E-learning or electronic learning (sometimes called web-based training or electronically supported learning) is available to learners anywhere and at any time via the Internet or a company-owned intranet.
In contrast to traditional learning methods, e-learning enables students, pupils and employees in training to participate in an organized learning experience regardless of their physical location.
What is the significance of e-learning?
E-learning methods and technology are important both for the training of students and pupils and for the professional development of employees in the world of work.
The need for employees to keep up with the ever faster development of technology is very great. For example, coding experts, hardware developers and online security experts alike expect that the advent of quantum computer alone will bring about a massive change in the way modern companies work. This urgently requires new training and education of the workforce as well as new methods for implementing it, which allow increased adaptability in the rapidly changing environment.
Today, e-learning platforms offer this increased adaptability for learners and teachers alike. It is estimated that the market for online courses and e-learning will have a value of around 325 billion dollars by 2025.
How e-learning works
Teaching can be done through a combination of static methods, such as learning portals, pages linked to hyperlinks, screen cam tutorials, audio/video streaming and live broadcasts on the Internet, and interactive methods, such as discussions, chats and desktop video conferences.
In the first few years, e-learning tools primarily made it possible to provide learning material directly from the teacher to the learner. Meanwhile, e-learning applications and education software development services have evolved to enable multidirectional communication with increasingly interactive tools.
Students, employees and self-employed learners alike have greater freedom in choosing how they receive and respond to e-learning content, and any number of learners can be involved.
There are three main criteria that a company should follow to ensure an effective e-learning program, regardless of the specific platform it ultimately uses:
- The experience should be mobile-friendly. The use of mobile phones is increasing in the company. Calls for training, reminders or congratulations on training results can be sent over telephones.
- Experience should implement social functions. By using social media or a platform that emulates the basic functions of social media, learners receive a platform to respond to training efforts or general company updates and to communicate with their colleagues and employers.
- A variety of different media should be used. This does justice to different learning styles, including quizzes, infographics, podcasts and presentations.
Advantages and disadvantages of e-learning
Proponents believe that web-based teaching is the perfect solution for the needs of lifelong learners, as it is available on demand, requires no travel and is cost-effective. Learners can continue to access material throughout their lives as the topic they learn about evolves. Web-based training and e-learning enable greater flexibility in the way the learner consumes information and greater adaptability to new available information.
Education Google Slide Infographic Templates are pre-designed slide decks that provide a visual and engaging way to present educational information. These templates include a variety of design elements, such as charts, graphs, icons, and images, which help to simplify complex information and make it easier for audiences to understand. These templates are often used by teachers, trainers, instructors, and other educational professionals to present information in a visually appealing way, whether in a classroom setting, a conference, or online.
Critics point out that web-based training is a good alternative for independent, self-motivated learners, but technical problems and the need for human contact limit its usefulness for learners with other learning styles. For example, a learner using an asynchronous e-learning method may not be able to successfully complete an e-learning course without the additional structure of a deadline or the immediate answer to questions provided by a synchronous e-learning method or a traditional learning method. Another disadvantage of using e-learning methods, especially for free and easily accessible resources, is that the quality and credibility of the content or the teacher cannot be transparent.