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The State of e-Learning Today
What is the state of e-learning today? Organizations face a number issues and challenges, including:There are only a few organizations that have moved practically their entire classroom based curriculum to the Internet.
e-Learning start-rates vary broadly within these organizations, and completion rates can be low.
The quality of e-learning programs has been very spotty, and some courseware could actually be categorized as unsatisfactory at best, as experienced in online page-turners and in the Las Vegas style e-learning programs enhanced by a lot of bells and whistles.
High-quality, well-designed e-learning courseware actually requires a significant investment of both time and money in assessment, scoping, design, development, and deployment.
The adoption of e-learning is very different by country, among different industries, and even within companies, where there are differences by business unit, department, and function.
e-Learning technology integration appeared to be complex at first, and has actually proven even more difficult than imagined, becoming a disappointing experience for a number of organizations.
Connectivity and speed issues have been ongoing challenges for many organizations due to a lack of high bandwidth.
A number of e-learning technology implementations have been very time consuming and also required cultural changes, initially underestimated by many.
Many organizations have not been able to develop solid e-learning business cases for senior executive leadership and thus received insufficient funding for e-learning initiatives.
e-Learning is not that much about technology but more about Learning, using technology.
Cost-savings and return on investment (ROI) are not a given for all e-learning initiatives.
Buyers have been confused in the market by the diverse results and experiences in e-learning implementations, resulting in a tendency toward risk-aversion.
The lack of set standards in e-learning is also causing uncertainty, in addition to the fact that no existing standard is easy to implement.
If one would compare the e-learning expectations cited earlier with the described state of e-learning today, it is easy to jump into the conclusion that e-learning has not lived up to its promises. This context and the results of these early years, leads to the question:
Does e-learning have a credibility problem?
Undoubtedly, the launch of questionable e-learning courseware combined with some less successful e-learning implementations has bruised the image of e-learning to some extent. However, ultimately, e-learning has proved first and foremost to be very credible as a new opportunity and approach to learning for people and enterprises globally. Many believe that there is no doubt about the importance of applying e-learning when and where it adds value. Most major organizations around the world, including the organizations who contributed case studies for this Fieldbook, find that they will continue application of e-learning, albeit in a more measured and knowledgeable way. In addition, the pioneering experiences we have observed since 1996 will contribute significantly to their future success.
Lessons from Experience
Organizations have valuable lessons to share from their e-learning experiences. For example:
The value proposition for e-learning has not gone away. Enterprises operate in a very complex and increasingly competitive global environment and are challenged to create shareholder value. e-Learning has successfully proven to have a significant business impact, as you will find in Chapter 2 of this Fieldbook.
A large number of organizations have successfully implemented e-learning initiatives, which were well aligned with specific business goals and have had an impact on business and solid ROI. Most organizations have plans to expand their initiatives beyond their initial pilot programs in specific departments, business units, and countries. This definitely applies to all 25 case organizations that are featured here.
Experience has been gained in designing e-learning programs resulting in new design models and methodologies that have emerged as best practices, making the e-learning, experience more engaging, powerful, and valuable (see Chapter 4).
Technology integration challenges have been largely overcome (see Chapter 5). New evolving e-learning technologies and better e-learning functionality will be a significant market driver.
Many employees globally are eager to develop new knowledge and skills, and there are best practices to support multicultural adoption of e-learning (see Chapter 9).
Globally, wireless Internet access and high bandwidth connections will grow significantly. In addition, there will be more technology solutions that provide people with the opportunity to take e-learning courseware using visuals, sound, and video features in low bandwidth connection mode.
e-Learning Value Proposition for McDonald's Corporation*
Provide consistent and convenient training to all employees globally
Provide a cost-efficient method of training
Increase efficiency in training
Track employee training paths
Efficiently update training curriculum * See Chapter 14: Educating a Global Workforce
Furthermore, if e-learning really had been proven to add no value to training and development, the worldwide corporate e-learning market would not have continued to grow as it has (see Figure 1-2).
Figure 1-2: Worldwide Corporate e-Learning Market Growth: 1999 to 2002
