These Are the Five Best E-Learning Methods

1. What is e-learning?
2. What are the benefits of e-learning?
3. What are the five e-learning methods?
4. What tools are suitable for e-learning?
5. E-Learning: The innovative way to train your employees

The Corona pandemic has shown us how important digital learning methods have become. But not only schools, but also companies can no longer avoid e-learning in our digital world. Because unlike traditional training, e-learning is not tied to a specific location. Thanks to technical resources, your employees can participate in training courses anywhere and at any time. If you want to know how your company can benefit from e-learning, you should continue reading.

What is e-learning?

E-learning, also known as digital learning, is the acquisition of knowledge through digital resources and media. It takes place on the internet, where participants can access their learning materials online at any time and from any location. Various types of content are used, such as presentations, quizzes, webinars, videos and e-books. E-learning is particularly useful when:

• a large amount of content needs to be conveyed to numerous learners

• the participants come from geographically dispersed locations

• the learners are limited in mobility or have little time for learning

• the content needs to be reused for different groups of learners in the future

What are the benefits of e-learning?

Although e-learning is particularly widespread in academic education, many companies also use it to organise the further education and qualification of their employees. With e-learning, employees can improve their qualifications, acquire new skills and refresh their knowledge. Below you will find the main advantages of e-learning for companies:

Lower training costs

If you conduct your training online, you don't need to book a hotel for your employees and you don't have to pay for their travel expenses. You also don't have to rent a physical space for a seminar or print a large amount of training materials. Instead, you can just create an online course that your employees can access from anywhere on their devices.

Convenience

With e-learning, your employees can learn anywhere, anytime, and on any device, be it a smartphone, a tablet, or a laptop. On top of that, they can set their own pace of learning, skip topics they already know, and repeat lessons they don't understand.

E-learning is not only practical for employees, but also for entrepreneurs. For example, you can easily manage your courses and update them if necessary. This is particularly advantageous when a new product or service is introduced or the government changes laws. E-learning is the quickest and easiest way to familiarise your employees with these changes.

Employees can remember what they have learnt better

Employees can remember what they have learnt better: With e-learning, you can provide a variety of training materials - from videos, audios and games to interactive exercises and lectures. The appealing courses help to prevent learners from becoming bored and to maintain their attention span. This in turn leads to more retention.

Faster course completions

E-learning is a method to deliver lessons quickly. Compared to regular classroom instruction, learning cycles are up to 60% shorter. This is because employees can set their own pace of learning, rather than having to adjust to the speed of the entire group. Additionally, they save time by not having to travel to the training site. In addition, participants can skip topics that are not required for their tasks. 

Sustainability

Let's come to a point that can't be mentioned often enough these days - sustainability. E-learning platforms do not produce any waste and make the need to print endless stacks of paper obsolete. And since learners don't have to commute to the training location, no additional carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Although you still need electricity for your platform, the CO₂ footprint is much smaller than with traditional training.

What are the five e-learning methods? 

Below you'll find the five most common forms of digital learning along with application examples:

1. Social Learning

In this e-learning method, employees work together on social platforms and network to discuss problems and share experiences. Social learning takes place through internal channels or collaboration tools that are integrated into the learning management system (LMS). 

Application examples: An example of social learning is using internal online forums where learners can ask questions and share ideas. You can also use platforms like LinkedIn and XING to connect your employees with their team or employees from other departments.

2. Microlearning

Microlearning is an e-learning format that provides short learning content on a specific topic. This makes it easy for participants to consume and process quickly. Microlearning is particularly suitable if your target group includes managers, team leaders and employees with busy schedules. 

Application examples: Common formats of microlearning include infographics, videos, podcasts or quiz questions. For example, you could use a short video tutorial to show how new employees can set up their computer profiles in a few minutes. Or you could create a short quiz to refresh your employees' knowledge on certain topics such as data protection.

3. E-learning platforms

An e-learning platform is a type of software that allows you to create and conduct training for your employees. It serves as a central portal through which learners can easily access courses and training materials at any time. E-learning platforms also offer live classrooms and webinar environments for remote learning. After completing a course, employees receive a completion certificate or a badge for their employee profile.

Application examples: An example of a learning platform is eLearningPlus. Through it you can provide your employees with learning videos to facilitate their training. The platform also includes gamification elements and an internal reward system to increase employee motivation.

4. Blended Learning

Blended Learning is a digital learning method that combines traditional classroom instruction with e-learning content to allow for a more flexible learning experience. In this way, learners can benefit from supervision and interaction in the classroom and at the same time access digital learning materials outside of the classroom.

Application examples: Blended Learning is most often used for onboarding new employees. Newcomers can learn the basics, for example through presentations and learning videos. Once they have completed the theoretical part, the face-to-face trainings can begin. Here, they put theory into practice under the guidance of other employees or the HR management. With Blended Learning, the onboarding process is thus accelerated and the HR management is relieved.

5. Gamification 

Gamification in e-learning refers to the use of game-like elements like points, badges, and rewards. Its goal is to make the learning process more entertaining and interactive, which can help learners better retain and understand course material.

Application examples: There are many ways to integrate gamification into e-learning. For example, you could use quizzes and puzzles to test your employees' knowledge and apply what they've learned. To acknowledge their achievements, you could reward them with badges or a higher ranking. You could even set up leaderboards to foster a sense of competition and drive employees to excel.

What tools are suitable for e-learning?

To train your employees online, you need an e-learning tool like a learning platform. There are already various softwares on the market that have been specially designed for this purpose. These include, among others:

• eLearningPlus
• Masterplan.com
• TalentLMS
• Absorb LMS
• SAP Litmos
• Docebo

E-Learning: The innovative way to train your employees

As with traditional learning, your employees can also refresh their knowledge and improve their skills with e-learning, albeit with one major difference. Instead of investing time and money to get to the training location, your employees can learn from anywhere via their mobile devices. They can set their own pace of learning and choose topics that interest them. For you, on the other hand, e-learning means lower costs and more convenience. For example, you don't have to pay for travel expenses or rent for the training site. And you can also easily update your training materials and courses if necessary.

There are various digital learning forms from which you can choose. These include social learning, microlearning, e-learning platforms, blended learning, and gamification. Depending on the target group and type of training, a specific e-learning concept or a combination of these may be more suitable. Besides this, you also need e-learning software. This serves as a central hub where you create and provide your training programmes and where your employees can access their materials. 

On OMR Reviews you can learn more about e-learning platforms and compare their features to determine the best tool for your company.