E-Learning - A View

There are different connotations for e-learning. Every one in the e-learning market tries to push their own version of e-learning concept. It could be learning off the Web, putting up lessions on the corporate intranet, video broadcasting, CD-ROM-based training in conjunction with real-time online personal help or a combination of these elements. The important point here is that the learning process can not be constrained by place and time and learning pace can be decided by the student. E-learning spans almost all things from computer basics to programming, technologies, tools, and other topics and skills. In fact, there are at least six types of vendors that fall under the umbrella of e-learning, each appealing to different customers and each facing its own set of challenges.

Why E-Learning

Why are so many companies switching to e-Learning? Simply put, e-Learning delivers more training to more people for the fewest dollars. It's flexible, fast, and convenient. It saves time, money, and resources. And it delivers measurable, tangible results.

Today's world is driven by access, information, and speed. The key to success is moving knowledge from the people who have it to the people who need it. Virtually anyone can sharpen skills or develop new ones. Pick up quick tips or launch a whole new career. Earn an IT certification or enhance business skills. The possibilities are just beginning.

E-learning facilitiates any one from any part of the world to learn the same technical content. One need not travel to attent training sessions and can save his precious time. The knowledge content is available at all times so that training can be given to project team members in time. E-learning gives room for each person's learning style and pace, leading to better retention and comprehension.

Further on, the quality of the content is superior as it has been designed and developed by domain experts. Due to the arrival of many innovative and robust presentation-specific technologies and tools, many get attracted towards jumping into the e-learning bandwagon.

Key Benefits of E-Learning

Just-In-Time Training - Deliver knowledge on-demand, with up-to-the-minute information. Students can access training instantly-at the office, at home, or on the road, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Education is available when and where they want (and need) it.

Cost-Effectiveness - Without travel time or expenses, we are putting more training dollars into training-and saving up to 40 to 60 percent. And students can take as many courses as often as they need for one flat or annual fee.

Flexibility - Students can choose online instructor-led courses or interactive self-paced courses, and they can take advantage of an extensive online reference library.

Customization - One can quickly assess individual and group needs, then tailor learning modules to appropriate interests, career objectives, and job profiles.

Measurement - It's easy to set up new users, monitor their progress, and produce detailed usage reports. With the ability to create assessments, we will know what employees have learned, when they've completed courses, how they performed, and their levels of improvement.

Variety Hundreds of in-depth courses are available instantly-covering everything from business skills and IT certification to workplace safety.

E-Learning Content Publishing Media

E-Learning Cotent on the Net - Here any one can go, register himself, pay up and take the course. Virtual class rooms collaboration can happen between the participants and the teacher.

The Intranet - There are companies, like IBM that provides e-learning services to their customers, clients and business partners, putting their technical content on their intranet.

On a third-party Web site - This is like above but the content is put in a server being maintained by an e-learning company.

Off-the-shelf Courseware

Off-the-shelf content companies (DigitalThink, SmartForce, and NETg, to name a few) build online courses that teach both IT and business skills. Their customers don't want to spend time and money developing their own courses; they're willing to sacrifice company-specific content in order to pay lower prices for equal (or better) quality.

As purchasers of e-learning, we have been quite demanding. Most of us choose off-the-shelf content vendors based on the size of their libraries, their ability to easily deliver content over the Web, and the cost of their courses.

Learning Management Systems (LMSs)

LMS vendors (such as Docent, Saba, Isopia, Learnframe, and Pathlore) build software that tracks and manages learning.

Authoring Tools

Popular general-purpose authoring tools, including the Macromedia suite and Click2Learn's ToolBook2, allow companies to build their own online courses. LCMS vendors (such as WBT Systems, Vuepoint, and Knowledge Mechanics) capture e-learning in small chunks and then track and manage those chunks. Potential buyers of LCMSs have to weigh the inherent value of combining e-learning and knowledge management against the instability of most of the vendors in the space.

E-Learning through Wireless Devices

Wireless communication is spreading in fast pace and it is being anticipated that e-learning through handheld wireless devices such as personal digital assistants and palmtops and Web-enabled smart mobile phones is set to become possible in the near future.