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E-learning for employees: benefits and limitations

Last updated September 12, 2023 · 8 min read

By Kathleen DaveySeptember 12, 2023 · 9 min read

E-learning for employees

Once upon a time, all learning was in-person learning. You likely have that typical image of a traditional learning experience—learners in their seats, listening to a professor deliver knowledge from a podium.

Much has changed with the advance of new technologies, especially the internet and cloud-based computing. Today, companies no longer have to rely on in-person classes to conduct employee training thanks to e-learning. This approach to delivering learning content lets you create online courses that learners can take at their own pace on their computers or mobile devices.

In this guide, you will learn how embracing e-learning courses can benefit your employees and company.

What is e-learning?

E-learning (short for electronic learning) means delivering learning content and training using digital resources. In recent years, organizations such as higher education institutions and corporations have embraced e-learning for its many benefits including cost-effectiveness and learner engagement.

Organizations can use e-learning platforms to offer a contemporary employee training experience that leverages advanced learning technologies such as gamification, social learning, microlearning, artificial intelligence (AI), and more. Another critical advantage of e-learning is its mobile-friendliness unlocking higher flexibility and accessibility.

Extra tip: For an in-depth look, see our complete e-learning guide.

What’s the role of e-learning in employee training?

For a long time, employee corporate training relied on classroom-based instructor-led courses. And while these kinds of training courses will always remain, they do have some drawbacks.

For instance, depending on the number of people to be trained, organizations must devote a lot of money, space, and time to in-person training sessions. And, as the pandemic accelerated the trend toward remote working, paying travel expenses for employees to attend in-person training began to look prohibitively expensive in comparison. For these reasons, e-learning programs have become standard for the corporate learning environment.

E-learning is also highly adaptive and offers a variety of formats, making it fitting for really any learning topic from compliance training or new employee onboarding. Online training delivered through a learning management system (LMS) can adapt to any company’s needs since LMSs have great scalability. For instance, during onboarding, a company can send links to the relevant learning materials and online courses that the new hire can access through mobile learning portals at their leisure. This eliminates the need for employees to come to the office before their official start day.

But e-learning isn’t only beneficial for companies. It also brings great benefits to employees. Let’s see how in the next section.

5 benefits of e-learning for employees 

Generally, e-learning is a valuable technology for everyone involved in corporate training. What benefits employees will in turn benefit the overall company. Here are some ways e-learning helps employees have a more enjoyable and effective learning experience.

It’s more flexible

Today’s employees (especially Millennials and Gen Z) are used to flexibility and convenience with easy access to smartphones and apps like Spotify and DoorDash.

So, what’s this have to do with your employee training? Well, if the training you offer is inflexible and stodgy, you can say goodbye to employee engagement.

Instead, by offering e-learning content, you provide something that’s self-paced. Employees can complete modules and quizzes at their own pace when they have time. And, if you also enable mobile learning, employees can learn even when they’re out of the office.

It fits remote teams well 

Much has been said and written about how COVID-19 transformed work. As companies had to deal with lockdowns and bans on public gatherings, doing things remotely came to the rescue.

And, now that people have a taste of working from home, this way of working is here to stay. Whether your company is fully remote or has a few remote teams or employees, e-learning is a natural fit.

This is especially true for remote onboarding, which lets you complete all stages necessary to integrate a new hire into your organization without meeting them in person.

Isn’t that nifty?

And that’s not the end because your LMS e-learning solution can serve as a permanent library of that employees can reference as needed. This means employees don’t have to send endless emails and Slack messages to get answers to their questions. Instead, they can take control of their own learning and seek answers for themselves.

This makes the learning experience more manageable, productive, and efficient.

It puts employees in charge of their professional development

For today’s workforce, professional development is no longer a job perk. It’s something they expect wherever they work. And it profoundly influences employee retention. According to the University of Phoenix, 68% of employees say they’d stay in jobs that offer opportunities to learn new skills.

