E-Learning, Engagement and Performance

Although an asynchronous online training program, or e-learning, has managed to make its presence felt in companies today, one of its major downfalls according to its critiques is how this form of training leaves the trainee on their own, face-to-face with a machine that shows no empathy. This isn’t false and even leads to e-learning to be referred to as e-boring, and the success of some online training programs is at times modest for some companies.

The big question becomes: how can we make online training not only more attractive, but also more productive and performing?

This question becomes especially pertinent regarding the development of online training programs. During on-site training sessions, the trainee must wait months or even longer to take part in a given training program and consequently this waiting period created a barrier to engagement.

This is what makes engagement the key to effective e-learning. But measuring this successfully requires certain indicators which reveal the level of engagement of the trainee such as:

– Statistics generated by the LMS platform like: the status of the program (started, in progress, ended, etc.), the time spent, score attained, etc.

– Other indicators also exist such as the contribution to a discussion thread, the comments found on educational resources and answers to a questionnaire.

Those guiding the training programs spotted some factors that facilitate engagement:

Defining the issues of a training program: Here, the more workers understand the importance of scaled training for their company, the more they will apply themselves to the process.

Focussing on actual problems: A training program that provides participants with the means to solve a problem, they are currently facing makes it more useful in their eyes. The trainee can also attest to the difficulties encountered regarding access to educational resources, help from a tutor and the process of sharing within the community, etc.

Setting deadlines: The more autonomy the trainee has, the more important it becomes set deadlines for certain exercises and fixed events.

Encourage peer coaching: This method safeguards against isolation and fosters engagement since trainees help and motivate one another while also discussing themes studied and sharing their opinion. This approach helps maintain the sense of community beyond the training program in question.

Prioritizing the design of the platform: The training portals themselves play a key role through their design. Ease of use and personalization options are essential.

Also, the Serious Game could represent another solution in the hopes of engaging trainees. This approach makes the participants more involved through a personalized approach and through memorization, a greater amount of information is assimilated due to the enjoyable aspects of the process. That being said, its price, the length of development time required to make it a reality given the efforts needed for approval of the knowledge acquired from other types of training.

Social Learning is also one of the solutions in the quest to increase engagement within the E-learning process. Even if companies are not necessarily ready yet, it is still worthwhile to bet that social learning represents a solution for the future.

Caroline Irrmann