While e-learning is an outstanding learning medium for employee training, it also comes with its own set of problems that organizations may encounter when putting it in place.
The e-learning world is prone to certain fundamental difficulties, especially for students, ranging from low levels of student engagement to boring online course content. So, what exactly are these e-learning difficulties? What steps should you take to make e-learning a more effective and enjoyable experience? Let’s take a look at it.
4 Major E-learning Challenges To Look Out For
Challenge#1: E-learning Training Without a Trainer
The concept of training without a trainer was perhaps the most obvious learning problem of e-learning, and it was what prompted the most criticism during its early stages. The shift toward educator-free e-learning that can be done from anywhere at any time has been met with skepticism. How can students be taught, evaluated, and graded without a trainer present, while keeping them interested and on the right track?
Solution:
Learners who need extra advice or clarification can, for example, contact teachers or subject experts, telephone them, or interact with their peers on social media.
Rich graphics, such as talking head movies and audio storytelling, are essential for simulating a virtual “human” experience, especially when used in tandem.
The next idea is videoconferencing solutions, which allow you to virtually hold and broadcast workshops in real-time to thousands of trainees at once. This is the ideal approach to bridging this social divide for detached learners.
Challenge#2: Keeping up with the Technological Trends
Every year, new technological tools, gadgets, and software are introduced to help you improve your e-learning delivery methods. Yet, with so much digital disruption, determining whether new educational technology is worthwhile can be difficult.
Solution:
Attend tech events, trade exhibits, and conferences. Read about these technologies through publications, blogs, critiques, and even case studies. This keeps you informed about new developments and, more significantly, assists you in determining which innovative e-learning solutions will best meet your training requirements.
Challenge#3: Difficulty to Keep Learners Interested in E-learning Courses
Did you know that the average adult learner has a 20-minute span of attention? With this in mind, it can be challenging to keep a learner’s interest when they complete their e-learning sessions independently.
To participate in e-learning, learners must sit in front of the same screen for quite a while, whether it is on their smartphone, tablet, or computer. E-learning, in contrast to more hands-on dynamic training, can be thought of as a passive learning model that does not demand active engagement from students.
Solution:
While it might be difficult to keep learners interested in their training material, there are ways to do so. When it comes to constructing learning content, designers and developers play a critical role in e-learning engagement. Consider limiting your e-learning sessions between 10-15 minutes in length and incorporating gamification throughout the course material to encourage learners to participate. Additionally, try adding voice-over, videos or more interactive elements such as sliders, quizzes or mini-games.
Challenge#4: Creating Training for a Diverse Demographic
The more learners you have, the more training styles you’ll need to manage. This entails doing a complete training needs analysis, in which the course designer considers all trainees’ shortcomings, educational and career backgrounds, different native languages, ages, behaviors, potential limitations, and even technology proficiency levels when creating the final design.
Solution:
Fortunately, skillfully walking this tightrope is far easier than you might think. Empirical research is at the heart of solving this obstacle. As a result, conducting a survey of your learners with well-thought-out questions can assist you in determining their knowledge gaps and developing accurate and direct learning goals.
It is also worth paying attention to the native language of each student. The best solution, which will be a milestone in facilitating learning through e-learning, will be to localize your e-learning course to multiple languages, i.e. to translate the course and adapt it to the language and culture of people from other countries. Making an e-learning course multilingual is an essential step to a successful training program. At Elearningspread, we offer e-learning course localization services. Both web-based and video-based. Please see this page for more information.
Final Thoughts
E-learning is not going to stop, and the recent times we have lived in and are living in now, have shown that it has become an integral part of educational and corporate offerings. Of course, it is different from typical educational approaches, but in today’s world e-learning is becoming a leading and essential tool for learning. We hope that these suggestions may assist you in overcoming the most prevalent e-learning challenges.
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