A learning program must provide employees with a robust e-learning platform that lets them choose how to develop their skills. With Docebo, employees can use the AI virtual tutor to get personalized suggestions on which courses to take next. This approach is called on-demand learning, and it’s pretty similar to the way people use video and music streaming services. Based on the courses staff completed previously, the algorithm recommends more courses (just like how Netflix gives a list of similar TV shows when you’re done watching the current one.)

Put all these technological features together and employees will feel empowered and capable of taking their learning development in their own hands. Unlike traditional, top-down, instructor-led learning, e-learning can be self-directed and driven by employee interests.

It boosts knowledge retention 

There is a great and powerful shared enemy of instructors, teachers, and students. Its name is the forgetting curve.

In a nutshell, the forgetting curve theory says that if people don’t refresh their knowledge periodically, they forget more and more about something they’ve learned. Learners forget most of the material in the first days and weeks after they studied it.

There are several ways in which e-learning fights forgetfulness and boosts knowledge retention:

  • Interactivity: Learning methods such as gamification allow e-learning to be more interactive with personalized learning paths tailored to a learner’s specific interests and needs. It also makes it easy to interact with other learners via message boards or interactive polls.
  • Multimedia: With e-learning, it’s easy to include multimedia in the learning materials, so those who learn better through visual or auditory channels can become more engaged.
  • Engagement: Because e-learning allows learners to self-direct their learning experience and easily access materials of interest, it increases engagement for better knowledge retention.

 

Allows real-time feedback 

We’ve all been there, waiting impatiently and anxiously for the results of a test. With old-school pen-and-paper tests, the instructor needs to review and grade them. This takes time and effort.

With the e-learning approach, feedback happens instantly as employees get the results of tests they take immediately. So, instead of waiting and forgetting what the questions were in the first place, learners find out immediately and internalize the correct answers.

And with an LMS solution for e-learning, feedback can go both ways. You can append surveys to the end of every course where employees can voice their praise and criticism, allowing you to iterate and improve training in real-time. Instructors can also access various metrics and analytics through their LMS to see how learners are engaging with the course.

Limits of e-learning in corporate training

Although e-learning technology offers great benefits to both employees and companies, it is by no means perfect. Let’s explore some of the limits to e-learning and why in-person training also isn’t going anywhere.

Firstly, in-person training with an instructor is more hands-on. In an in-person training session, employees can get immediate answers to their questions from the subject-matter expert conducting the training.

Secondly, there are many other people in a classroom, so it’s easier to access different viewpoints and perspectives.

Thirdly, learners might feel isolated from one another without direct communication and group discussions.

However, there are solutions to these limitations. Integrating social learning features into your e-learning program (like Docebo’s discussion forums and chat) will give learners an avenue for social interaction. As for the parts of the training that need to be hands-on (such as in the medical field or product demos for salespeople), a blended learning approach offers the best of both worlds—e-learning for theory and in-person learning for drills and demonstrations.

Implement e-learning for your employees with a powerful LMS 

The best way to conduct e-learning programs in your organization is with a learning management system. LMSs like Docebo have all the features that make good online learning possible.

Creating, delivering, and managing the courses is straightforward for instructors. At the same time, learners enjoy the ease of access and high-quality learning materials. To see how e-learning can benefit your employees and your company, schedule a demo with Docebo today.

Kathleen Davey

The future of training and development: what you need to know

Last updated September 12, 2023 · 10 min read

By Kathleen DaveySeptember 12, 2023 · 12 min read

The future of training and development

Many companies and educational institutions conduct online training programs and offer blended learning that melds online and in-person training. Although these learning methods have been around for many years, the pandemic and boom of remote working created a new wave of urgency to take learning online.

It seems everyone’s rushing to get a new learning management system (LMS) or update their current one to take advantage of modern learning technologies. And this is without even considering artificial intelligence (AI) and the changes it will bring to development programs and employee training.

So much is happening in training and development that keeping abreast of all the tectonic changes can be tricky. That’s what this guide is for. Here you’ll learn some of the most impactful trends in e-learning, employee training, and learning and development. After learning about the training industry’s future, you will receive a few actionable tips on how to future-proof learning in your organization.

What does the future of training and development hold?

