THE e-LEARNING THAT WORKS

December 2, 2013

If you are responsible for the training initiatives within your organization, you’ve got a plethora of choices. Videotape, DVD, CD-ROM and lecture/reading classes are the older choices you can make — and, while one can make a case for the first three, the fourth (lecture/reading) is so far removed from today’s learning culture that you do your organization a disservice by even offering that approach.

However, if you are going to make training investments today that will commit your organization to the future, there is only one good choice to make — e-Learning that is designed around the multiple media elements that once made Interactive Laser Videodisc (IVD) and CD-ROM so effective!

We have all heard the standard e-Learning sales pitch many times — “accessible from anywhere by anybody 24×7.” However, that’s not a good enough reason to make your investment. Many organizations place the e-Learning content behind their own firewall, effectively limiting access to the e-Learning content and, therefore, canceling the primary distinguisher of e-Learning.

If that is your situation, digitized CD-ROM, which can be networked locally, is a far superior learning medium because it is already enriched with the video/audio elements so necessary to learning and retention. And, in essence, networked CD-ROM and e-Learning (as currently practiced) are one and the same thing.

So, it is important to understand what we mean when we use the term, “e-Learning.” If we’re going to place the learning behind the firewall, networked CD-ROM becomes e-Learning. If we’re going to allow internet access to the learning (from anytime/anywhere) then that becomes a different issue. But, if it is learning, retention, and on-the-job performance we seek, then networked CD-ROM is currently your best choice.

Internet-access e-Learning (as currently practiced) will not fill the bill. PowerPoint presentations adapted to the WEB, as well as adapted written procedures and text-heavy CBT are not training. At best, they give some information and, at worst, they will waste the time of your employees — which, after all, is the most expensive aspect of any training initiative.

Never forget that 40% of America’s workforce does not assimilate anything written beyond a 4th grade reading level. They, like all of us, have been immersed in a “television and gaming age” and have relied, almost solely, on those media to get their news, information and to form their opinions.

If you are truly committed to your workforce, you had better look for knowledgeably designed training that is based on multi-sensory instructional design — and, that means:

• Content that is accurate and complete.
• Work and safety practices that are correctly portrayed at all times.
• Proper instructional design elements that are always present, including:

o Multi-sensory design using optional full audio for your less fluent readers.
o Short-segment learning using performance objectives.
o Minimal use of text for learning.

If your training initiatives are designed for long-term use, multi-sensory learning is the only way to go! Its credibility life span is almost limitless and the costs can be annualized.

Today, that means digitized, networked CD-ROM serving as your best e-Learning answer.