On-line vs. Classroom learning

Over the past two or three years, a new fleet of spacecraft has docked into the South African ports of the information highway. Mainly American, this fleet of companies and consultants is offering us - at a price - the chance to get on board what has been called the E-learning Express. Many of its champions predict that within a few years on-line or E-(electronic) learning will account for 40-50% of all training in the USA. Currently, E-learning is approximately 15%, so huge erosion of traditional classroom learning (C-learning) is predicted. Given the big bucks being invested in E-learning, the sheer force of capital employed is likely to ensure that the prediction is met or even exceeded.

How are we to evaluate what this new crop of vendors will be promoting with vigour over the next few years?

Why do companies provide training and learning opportunities in the first place? The short answer must be "to enable and empower people to perform their jobs to desired standards" And there certainly are times when training or learning solutions are what is needed to close "performance gaps". Sometimes, however, the gap is closed by improving the processes and systems surrounding or embedded in the job, or by adjusting the rewards and consequences attendant on performance. Sometimes better clarity on required job outputs or more accurate and timely feedback on output quality is all that is needed. Sometimes the inputs (tools, technology, budget, information, authority and other resources) simply require adjusting or improving.

The point is that often training is not the answer to performance problems. And even when it is, training alone is seldom the complete answer. So the first filter that any learning solution needs to pass is through the Performance Framework shown below. The way of thinking that is shown in the Performance Framework helps to focus our attention on all the variables impacting on performance and not simply knowledge or skill competencies.

It is often the case with a new innovation that its promoters so hype its virtues that all other solutions are seen as inferior or unnecessary. A Fortune 500 CEO who obviously bought the E-learning hype publicly stated the "All training in our corporation will be delivered exclusively on our intranet by the end of the year". This was a few years back and his grand vision is still far from a reality. What causes people to be so enthusiastic about on-line learning? Not just Training and Development or Information Technology people, but also line managers and Chief Executives! Well E-learning promises and has produced some outstanding "breakthrough benefits". It is truly a paradigm shift in technological innovation.

E-learning`s Breakthrough Benefits

* Availability: E-learning can be available and accessible to learners 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
* Consistency: Quality of content and delivery does not vary from trainer to trainer
* Global reach: Provides learning that is enterprise-wide and can be global in reach
* Ease of update: Information can be updated with relative ease
* Cost: (Why CEOs love it!) Cost of design and development can be much higher than for classroom learning, but the cost of delivery is much, much lower. Overall cost savings, over time, can be between 30% and 60%
* Speed: Ability to train all your people around the globe in a fraction of the time it would take with traditional C-learning
* Just-in-time: Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) provide just-in-time help where performance rather than competence is the immediate goal

From the list of breakthrough benefits above, E-learning is clearly destined to be a crucial part of the future for organisations and their people. However, traditional classroom learning has a number of abiding advantages that only the idiotic would discard.

* Social learning: Many people enjoy learning in groups, and they can even reject hi-tech if it has no hi-touch element to it
* Interpersonal skills: A "live skill practice" with other people is an essential element in the development of interpersonal skills such as selling, negotiating, people management, leadership and conflict handling
* Learning tension: The social context of the classroom plus the limited timeframe (e.g. one, two or three day courses) provides the tension needed by some people to learn effectively and efficiently
* Separated focus: The classroom gives people a special focus on the learning required, separated from interruptions and in an atmosphere of learning and exploration
* Self-esteem: There is often a sense of reward and self-worth when the company picks you to go away on a training program where you are personally pampered as well as having your skills polished

To overcome the tyranny of either/or and opt for a both/and solution that matches the real needs of organisations and their people, I would like to suggest Blended Learning or B-learning. Organisations optimise their competitive advantage when they blend both E-learning and C-learning. B-learning captures the advantages and benefits of both modalities. IBM`s hybrid model recently developed for their new managers world-wide is one example of magic happening when you get the blend right (ask any master wine maker!)

IBM`s mixed modes learning program blends 50 weeks of on-line learning (easy access, just-in-time, self-paced and self-assessed) with 5 days of intensive classroom experience. All the cognitive, informational material is presented on-line and all the interpersonal skills building is handled and fine-tuned via classroom experience. On-line simulations are used to move people from knowledge to preparedness for skill development and demonstration.

Interestingly, in a study conducted for IBM by Harvard Business School, a random sample of 63 new IBM managers consistently reported (prior to the program) a preference for C-learning over E-learning. And IBM is a technology company! However, post-program evaluations universally praised both C-learning and E-learning with equal enthusiasm. Says the IBM Management Development Group: "The key was the hybrid model. Rather than adopting a totally on-line or totally classroom program, we decided to take the best-of-both-worlds approach, and it really worked". (The IBM experience is reported in the June 2000 edition of Training and Development, pages 47-51)

Pete Weaver, Chief Technology Officer of Development Dimensions International, speaking at an international conference in Dallas Texas, summarises the approach being advocated in this article. Discussing on-line learning principles he said: "For learning initiatives to make a difference, they must blend the right content for the right learners, using the right instructional strategies and the right technologies (traditional and/or emerging), in the right environment (rewards, recognition, management support, systems alignment, communication and culture) to accomplish the desired outcomes" Yebo! And this blend can include appropriate use of "non-training" technologies such as E-mail, chatrooms, video conferencing and digital collaboration, all of them electronic ways of broadening human communication.

So, when you decide to go with the wonders of E-learning (and you should!), ensure that the system includes the magic of the classroom for real skill development with a human heart.