In just a few short years, the world has seen massive changes in society, the workplace, and technology. The work-from-home revolution alongside emerging AI technology is poised to create an even more dramatic shift in how people work and learn going forward. Let’s just say professionals in the learning and development (L&D) sphere have their work cut out for them.

Here are the new technologies and trends that are reshaping the world of L&D as we speak.

Social and collaborative learning

Social learning is a theory proposed by psychologist Albert Bandura that sees learning as a cognitive process taking place in a social context. People don’t just learn through reasoning but also by observing cues and behaviors from others. This means that learning is, by nature, a collective process that works best in a group where learners can interact with each other.

Social learning is also one of the most influential trends in corporate training, as companies want to take advantage of the effect collaboration and interaction have on employee engagement during training.

As more and more training moves online through LMS platforms, social learning features become more important than ever. Discussion groups, forums, and chat functionality allow learners to communicate in real-time and asynchronously to share knowledge, insight, and informal learning content.

Best of all, modern technology implements social learning through social media-style formats that users are familiar with and enthusiastic to engage with.

Mobile learning

Speaking of tectonic shifts, how about smartphones? People can scarcely imagine a time before these small yet powerful computers were in everyone’s pockets. And yet, the first iPhone was only introduced in 2007.

Learners are used to mobile apps and smartphones. They consume most of their online content through them. So, it makes sense that mobile learning (“m-learning” for short) is such an essential feature of all contemporary LMS software.

With m-learning, employees, partners, and stakeholders can log onto the learning platform and access training content on the go. If you want to know more about mobile learning, here’s an excellent video:

Overall, mobile learning is convenient, fits well into the modern flow of work, and is a crucial part of continuous learning because it allows learners to continue learning outside the classroom or the workplace.

Personalized learning experiences

New technologies mean employees have to learn new skills. Upskilling and reskilling are powerful tools to keep your workforce competitive, close skill gaps, and keep up with the ever-changing business world.

To indeed be ahead of the curve, employers must invest in personalized learning experiences. This is because, in a business environment that’s rapidly changing, a skillful worker is not one who’s achieved narrow specialization but one who’s flexible and willing to learn continuously.

Personalized learning experiences through adaptive learning pathways and AI features, such as virtual tutors, ensure learners get the most relevant content, increasing knowledge retention and learning motivation.

In the 21st century, the future of work is learning. Therefore, any technology you can use to increase learning motivation will help you and your workforce remain competitive.

Satisfying multiple learner audiences

There are other audiences outside the work environment for whom companies might want to provide training material. Channel partners are one of them, as well as association members and, of course, customers and clients.

Together, all this is called extended enterprise training. It can be used in onboarding new customers and giving the proper training and knowledge to partners, among other things.

Customer training, in particular, is a strong trend because it allows companies to maintain better customer relationships and increase customer loyalty. It’s also indispensable when your product or service is somewhat complicated and requires instruction on operating.

You’ll need an LMS platform that can adapt to multiple audiences to power extended enterprise learning. Cloud-based LMSs like Docebo let you set up multiple domains and separate the learning portals to preserve learner privacy.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Here’s the big one you’ve no doubt been wondering about. What exactly will happen now that generative AI (think ChatGPT and Midjourney) has been unleashed upon the world?

Experts don’t have all the answers, but one thing is clear: everything is about to change. Unlocking more automation and personalization are just two examples of AI assisting in learning and development initiatives.

One way that LMS platforms already use AI is to power recommendation algorithms. Based on inputs such as completed courses, learners get automatic recommendations on new courses that might interest them. Docebo pairs this functionality with its virtual coach, so learners who want to learn something new can ask the AI using natural language.

AI features can also improve searching for content (through automatic indexing and tagging) and unlock better adaptive learning paths. Instead of the admins setting these paths manually, AI can pick which learning objects to use next, based on learner performance.

And all of this is just the beginning. AI will soon be able to create learning content for you too. You can already see it in Docebo’s Shape product which can turn things like blogs and videos into microlearning content.

