Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow! It's looking a lot like January out there these days!

I was listening to the weather forecast the other day and I was struck by the way the announcer was dismissing the idea of Global warming. "When I was a kid it was never 50 below zero like it is today!" he exclaimed. "Yesterday it was minus 40 and today it will reach minus 60,... with the wind chill!" The reality is that the temperature today is actually minus 5; cold yes, minus 60, no.

This got me thinking about the problems with traditional elearning.

Wind chill is one of those things that the media loves, and everyone else assumes makes sense. Unfortunately, they do and it doesn't.

There is only one outside temperature. If the actual temperature is 35 degrees fahrenheit outside, water will not freeze, period. No matter what crazy "wind chill" temperature the radio host breathlessly announces; "It's Minus 20 with the wind chill, watch out for ice!", the fact is water won't freeze at 35 degrees.

Why then do the weather announcers think it's colder outside today than it was when they were kids? They are working from outdated information and poor training, maybe because they "attended" an elearning class!

When we use the term "elearning" today it usually refers to the kind of cheap "classes" your company may buy and try to pass off as Training. Full disclosure, I've never been a fan of elearning, in my humble opinion it is usually nothing more than reading and page turning. Useful yes, training, no.

The page turning, reading, and lack of instructor interaction that are common complaints of traditional elearning are really just the tip of iceberg.

The greatest risk enterprises must confront when developing learning strategies that place elearning at the core of the delivery model is this: How will we cost effectively sustain this content over the lifespan of this investment?

Elearning content is notoriously difficult and expensive to develop. The tools and techniques used to produce the content require special expertise. Elearning class content must be able to "stand alone", there is intense pressure to make sure every single bit of information is absolutely accurate. The costs to develop elearning content are staggering, and there is immense pressure to "Keep it Simple", and "Don't Update".

Accurate, simple information is always desirable in a training class. However, when a class is being designed to keep employees on the "Leading Edge" of the latest development in a complex field, accuracy is somewhat less important that making sure the information is current and up to date, sometimes up to the minute!

So, should companies drop all "page turning" elearning initiatives?

Maybe not, but more realistic ROI calculations need to be integrated into the cost/benefit analysis. More rigorous examination of the useful lifecycle of the content is also critical. Training Objectives that incorporate fields of study known to be fairly static are strong candidates for traditional elearning. For those Training Objectives built on fields of study in constant flux, and in my opinion most corporate training falls into the later category, caution is the keyword.

So does elearning have a place in corporate learning strategies? Yes, most definitely. Using the latest XML and Web Services standards such as RSS, online course content can more effectively be continuously updated than in the past. Template designs and tools such as eedo's development kit are further improving the Cost/benefit equation. Finally, the rise of Virtual Classrooms such as TrainingCity's Best of Breed VC, prove that "Virtual Training" can step in where "elearning" drops off.