The ABCs of E-Learning
Business tools, technologies and processes are constantly changing. Large corporations can afford to jet their employees around the country, or to bring trainers in-house for workshops, seminars and other educational programs. Small business owners are now leveling the field by utilizing e-learning programs to receive the same quality instruction for less money, and maintain productivity by keeping employees in the office instead of on the road.
In fact, researcher IDC is forecasting the worldwide corporate e-learning market will generate $17.3 billion in revenues in 2008. That’s up substantially from roughly $7.9 billion in 2006, and doesn’t include consumer e-learning expenditures.
Save Time and Money With E-Learning ProgramsThe primary benefit of e-learning for small business is cost savings. Let’s say you wanted to become a Microsoft-certified systems engineer, which requires a multi-day course. That would run about $2,000 per person. But online, you could get the same instruction for under $200 per person, says Alan Todd, chairman of Corporate University Xchange, a Harrisburg, PA, provider of corporate learning research, benchmarking, and advisory services. Likewise, to be certified in Microsoft Office, a live course might cost you $200 a person verses $20 online, he says.
Indeed, when you factor in the cost of airfare, hotel and other incidentals, the savings can be even more dramatic. John Banas, chief executive of MARk Business Intelligence Systems, a software company in Scottsdale, AZ, estimates that his company saved at least 30 percent on one seminar by using an online course offered by Click 4 Compliance. A seminar was going to cost about $10,000. “And that was just for a handful of employees, says Banas. “Multiply that by numerous employees across different locations and it really adds up.”
Online learning can also be a boon to time management, particularly for small companies. “It could be a stress to the organization to have people out of the office for a day or two of training. [E-learning] is a solution because people can attend the training any time of the day or night,” says Joe Panebianco, senior management consultant with TBM Consulting in Durham, N.C., which recently started offering its own e-learning series.
Many e-learning programs offer flexible schedules and user-directed pace. You can retake lessons at your leisure, which also gives people a better opportunity to digest the information. Providers are also enhancing their curricula with animations, instant-messaging interactions and audio or video feeds to enhance the user experience.
When small business owners think about e-learning, the first thing that probably pops into their minds is degree programs online, says John Ambrose, senior vice president of strategy, corporate development and emerging business at SkillSoft, a Nashua, N.H.-based provider of e-learning content and technology products for business and IT professionals. “I think they tend to think less about getting ad hoc-based skills online, but with the Web there’s a universe of great content that’s now available.”
An abundance of course offerings and providers now cover a range of business knowledge needs such as finance, marketing, management, regulation, technologies and more.
The Downside of E-LearningTo be sure, there are downsides to e-learning. For starters, some people simply prefer learning in a classroom environment. What’s more, the cost for a fully customized course can be prohibitively high. It can cost $3,000 to $200,000 for a single customized course, depending on the level of interactivity, the type of material, and the skill sets to develop, according to Kevin Moore, chief learning officer of TiER1 Performance Solutions in Cincinnati, Ohio, which develops customized e-learning material.
Luckily there are numerous vendors who have already developed courses on a broad range of topics. “So most companies— unless they have something specific they want training on— don’t need to develop their own courseware,” says Don Cook, senior vice president of marketing at Learn.com, a Sunrise, FL.-based employee development company whose offerings include e-learning content.
Did You Say Free?Even the Small Business Administration offers courses online—and they are free. There are currently 23 courses available covering a variety of topics such as finance, marketing, planning and e-commerce. “[We] offer primer courses to give people a pretty good understanding, but lead them to other resources so they can get the full depth of information that they might require,” says Jim O'Connor, director of the Small Business Training Network, the online training program of the SBA.
Of course, there are many things to think about when considering whether to offer online training. “You want [employees] to learn things to help them do their job better. If you give them any kind of training that they can’t immediately apply on the job, the odds are that it won’t be retained,” says Todd of Corporate University Xchange.
Also, consider supplementing the online material with a live course or two to fill any necessary gaps. “An off-the-shelf training course will be a nice, generic course. But unless you customize from top to bottom, which is very expensive, it’s hard to make it fit all your needs,” says Farzad Barkhordari, chief executive of the online training provider Click 4 Compliance.
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Learn More About E-Learning
There’s an abundance of e-learning providers in the marketplace today. Before you enroll, be sure to investigate the quality and depth of training, and look for a provider with established credentials who will readily share references. Many providers also have online demonstrations so you can review the course before sign-up.
E-Learning Portals
E-learners.com, Online Computer Schools and WorldwideLearn.com are portals that list hundreds of e-learning courses and links for accredited online colleges, certificates, courses, training and more.
About.com: Human Resources offers a host of information on e-learning solutions in employee training, development, performance improvement, and education.
Microsoft e-learning offers a multitude of programs for office workers. The course catalogue runs the gamut of Microsoft’s products. Each course offers pre- and post-assessments, as well as simulations that emulate real-world scenarios on the most commonly used office tools. Most of these courses take four to six hours to complete.
CompUSA offers a variety of courses short (60- and 90-minute) virtual courses targeting a specific skill such as Mail Merge in Word, Pivot Tables in Excel, or Creating Forms in Access, and more in-depth (three- to six-month) courses and customizable learning solutions on topics such Web or graphics developments, and individual and comprehensive Office applications.
Learn.com features more than 5,000 courses ranging from Microsoft office, to safety and health, to management, customer services, ethics, communication and more.
Skillsoft provides e-learning content and technology products for business and IT professionals. Classes range from finance, human resources and sales skills to web design, server technologies and database systems.
SmallBizU offers classes tailored to small businesses in the areas of money, management, and marketing.
The U.S. Small Business Administration offers free courses on a bevy of topics that can be valuable for business owners and employees alike, including business planning and management, financing and accounting, marketing and advertising, government contracting, risk management, e-commerce, international trade, tax training and more.
Tier1 Performance
Develops customized e-learning and knowledge management solutions companies.