Gamification

To understand why gamification is so powerful, look to video games. Did you know that gamers worldwide have exceeded 3 billion people? Or that 76% of those who play games are above the age of 18? That’s why gamification, which takes elements of video games such as levels, experience points, badges, and leaderboards, is such a powerful tool in e-learning. It taps into this love of video games that so many adults possess.

Many learners are already familiar with all these gaming incentives and feel a sense of motivation and pride in earning digital tokens and bragging rights. Even those who aren’t gamers themselves probably use a few gamified apps like Nike Run Club or Duolingo and their coinciding loyalty programs.

LMSs like Docebo have many gamification features that can help engage learners and create a sense of friendly competition.

Microlearning

As workloads and the pace of work increase, setting aside enough time to complete an entire course can be a real challenge.

That’s where microlearning comes in. Microlearning means serving small bite-sized lessons in different modalities like text or video just when the learner needs them.

These little “nuggets of knowledge” address the immediate needs of learners and fit excellently into their workflow. Microlearning is even better when paired with m-learning.

The logic is the same as with using Google to answer questions. Learners log into your LMS anytime they need something, do a quick search, and find relevant content to help them out. Of course, microlearning lessons can be used as part of a more extensive training program where they can relay helpful knowledge in an easily digestible form, thus keeping engagement high.

User-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) has already taken over social media, but is it coming for e-learning next?

While there might not be a takeover anytime soon, learners enjoy consuming content made by other learners. This can be Q&A forums, short videos, reviews, or case studies. It’s a fantastic way to create peer-to-peer learning opportunities in your organization. UGC’s real power is combining social learning with microlearning, another useful and engaging learning tool.

Of course, you might worry that there could be misinformation if you just let anyone upload stuff to your LMS. Docebo’s UGC features come with a peer-review system to combat that possibility. Before UGC goes live, a subject matter expert can review it and choose whether or not to approve it. They can also modify it as needed.

Learning on demand

These days, everything is on demand. Music and movies get streamed into your home anytime you want, and you can even have food or groceries delivered.

The same logic can be applied to training. By creating asynchronous learning content that employees can access at their leisure, you give them the information they need when they need it.

Creating a knowledge base on your standard operating procedures is an excellent example of learning on demand. It’s especially beneficial for remote workers who can refer to the knowledge base to get answers instead of waiting for coworkers or managers to respond.

With learning on demand, you also foster a learning culture where employees engage in self-directed learning, looking through the catalog of courses and enrolling in the ones they find interesting.

How to prepare your workplace for future trends

As you’ve seen, learning and development are rapidly changing. Gone are the days of classrooms, long in-person seminars, and old-school e-learning platforms that require people to be hunched over a desktop computer.

But for all these technological advancements to be practical and valuable, you have to prepare your workplace and your employees. Here’s how to do just that.

  • Invest in the right LMS: Taking advantage of any of the technologies mentioned earlier creates a powerful LMS platform and learning experience. Choosing the right LMS can be difficult, but you’ll generally want a platform with a lot of features that is regularly updated.
  • Be agile: There is a current shift in learning bringing focus away from what you learn to how you learn it. You can’t train employees based on past successes anymore because technology rapidly makes them irrelevant. Instead, you must embrace the agile way of doing things to keep ahead of the curve and build resilience to change. Tomorrow’s employees must be quick on their feet and respond to new challenges with innovation and speed.
  • Make training available to everyone: In many companies, training is either reserved for middle and upper management (symposiums, industry workshops, trade shows, etc.) or for entry-level positions (onboarding, basic job training, etc.). This is an old-fashioned view. To build a learning culture that will give you the agility and resilience you need in a rapidly changing business environment, you must make learning a priority for everyone. Everyone in the company should have access to appropriate learning materials, whether it’s upskilling, leadership training, or any other learning program. One way to aid in creating a robust learning culture is to have people of different seniority and hierarchy levels learn together. This can increase cross-departmental communication and unlock mentoring opportunities.

Now over to you

The future is full of business opportunities and challenges, from AI to virtual reality and beyond. Learning and development efforts are fast becoming a critical business function that can’t be ignored or swept under the rug.

