Employees can acquire a new skill at work in less than an hour using e-learning methods rather than spending days in an instructor-led training session. Employees may also study their job priorities and halt if an emergency project occurs since online skills training is flexible.
Top 5 Disadvantages of Online Training
Online training has many advantages, but it also has a few disadvantages that might hinder good employee training.
1. Less face-to-face interaction
Every healthy communication process is built on social interaction. When you think of a typical training room, you may see group discussions, active participation, brainstorming, and the trainer answering questions. One of the most significant disadvantages of online training sessions is the lack of face-to-face interaction.
Unfortunately, there will not be enough time to meet with other trainees and discuss important matters. These face-to-face interactions are essential for certain people to bring the content to life.
Additional social engagement may be added to online training through competition, planned Q&A sessions with a trainer, and discussion boards.
2. Poor quality training can result in poor quality work
Teachers must understand how to employ digital modes of learning to teach online. However, this doesn’t always happen. Teachers may have a weak understanding of technology and lack the requisite resources and technologies to offer online classes.
Creating high-quality training materials and hiring qualified teachers takes time and effort. It may be tempting to sacrifice quality in favor of convenience. However, if the training instills undesirable patterns and inaccurate information in your employees, it can swiftly backfire.
3. Technological limitations
Another significant problem of online classrooms is technological limitations such as internet access. While internet coverage has increased by leaps and bounds in recent years, a constant connection with adequate speed remains a challenge in smaller cities and villages.
One of the most common employee concerns about online training is internet connectivity.
There may be a loss of consistency in learning for the employee if they or their instructors do not have a stable internet connection. This has a negative impact on the educational process.
4. Monitoring of instructor quality
If you let your employees pick their courses, you’ll need a measure to assess the instructors’ quality. Outsourcing training implies that you will have a less direct influence on how a course is delivered. This is both a benefit and disadvantage of using MOOCs in corporate training contexts.
5. Lack of hands-on learning
One of the disadvantages of online employee training is that not every topic can be addressed conceptually.
Certain types of knowledge lend themselves better to online learning than others. Learning math or biology online, for instance, will be elementary, but if a new ice cream maker has started at the ice cream factory, the best method to teach the employees is to provide them with in-person practical training.
Online training is unfavorable when a large portion of the training session is based on practical knowledge, and Online training cannot replace the information gained via hands-on training.
Conclusion
Online training is becoming increasingly popular in many aspects of our life, from personal self-improvement to collaborative learning classrooms, which are becoming the standard in our children’s schools and colleges.
The fact is that online training is not appropriate for every circumstance. Still, it is an ideal choice for large-scale training on topics such as programming languages, software development skills, technology, security, and project management, particularly in the tech industry.
Online corporate training will soon become the standard. The sooner your organization realizes the advantages of this adaptable, quick, and cost-effective method, the sooner you’ll be able to adjust to rapid changes and accomplish those critical business projects.
