Digital technology transforming distance learning

MUMBAI, INDIA: When selecting preferred educational delivery methods, distance learning till now has been a distant choice to live-in-classroom training. The average spend on training by organizations is 20 per cent of the employee cost and more than 2 per cent of top-line set aside.

Training for the current employees is the fundamental tool to develop competitive edge and foster an environment of innovation. Also, delay in having enough trained manpower can be the biggest impediment to growth.

The need for effective distance learning is accelerating from multiple fronts like shortage of good trainers, world becoming more flatter, the need to cut training costs and the ever-growing need to get more number of people trained faster and effectively among others. These factors are also responsible for creating a big need for learning on demand solutions across the enterprise.

The pace of technological change is transforming the world so rapidly that it is clear that in order to succeed tomorrow, we need to modernize learning today. It’s about taking advantage of advances in technology to improve the way we educate, and help them become part of the connected, digital universe.

Even with the best manpower you can hire and the best trainers you can deploy, actual learning for all your existing employees and new recruits is less than one third of what the trainer taught.

Problem of training effectiveness further gets compounded with training through video-conference/distance learning (resorted to due to shortage of good trainers in every domain), owing to sub-optimal training environment. As the recruitments keep happening throughout the year increasing the competition levels, not equipping your employees to self learn on demand could be a big handicap for the enterprise. All this gives your enterprise a very poor return on investment on training.

The use of digital technologies for learning both supports local efforts to educate adult learners and their teachers and extends educational opportunities to reach newer groups. The thoughtful integration of digital technologies into the traditional scheme and their use to develop new ways of learning is necessary to ensure trainees have the tools to thrive in a complex and rapidly changing technological society.

Digital technologies for learning, such as self-paced learning modules, multimedia case studies, simulations, video tutorials, and communications and assessment tools, can increase the array of learning opportunities for adult students and their teachers. Distance learning, which is slated to be a Rs. 100 crore plus market in 2010, is likely to grow at a compound rate of 50 per cent year-on-year.

Telepresence is helping to deliver a more personalized, collaborative and exciting learning experience. Trainers now have the power to train from documents, books and even object models at the press of a button. Trainers can also record trainings which can be accessed in a secure way. And video conferencing is enabling enterprises to follow lessons outside of the training room if they are away through illness or family commitments. 

Distance learning solutions will help a trainer to train enterprise-wide trainees across multiple locations at the same time without compromising on the quality of training. Also, these single training is effortlessly recorded to be used to empower learning on demand across the enterprise, helping the enterprise optimally meet its learning demands. With enterprise-class capabilities, the solutions will help enterprises shorten the learning curve and accelerate the pace of learning across the enterprise.

There are specific telepresence learning solutions available that can help rev up the pace of innovation across the enterprise as the learning curve of the entire organisation is shortened. We have a wide choice of Enterprise Learning Maximizer solutions for diverse needs of enterprises which can help one dramatically cut down the time-frames for reaching your desired training penetration goals for your enterprise letting you have a headstart over everyone else.

Users across the enterprise can become comfortable in learning through distance learning which helps reduce travel in your enterprise.

Learning can improve in the enterprise, marking a significant difference in improving employee retention and growth in the company. IT needs to act both as an enabler and complement the way that corporates prefer to learn if it is to give them the 21st century skills they need to compete in tomorrow’s connected, global economy. 

(The authors is the founder chairman of the Board and managing director of Business Octane, a provider of enterprise collaboration maximizing solutions. The views expressed in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of CIOL)