Making the most of your L&D initiatives requires a powerful and robust LMS platform to deliver all the learning content. Docebo is a platform with all the technologies mentioned in this guide. To see how Docebo can help your organization learn better, schedule a demo today.

Kathleen Davey

A summary of enterprise e-learning trends

Last updated February 28, 2022 · 5 min read

By Aislinn ShanahanFebruary 28, 2022 · 6 min read

There’s no denying it, we’ve entered a new era of e-learning. Based on market research, case studies, discussions with our customers and partners, and data from industry analysts, here’s our take on the future of e-learning.

(FYI: This is just a sneak peek of what you can find in the full report.)

Learning content

There’s a lot of content out there. Whether you create it yourself using content creation/authoring tools or pull it from a marketplace of curated content, sometimes the hardest part is finding the right combination of e-learning content that will meet your learners’ needs and your business needs.

Another challenge is ensuring the content you have is current. This is especially important with recurring courses where information can change, like compliance training (and even onboarding). E-learning courses like these can quickly become outdated soon after they’ve been created, so the major struggle continues to be the relevancy of training content and ways to streamline the ongoing updating of online training courses.

In the next year, there will be a greater focus on using learning solutions to ensure learners get the most up-to-date content. Solutions to this common problem will take the form of smarter content curation tools that produce catalogs for individual learning needs, and extended enterprise lms functionality, like social learning tools, to empower subject matter experts (SMEs) to create and share their own content with employees and non-employees (e.g. members of the extended enterprise, such as customers and/or partners) alike.

“It’s up to learning technology providers to help organizations through this. None of these other learning tools work if you don’t have your content either curated or mapped” – David Wentworth, Principal Analyst, Brandon Hall Group

Learning experience

As always, engagement is an uphill battle for all those in learning and development. Providing the best possible corporate e-learning experience for users is paramount, and we’re becoming more and more inventive with our solutions.

Leveraging AI-powered learning management systems (LMS) will spur an increased usage of personalization approaches alongside the use of personal learning trainers. Focusing specifically on how to support your learners, digital coaches will prompt them to finish courses, suggest new content, and answer questions. In addition, your learners will be able to have more of a say about what skills they want to develop and how.

Taking learning out of the office, mobile learning is set to shake things up, and the various applications for gamification and AR/VR simulations will continue to spark interest for L&D teams.

“We’re starting to see a growing need for a stronger corporate commitment to the value of learning. Modernizing the company’s learning environment to meet demand for personalized employee career paths is still a bit of a tough sell […] – the payoff down the line is worth it though.” – Zachary Chertok, Analyst at Aberdeen Group

Learning automation

As the need for employee training that focuses on upskilling and reskilling the workforce becomes more necessary, so too does the need to support this strategy by bringing automation into the realm of skills analysis.

With AI becoming even more sophisticated, intelligent online learning platforms are now enabling learners to identify which skills they want to grow within their learning environment and then have the LMS platform serve up related content.

76% of organizations state that AI is essential for their organization’s strategy to succeed. – Infosys

Learning impact

As ever, the impact that our learning programs have on individuals and the business is our most important metric.

Not only must we prove value in our actions to our management teams, but we want to know that the knowledge our learners have acquired is being applied on the job.

In addition, a new generation of employees are demanding progression of knowledge and increasingly base their hiring choices and loyalty on corporate training programs and learning opportunities available. It’s an exciting time for L&D!

Learning evaluation tools will become more prominent as delivering effective learning programs becomes even more critical and businesses look to strategically upskill, reskill, hire and retain top talent.

“The first thing organizations have to do is stop building learning with no objectives. That’s the number one thing. If you don’t understand what the specific organizational objectives are, how do you know what learning to create? And more importantly, how do you know how to measure it?” – Michael Rochelle, Chief Strategy Officer and Principal HCM Analyst at Brandon Hall Group

As we all prepare ourselves for a new e-learning era, it’s safe to say that these trends will make the learning and development sector even more sophisticated and effective.

You can lean on the Docebo Learning Suite for the enterprise learning management system and training solutions you need to meet the enterprise training challenges this new era of e-learning head on.

Aislinn Shanahan

How Learning & Development Can Lead to Organizational Change

Last updated August 1, 2017 · 5 min read

By Marina TheodotouAugust 1, 2017 · 6 min read

[mk_image image_width=”900″ image_height=”350″ crop=”false” lightbox=”false” frame_style=”simple” target=”_self” caption_location=”inside-image” align=”left” margin_bottom=”10″ src=”https://www.docebo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/BP-Organizational-Change-with-LD-Blog-EN.jpg”]

Use Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change to introduce a culture of learning

CLOs and their Learning and Development teams can play a significant role in leading organizational change by fostering a learning culture. Organizations that remain stagnant and unresponsive to the learning needs of their employees will not be able to respond to the needs of their customers.

Organizational change is not a new term but it has evolved through the years as the needs of customers and employees have changed. There are several classic organizational change models, including the McKinsey 7-S Framework, Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change, and Lewin’s Change Management Model, among others. Of these, I prefer Kotter’s model because it begins with the call to action to create a sense of urgency, which is what L&D needs to do in their organization. Incidentally,  2017 also marks the 21st anniversary of Kotter’s seminal book, Leading Change.

Here is Kotter’s methodology for leading organizational change, broken down from an L&D perspective. This process could take between six months to one year to implement depending on the size of your organization. You will notice that the process is scaffolded, whereby each steps builds on the previous ones.[mk_image image_width=”900″ image_height=”350″ crop=”false” lightbox=”false” frame_style=”simple” target=”_self” caption_location=”inside-image” align=”left” margin_bottom=”10″ src=”https://www.docebo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/BP-Organizational-Change-with-LD-Visual-EN.jpg”]

1. Create a sense of urgency.

You will need to define “why” learning in an organization is mission critical. One of the biggest challenges facing the US economy today is the skills gap. Learning is critical for organizations if they want to stay relevant and profitable.

2. Build a guiding coalition.

Engage with your business leaders and executives to build peer support around Step 1. You must ensure your “why” is important to them, otherwise they will not see the value learning can bring to the organization and will not support you.  You will need to leverage their perspective into a building a coalition of supporters around the importance of a learning culture in the overall organization.

3. Form a strategic vision.

With the stakeholders from Step 2, you will need to craft a strategic vision around making learning part of talent development. Incorporate tools and technology to reach your learners whenever and wherever they want to learn. Engage them, seek their perspective, and incorporate it when it’s part of the vision.

4. Enlist a volunteer army.

Here, you will need to use critical avenues to communicate the new vision and strategies to the individual learner and learner groups. These avenues may include social media, face to face meetings, focus groups, presentations, and demos. Through these avenues, you will build an “army” of supporters to your mission of making learning critical to the organization.

5. Enable action by removing barriers.

In this step, you will need to remove internal and external barriers to learning across the organization. The external are more difficult to impact. However, internally, you can take action, starting by discovering the on-the-job needs of the learner, what time they prefer to learn, how much time they dedicate to learning, and what they most want to learn.

6. Generate short term wins.

Select a small, enthusiastic, and committed group from Step 5 and implement new learning programs and technologies with them. Ensure that they are engaged and part the change. This will be your pilot or ‘proof of concept’. Pivot as needed and track the momentum of small wins. It is a good idea to share these small wins through social media posts from your early adopters – nothing speaks better of a new and successful initiative than documented results and stories from those who benefit.

7. Sustain acceleration.

In this step, you must continue the momentum with new content, new themes, and even giveaways to encourage your learners to continue making progress. As your results grow, be sure to track progress and report back to the executive team on these interim results.

8. Institute change.

Finally, you must complete a formal review of the results you’ve experienced regarding productivity, performance, and profitability as a result of the learning culture you have introduced. Share and report the progress to key stakeholders and celebrate any successes. It is always good idea to take time to reflect on the lessons learned and recalibrate for future initiatives.

Change is not easy, but it is the only way organizations can continue to drive success. Introducing a culture of learning is no small task, but using a well-planned strategy (e.g., the guiding steps above) can help ensure it’s an organizational change that will last.

Get more L&D insights from Marina Theodotou at DoceboInspire, our upcoming L&D conference!

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About the author

Marina Theodotou is the director for professional development at the Computer Science Teachers Association and is pursuing a doctorate in education focusing on the alignment of learning and skills to organizational goals.

Marina Theodotou

How to Scale Training Programs in Your Organization

Last updated May 29, 2017 · 4 min read

By Spencer ThorntonMay 29, 2017 · 6 min read

[mk_image image_width=”900″ image_height=”350″ crop=”false” lightbox=”false” frame_style=”simple” target=”_self” caption_location=”inside-image” align=”left” margin_bottom=”10″ src=”https://www.docebo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/How-Scale-Successful-eLearning-Program-OpenSesame-April-Blog-Blog-EN.jpg”]

Is your organization growing? Ensure your eLearning programs can keep up

Whether you’re starting a learning program from scratch or are adding training content to an existing program, creating a scalable solution is imperative (especially for fast-growing businesses).

Although it can seem daunting, there are dozens of tools in the market to help your business be successful. Here are a few recommendations for scaling your learning program.

Invest in tools

For growing companies, investing in a tool like a learning management system (LMS) is immensely beneficial. Harnessing the scalability of an LMS enables your learning program to grow as your company grows.

If you’re planning on opening a new remote location or expanding into another country, a cloud-based LMS can allow your company to create a consistent and accessible learning experience for remote and international learners. Similarly, organizations looking to add a significant amount of training content for your sales team within the next year can plan ahead with an LMS to strategize seamless reporting and deployment methods. Or, if you’re still in the process of building a program, you can leverage the reporting capabilities of an LMS to measure and track the effectiveness of learning programs and content. As your company evolves, an LMS offers a host of valuable features to cater to your learning needs.

Determine learning content needs

Where are your employees needing additional training? Does your company need to create a program for progression or succession planning? It all starts with content. As your company grows, it’s important to map out areas of need prior to actually adding content.

Evaluate & expand content

Once learning programs have been in place, measuring impact will help inform future learning decisions. For companies early in the process of planning a learning initiative, piloting training can be very useful. Starting with specific departments and then expanding to the entire company allows organizations to gradually scale a program.

Offer content with multiple levels

After implementing a program, expanding content can help employees fully benefit from training. Learning and development professionals know that “one size does not fit all.” After having deployed a program, look into adding more curated content. For employees who may not need preliminary training, many content providers offer training that features multiple levels. For example, for employees needing to take courses on Microsoft Office, courses are available in beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. Offering courses with different learner categories allows your company to provide the right training to the right employee.

Provide courses in different formats

Since eLearning provides the perfect environment for asynchronous learning, providing training courses in multiple formats can also create a friendlier environment for employees to learn. For employees interested in improving computer skills, offering mobile training allows learners to watch training on a tablet while using a desktop computer to follow along. Additionally, for companies looking to expand training to other departments, mobile learning allows for employees to learn on-the go or in the field.

Add training in other languages

If your company is looking to expand overseas or abroad, considering different language options is important to plan in advance. For organizations looking to create a consistent learning experience, plan ahead by looking for course content that already comes in multiple languages. That way learners are presented with the same content in the same course. Otherwise learners may end up having to view different content in different languages.

As your organization grows or takes steps in a different direction, the consistent evaluation of your learning program, its delivery and scalability will contribute to the overall success of the program in the long term. With the right tools and content, this transition will be easier and most effective for you and your learners.

Start scaling your eLearning prgorams today – start a 14-day free trial of Docebo!

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About the author

Spencer Thornton is the Vice President of Content at OpenSesame and is an eLearning industry veteran with over 15 years of experience in the space. As the VP of Content, Spencer splits his time between helping existing content partners be successful selling their content in the marketplace and recruiting new groundbreaking training providers to join the team.

Spencer Thornton

7 eLearning Gamification Elements to Get the Most Out of Serious Games

Last updated January 17, 2017 · 5 min read

By Christopher PappasJanuary 17, 2017 · 5 min read

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Make your serious games more effective with these eLearning gamification ideas

From badges and boards to keys that open learning doors, there are a myriad of game mechanics to consider when designing your online training course.

The question is: which gamification elements should you use for your audience in order to spark their motivation? How can you reinforce positive behaviours and get them to engage with the subject matter in a more meaningful way? Most importantly, which game mechanic is a perfect fit for your online training program and organizational goals? Here are 7 eLearning gamification elements to consider for getting the most out of the serious games you plan to include in your online training programs.[mk_image image_width=”900″ image_height=”350″ crop=”false” lightbox=”false” frame_style=”simple” target=”_self” caption_location=”inside-image” align=”left” margin_bottom=”10″ src=”https://www.docebo.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/7-Gamification-Elements-Get-Most-Out-Serious-Games-Visual-EN.jpg”]

1. Leaderboards

Leaderboards are one of the most competitive gamification elements, as they encourage corporate learners to surpass their peers in order to achieve “first place” status. It’s the ideal game mechanic for those who want to be publicly recognized or praised, which makes it more extrinsic than intrinsic when it comes to motivation.

To get the most out of leaderboards, allow corporate learners to opt out if they aren’t comfortable competing with their colleagues. This ensures that your introverted corporate learners aren’t alienated, but still gives others the chance to work toward the top tier.

2. Points

Points are earned by completing tasks or participating in voluntary online training activities. Once learners have collected a certain amount of points they can trade them in for a reward or unlock new course levels.

3. Certificates and/or Badges

Certificates and badges are more tangible rewards. Corporate learners must reach their goals or show their expertise in order to receive a certificate. When more “minor” milestones are reached (e.g., if they successfully pass an exam or make their way through a branching scenario), they can receive a badge to track their progress.

Certificates are ideal for compliance online training courses, such as online safety training. If necessary, the certificates can have an expiration date, at which time a corporate learner must renew their certificate by retaking the online training course.

4. Collectibles

Whether it’s baseball cards or in-course items, humans tend to enjoy collecting things. Corporate learners can work toward complete their course collection. This same rule applies to trading. If another corporate learner has an item they are missing from their collection, they must communicate with them in order to strike a deal. This process makes your online training experiences more social and interactive.

5. Course Currency

Who doesn’t like money? You can use this to your advantage by creating a course currency that corporate learners must amass throughout their online training. They can use this currency to unlock online training content, access helpful tips, or even purchase tangible rewards. Be sure that you create a set of guidelines and stress the fact that the currency doesn’t hold any monetary value.

6. Virtual Raffle Tickets

Give corporate learners the opportunity to earn tickets during the online training program, then hold a raffle at the end where they can win prizes. This particular game mechanic can be tricky, since corporate learners aren’t participating simply for the sake of learning—they are in it to win, as they say, and earning rewards is their primary goal. This is why it’s always a good idea to pair it with another game mechanic that is more intrinsic.

7. Keys and/or Rarities

This is a gamification element taken straight from video and PC games. Corporate learners must complete an online training task or module to earn a key. That key will unlock the next level or they are required to save up a certain number of keys to unlock a reward. If you want to take it a step further you can even create keys that will grant access to “hidden” content, treasure chests, or doors that lead to supplemental online training resources, like fun games or puzzles.

Corporate learners who are more adventurous or become easily distracted will love the idea of unlocking rarities. For example, let your corporate audience know that there are only 5 rare objects hidden throughout the online training course (e.g., bonus points or one-of-a-kind badges). Corporate learners can unlock these items by completing special tasks or outperforming their peers.

Bear in mind that these are just a few of the top game mechanics that you may want to consider. If none of them fit the bill, you might think about creating a brand new gamification element or making some minor adjustments to an already established system. The key is to find an approach that cultivates the right amount of competition and appeals to their intrinsic motivation.

Game-based learning and gamification are top trends to look out for in 2017 and beyond. Learn more in our free report: eLearning Market Trends and Forecast 2017-2021.

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Christopher Pappas

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